Blizzard abuses copyright law
We own your software, not you
WORLD OF WARCRAFT (WoW) proprietor Blizzard Entertainment is trying to wield copyright law like a club in its lawsuit against Michael Donnelly, the creator of the Glider robot "helper" program that plays WoW automagically for users.
The World of Warcraft licence agreement explicitly forbids the use of programs like Glider. Blizzard claims that Donnelly's enabling users to breach its licence.
However, Blizzard is also claiming that, because its licence prohibits the use of programs like Glider, Glider users are also committing copyright infringement every time they load their copy of the WoW client software into RAM to play it.
If the court accepts Blizzard's position, Glider users could find themselves liable for statutory damages which might start at $750 for every time they use Glider.
Blizzard's argument would also give software vendors the right to prohibit the use of any and all third-party software that interoperates with their products.
But WoW players each own their copy of the client software, and Section 117 of the Copyright Act says they all have the right to copy it -- that is, load it into RAM -- if that's necessary to use the software, which it is.
Blizzard argues that its WoW players don't own their copies of the WoW client software, but merely licence them. But courts have held that whether or not a user is an owner under Section 117 depends on the substance of a transaction, not just how one party describes it.
If you buy a copy of piece of software, install and use it on your own computer, and don't have to return it to the vendor when you're finished with it, that likely means you own it.
There might also be a contract, such as Blizzard's WoW client software licence agreement, that places restrictions on how players can use Blizzard's software.
But violations of such licence agreements fall under contract law, not copyright law, which implicates different requirements and remedies and for which there are no statutory damages.
Public Knowledge has filed an amicus brief with the court hearing Blizzard's lawsuit against Donnelly. Hopefully that court will reject Blizzard's attempt to invoke the Copyright Act improperly in this case. µ
See Also
Vivendi
sues creator of Warcraft bot
Comments
EULAs
"If you buy a copy of piece of software, install and use it on your own computer, and don't have to return it to the vendor when you're finished with it, that likely means you own it."How does this affect EULAs in general? The MS Windows EULA springs to mind here.
It's ok for me
As player of WOW, i think that using this kind of programs are cheating the real players.One have to spend time farming or playing to see a player that left the robot come and have a lot of money without even be at the screen.
Blizzard are trying to protect the real gamers not the cheaters one and is ok for me if they make efforts to do that.
In a situation without control you will find that everyone will need to buy robots because everyone is cheating.
Be real, the only one affected are the one trying to fool the gamers that make WOW the good game that is.
Regards.
Undead Priest 70/Blood Elf Mage 70/Orc Warrior 50
I have said many time before, i have say this again
WoW never got my money, period. never will.1) never played wow, and never will.
2) pay monthly to play? NEVER. (is it April Fool? must be a joke right? i am not cracking up.)
3) pointless leveling, endless patches after patches, same and same.
4) blizzard ain't nothing but another greedy company. 0 support from me since WCIII
every time i said that, my friends & people flame-on and burn me, years had been passed, my friends finally agree with me, they had been fools, and given up WoW 1 year ago.
3 years of WoW = 36 months x USD$15 = $540 dollars going down to toilet and endless hours wasted which you can fuxk many girls or fuxk many time but the same girl, drink many beers, many strip club, even a very nice hooker, a lot of weed, or a PS3/Xbox360/2 Wii.
wake up people, lets sue Blizzard for releasing an addictive product, they want a law sue, bloody hell, give them a law sue.
WHO THE FUXK will play WoW at level 1 at this point??? would you?? bot is the only thing keeping WoW alive.
fuxk blizzard, noobs. "oh, you stolen my game which you paid $39.99 for it, you people stealing but paid $15 dollars a month to play, you people are... stealing", get a real life blizzard staffs, loser, and move on.
became successful on 1 game, then you think you pimping.
DO NOT FUXKING TELL PEOPLE HOW TO PLAY A GAME WHICH THEY PAID FOR ON THEIR MACHINE WHICH THEY FUXKING PAID FOR!!
