Blizzard Squeezes $88 Million From Private Server Owner

[Bagsworth]

I feel that it's worth noting that the $88m damages was the result of a default judgment. In other words, the defendant evidently didn't feel that the summons she was receiving were worth responding to. As a result, the defendant was automatically hit with the initial amount sought by the plaintiff when the case was first filed.

Whether you feel as though she deserves what she got or that Blizzard is being a generically evil corporation, one must admit that ignoring the summons certainly didn't help her case. Long shot I know, but if she had actually shown up, the judge might have gone "Seriously guys? You're gonna sue her for *how* much?"

 

[Charli]

And Blizzard you will use that money to update the character models in WoW. Okay? Good.
Any feelings toward this article then I will withhold thus.

 

[ninja_decadeo]

If you think it's easy for her to declare bankruptcy and walk away, than I'm sorry but that's quite naive of you. Also, if she drops of the radar, that won't help her but make things worse. Best shot is to appeal. She'll sill have to pay but significantly far less if she's successful.

Somewhere out there, Bobby Kotick is smiling, leaning back on his chair and saying "God I love my job"

 

[OneOfNone]

the emulators (as in the program that runs the files) themselves are rarely illegal. But the reverse engineering required to run a pirate warcraft server is. Which means the software itself used in the emulators is.

Now, if blizz had been providing you with server software to run specifically for private servers (which they arent, and wont), you wouldnt be in trouble, unless you did something stupid like try to make money off their software (like selling items/gold....)

She had it coming due to being exeptionally stupid. She sold items, she hosted a private server....

Also, you do not own the software. You own the box, the papers and the cd's. But you rent the client that you use to connect to blizzard servers. You can do anything you like with the physical copies, but altering the software itself is a no no.

Think of it like this. You buy a brand new Toyota. You can do anything you like with it, except reverse engineer the tech to put in your own brand of car that you sell to others. Because if you do, Toyota (and the others that own the patents you just stole) will be after everything you made off it, and then some. Just like Blizzard did to this person.

The server emulators are completely newly written lines of code, containing nothing from the original "Blizzard servers" and also containing nothing of the clientside code, everyone that plays on them still needs a copy of WoW (or whatever game) e.g. the Clientside portion of it that consists of all the art, levels, dialogue, NPCs and all that to run the game.

Blizzard can't own or enforce copyright on a completely rewritten software project that doesn't use any of their assets. Basically the only thing a server emulator does is offer an interface over the web that answers certain requests the client inquires, from simple logging in to what happens when you move your char a few steps into any direction to what happens when you take on a certain quest or get a reward...

I thought this was very clear (until now) and even backed by several cases in the past, and the main reason why none of this went over anything than a Cease&Desist letter at any given point, seeing as the defendant didn't appear to the summons or defended herself it might just be that said judge didn't quite understand the state of affairs...

They didn't alter or reverse engineer any piece of software (as they would have to have the serverside client off of Blizzards servers for that) but completely rewritten it, which was probably years of work.

None of their assets not counting: character, items, races, artwork.....

It is similar to how the wowglider / mmoglider lawsuit worked. Just because the artwork is in the files copied over to your machine, doesnt mean that you own them. In fact. blizzard still owns (the copyright on) them.

I can make a wow clone using none of the names of the npcs in world of warcraft, but have the same item skins, textures and races, and i would be expecting a cease and desist letter from blizzard even if i charge nothing for my game.
In fact, i could use none of their skins or textures, but make my own copies of their races, and name them the same as in wow, and i would still be expecting that letter in my mailbox.

The fact is, it is Blizzards intellectual property. I can't steal it for my own gains, doesn't matter if i own a copy of the client or not.
The most i can do with blizzards game world (other than play it), is make a written story about it. With some (well, a lot) of limitations and disclaimers.

 

[Acalla]

This whole lawsuit seems aggressively unnecessary. One would think they could just issue a C&D and call it a day, instead of ruining someone's entire financial future over a, to be frank, irrelevant issue.

How is it irrelevant? From the look of the settlement, she made $3mil from it (assuming the "disgorged profits" is accurate). That is not an irrelevant amount of money for someone to basically steal. And who is to say that they didn't send a C$D letter way back before the case?

 

[esperandote]

They probably said, lets see you have X users wich would have paid us Y amount of money if they were with us so you own us X by Y by number of months equals $$$. I hope she earned something close to that but of course she wouldn't charge the same as Blizzard does.

 

[Something Amyss]

Further proof that copy write laws are broken.

While the amount may be disproportionate and the DMCA is needlessly restrictive, this seems to be exactly the way copyright should work. It's a case in which someone is actually using your product to make money. This isn't some big company bullying a questionable case of fair use, or even a case of restricting technology. What Scapegaming did should fall under the basic concepts of copyright.