Right...
... because when you've reached the end of how many billions upon billions of dollars you can make and have to settle for the same, obscene amount of profit as last year... the only recourse is to sue your customers.I seriously wonder what cultural event spawned the current generation of directors on boards who approve of this stupdiity, both at Blizzard and RIAA. Do they lay awake at night listening to Depeche Mode's classic ditty "Just Can't Get Enough"?
Licence agreement
I thought that usual licence agreements (GPL excepted) gave you a licence to run the software (and if you're lucky) make one working backup copy (which is probably not the case with games due to the copy protection on the discs). I don't see what the point of a program to play the game for you is though, I mean doesn't that defeat the object of buying the game?!?Still I do think it's bad that Blizzard punish the fans of their games like this.
Rob
leil, crystal meth is bad for you...
Im pretty sure WoW should be able to dictate how their Online only game and server should be run.Glider is cheating without cheating but its still a cheat.
Cheat all you want playing by yourself, but not online. And since its online and not by yourself, WoW has every right to dictate all.
Understand Blizzard
Blizzard is a company like any other company. It cares about its customers because they make the company successful.What happened here is like an auto immune system disorder...in order to protect other customers blizzard is force to try to ban the abusers.
This is like a catch 22, since the abusers are in fact customers.
So you could say blizzard is attacking itself.
Or at least its source of revenue.
All things considered blizzard has every right to regulate the terms and conditions of how WoW is used. Especially when it creates a loophole in the system.
This I believe is an example of people wanting more than they can get.
If people do not like paying a monthly fee for WoW, they shouldn't.
But the monthly fee is to connect to the WoW server, not for the software.
The software is bought and paid for, players can use it as they like.
So far that is pretty clear, at least to me.
So who's right?
Both sides are in fact right.
But blizzard does specifically say it retains the right to terminate WoW subscriptions for violations of the terms of service.
Blizzard cannot tell a person want they canont do with their own sofware. Neither can a person tell blizzard what to do with their own service.
So sure you can use whatever third party software you want. But Blizzard can choose not to continue your subscription.
I think that's fair.
NOW This Is Funny. Obsoletly!
Look out biggus Blue, Cognos(e) must go the crapper, because:"give software vendors the right to prohibit the use of any and all third-party software that interoperates with their products"
So, in theory, SAP could outrightly ban the use of Cognos, and IBM in turn could take SQL away from SAP?
Oh what a tangled bludline for royalties.
This is bad for everyone...
in the sense they are basically saying you cannot use 3rd party software in there game. If they win this means that all other games on PC which over the years we have seen wonderfull 3rd party mods will give them the possibility of throwing lawsuit after lawsuit on the users who are supposedly infringing because they bring an element to the game to facilite certain processes. I for one do not agree with the approach blizzard is going with. Just for the simple fact they are doing this I have lost alot of respect for this company.The Blizzard Addiction
"Wake up people, lets sue Blizzard for releasing an addictive product, they want a law sue, bloody hell, give them a law sue."I cannot agree more. It is obvious that Blizzard wants eyes on monitors rather than just money or internet traffic. The question in the movie "The Matrix" was raised on how it all happened, I'm sure we can say we were tricked by a fancy game.
WoW is correct
I've read about this situation and I walked away with a different take on it than others...Here's where I interpret it a bit differently:
The copyright law allows the end user to copy the program into ram for the purpose of executing it to perform its intended function. Ther is no question about that.
When users of Glider load the program into ram to execute it in a manner it was NOT intended to run (I believe you used the term, "Automagically"?) they are using it in a manner it wasn't intended. Therefore, they are infringing.
Parallels can be made to other situations. For instance, automobile insurance covers your repairs and damage you may cause when you have an accident. However, if you use your car as a battering ram to hurt someone or damage their property (on purpose) you are using not using the automobile in the manner in which it is supposed to be operated. Therefore, the insurance company can, and WILL deny any claims arising from misuse.
Same with nearly all consumer electronics. You use it in a manner in which it wasn't intended, and your warranty is null and void.
It's a pretty simple concept and I see no reason why it shouldn't be applied to what is, afterall, a closed source program with specific terms you agree to that prohibit its use in the manner being described in this situation
To the people crying about Bliz suing customers being bad for business
They do not care. They are suing users of the bot program and even if every single one of these people boycotted Blizzard forever, the benefits to their game are probably a hundred times the cost of losing this small population that does a large amount of damage to their online world.While I do think their position on this particular issue is ridiculous, I think it is more of a ends justifying the means in their eyes; but since precedent could be set by what the judge ultimately decides, it could allow a potentially large amount of collateral damage.
Hopefully this absurd notion is thrown out.
Mr. Leil, pay attention
Except the plan is to take out the people who are not even playing the game.Warcraft is more of a social thing, which explains your ineptitude and arguments.
You're a failure of a troll, the same kind seen in Ironforge Trade channel and to be fair, should work on something greater for yourself like a Darwin Award.
It's like Valve once went to go after the people responsible for such things as OGC because it was cheating players out of their fair due (Shame bugger all came from it) and to be honest, I wish that the gold farmers/buyers were as easy to take down as they are on Eve-Online. Something's beautiful about seeing a friend buy isk and end up with it being taken straight off him and a mail-form-of-wrist-slapping.
Get a real life instead
Get a real life instead of an online one, Blizzard go bankrupt and problem solved!How can anyone get so worked up about a game?
Cheaters
I have been an on line gamer for a number of years and the thing that bothers me is the cheaters! So a person get's a game and spend's the time to level the toon up and get gear and some smacktard buys a program that levels there toon for them with little effort on there part, or works an area to harvest all the loot is fair and ok with you. I have quit playing most on line games because of the cheaters and thought that since I play a subscription that the game play would be fair with no cheaters. Fight them scum Blizzard!!!!I'm sympathetic to Blizzard
Yet, I think they overreach with the copyright argument. Let's face it, cheaters are fools who don't really enjoy the game, but just want some kind of status.I play LOTR Online and I hate it when WoW cheater website spam shows up in the OOC channel. Doesn't matter how often I click "report as gold spammer" or just "ignore", new gibberish names crop up with the same bad English "package" offers.
As for paying monthly, it's worth it when I socialize and adventure with my wife and several real life friends. A fantasy CRPG sure beats Second Life's inanities.
As a gamer since the late 70's, an MMORPG is more fun for me than a Crysis. Since Turbine offers a lifetime subscription, it's not any more of a money waster than 4 to 6 single player games with bad DRM that phones home every 10 days.
Cheaters hurt MMORPG's, but contract law is the answer, not copyright law. The pirates and bad DRM is virtually killing PC single player gaming, but MMORPG's are keeping PC gaming alive.
Check the License first...
Usually in the LA is written that the user does not own the software, but just has the right to use it. The software is still owned by the company that developed it! (Windows EULA is saying the same.)This is written so the 3rd party developers/companies would not have rights to "dissect" the software and to release products based on that...
So if Blizzard is saying that the cheating software is braking the license, may be they are right and since the user does not own the software, but the media on which it is written and the license to use it... Let's see what will happen in court.
Cash Whors
$750 per player for every time they use the program- shows that all blizard want is cash- this is why i have never played WOWCopyright Law...
According ot copyright law here in the UK - (I did some research on this a while back - don't think it's changed since) (I'm assuming there's something similar in the U.S. etc.?) - the copyright protection accorded to computer software is not just for the data on the disk it's shipped on, but is also extended to any and all AUTHORISED copies that are made of it during it's intended use... (I.e. it's installation to a hard-disk / copy to RAM whilst running etc.).In other words if you then ALTER this data WITHOUT authorisation - (i.e. break the EULA etc.) - you are infringing on their copyright...