 

[mxfox408]

Kotick needs to resign. Easy way to get that to happen is to have a mass boycott on all activision product ad demand the board fire his add....

 

[Prince Regent]

$88 million dollar.. Wow...

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

This whole lawsuit seems aggressively unnecessary. One would think they could just issue a C&D and call it a day, instead of ruining someone's entire financial future over a, to be frank, irrelevant issue.

Blizzard sent out a messaage: This is copy-righted shit. Do. Not. Fuck. With us. If I created a game this large and found someone running an illegal server, I'd take them down a couple million notches.

Blizzard did not ruin abyone's financial future, the culprit mde that decision when they opened an illegal portal and performed illegal "transactions" through them. Her fault

 

[Erana]

But they've ruined this person's entire life.
A lotta people involved in Enron didn't get it this harsh.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

This whole lawsuit seems aggressively unnecessary. One would think they could just issue a C&D and call it a day, instead of ruining someone's entire financial future over a, to be frank, irrelevant issue.

How is it irrelevant? From the look of the settlement, she made $3mil from it (assuming the "disgorged profits" is accurate). That is not an irrelevant amount of money for someone to basically steal. And who is to say that they didn't send a C$D letter way back before the case?

Explain how exactly this is basically stealing. From what I gather, people donated their money willingly (or for some items, either way it doesn't work the same way it does with the legit WoW), and the people who donated, that have a disposable income which they choose to spend on a private server instead of Blizzard's in the first place. If there was a need for these people to play WoW as it was meant to be played, they'd be doing it on global.

Does she own WoW? Does she have rights to WoW? Does she have the right to operate any form of WoW or BLizzard liscencing under their name? Does she pay royalties? Shit... She doesn't... ISn't that like... Stealing and shit?

SHe's operating a fraudulent private server under WoW's name where people spend money to get things... This of it this way. You make a company that allows people to play a game, then I open a private server that takes the information from your game (stealing) and sell it to other people. Do you see what's wrong with this?

And the fact that the lawyers ruled in favor of blizzard... You know... Legal experts... I'd say this theft considering she had to pay damages and interest

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

But they've ruined this person's entire life.
A lotta people involved in Enron didn't get it this harsh.

I don't know, I find it hard to sympathize. They knowingly performed illegal activities... They took the risk, they lost.

You steral from a bank, you get tossed in jail, you can't make money until you're let out and then you possibly can't find a job... Your life is ruined. Same thing

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

snip

What i'm saying is - copyright infringement =/= stealing. This annoys me.

Oh no, copyright infringment doesn't. If you take the idea, that's copyright infringment, but she was stealing the actual server data off of Blizzard and selling it to people using her server.

Stealing an idea an using it as your own (like making a game VERY similar to wow and calling "World of Ass-whooping") is copy right infringment... But stealing the server's data and stealing it IS something else.

 

[solidstatemind]

My point being, it's Kotick who has to please Vivendi's shareholders now, not Mike Morhaime or whoever it was at Blizzard.

While this is technically correct, it's pretty clear in the language of the SEC filing that Blizzard Entertainment is a self-guided entity. Kotick can't exert direct authority over them; he would have to couch any direct interference within terms of a 'shareholders-best-interests' justification, and he isn't going to do that unless Blizzard stops making money hand-over-fist due to bad management, else he'd likely lose the battle that would inevitably occur. That's the way a holding company works. The only thing that Kotick gets out of Blizzard is the buff (heh) on the joint financial statements.

Don't believe me? Go look at any Starcraft II media. Trailers, box, the game itself... you won't find the name 'Activision' anywhere on it. You think if Kotick had any say whatsoever, he would pass up the opportunity of attaching his company's name to that gravy train?

Yeah, Kotick is a slime-bag, but I really wish people would stop propogating the false information that he has any influence on Blizzard whatsoever.

OT:
I think what people are missing in all of this is that I highly doubt Blizzard expects to collect any of the statutory damages. Instead, the important part is the statement it makes: don't fuck with Blizzard's properties and try to make money off of them illegally, else you will be financially ruined. I don't see how that's a problem. I'd do the same exact thing if I were the CEO at Blizzard.

To me the bottom line is this: this chick has been doing this for YEARS. (And is pretty fucked in the head to boot. See this vid [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vO93HDoYGU] detailing various drahhhhma around Scapegaming.) She made a lot of money off of it. At some point, kharma or fate or whatever was going to kick her in the ass. That's just the way the world works. After all, if crime really did pay, they're would be a lot more criminals, no? But the reality is, you commit crimes, you end up in jail, or sued out of house and home. You reap what you sow.

So y'all bitching about big, bad, evil, money-grubbing Blizzard... well, I feel bad for you. I'm sorry the Real World has to be all rational and logical and shit.