Of course, we can argue about the legalities of the EULA - though if, IMO, some games, (such as World of Warcraft), have a fully legal, recorded agreement/contract between two INDENTIFIABLE parties - (which you'd have if a person used a credit card etc. to pay for the game, rather than a time-code) - then it shouldn't be as much of a problem as normal shrink-wrapped software - where the person who agreed to the EULA is essentially anonymous - it's next to impossible to prove 100% who agreed to the EULA - there's absolutely NO record of it - proof of purchase is NOT proof of license agreement! (If you don't know who the licensee is - how can there be a contract???).
What's the problem?
"The World of Warcraft licence agreement explicitly forbids the use of programs like Glider. Blizzard claims that Donnelly's enabling users to breach its licence."And so what? Michael Donnelly has no obligation to support an agreement entered into between Blizzard and its end-users. Got a problem with a user breaching their license? Sue the user. See how popular that makes you.
IMO Blizzard know they're skating on thin ice and the only way to shut down this "problem" is to play hard and fast, despite any negative publicity, and hope that the guy caves so that an example is made of him.
One More Thing...
I suppose I ought to add that there is one area with an exception to the previous statement I made - and that is the right to reverse engineer a product in order to interoperate with it...I really don't think that would apply to this particular case though...
Re: Copyright Law...
@Darren:You assume that Glider is modifying the program - it may not be. The running program has several elements. There is the program code, which is copyrighted, the data, some of which is copyrighted (graphics, etc.), some of which is not (data on world objects), "live" data, such as data flowing over the network, which can be inspected, I/O data, which is probably being gathered through DirectX API's, and so forth.
To the extent that Glider is gathering information about the world by *inspecting* code, world data, network communications, and so forth, and then controlling the "user" object (their character) by sending information through the DirectX API's and so forth, I don't see how you could claim copyright infringement. IANAL, of course :)
j'accuse
>"It's ok for me"Sure, the stated end goal might be ok (to stop cheaters), but Blizzard lawyers are either fools or clever bastards - they're claiming this guy is violating the wrong laws, and their claim is furthermore too broad in any case. If they win, though, it's open season on independent software developers!
>DO NOT TELL PEOPLE HOW TO PLAY A GAME...
When one user uses cheats to play a _competitive_ multiplayer game, it harms other users, the experience, and therefore the value of the game. Blizzard should make that argument along those lines instead -- specific and in the correct legal ballpark.
>When users of Glider load the program into ram to execute it in a manner it was NOT intended to run (I believe you used the term, "Automagically"?) they are using it in a manner it wasn't intended. Therefore, they are infringing.
>Same with nearly all consumer electronics. You use it in a manner in which it wasn't intended, and your warranty is null and void.
I think you're trying to equate a "derivative work" here with a customer using a product in a way it is not meant to be used. The only thing that happens as you say is that the statutory warranty becomes null and void, but this says (and should say) nothing about Blizzard suing the consumer.
>And so what? Michael Donnelly has no obligation to support an agreement entered into between Blizzard and its end-users. Got a problem with a user breaching their license? Sue the user. See how popular that makes you.
True, but if Blizzard can prove that he knew the end user agreement was violated, it makes him a facilitator of the end user agreement.
>While I do think their position on this particular issue is ridiculous, I think it is more of a ends justifying the means in their eyes; but since precedent could be set by what the judge ultimately decides, it could allow a potentially large amount of collateral damage.
Yes, I agree.
cheating not = breaking copy right
To Mr. Richards.heres the thing you mis understand me.
cheaters should get banned. OGC, etc, no doubt.
however.
the facts are.
"i bought a car, i have insurance for the car, and i modifies the car which i own, so it can be faster when i use it."
you can argue that i cheat, modifies the car, so the insurance will not cover the modify parts, but when i drive my car to kill some one, insurance will still cover the person whom got ran over by me.
but you can not tell me on how to use my car, period, we know what is right, and what is wrong, but we are not communist.
that is a choice of freedom.
understand?
blizzard can ban the cheaters for using bot, no doubt, BUT, they can not say they had broke copy right, playing a game which they owned, no matter how they use it on their machine, they cheat, ban them, but you can't charge tehm for breaking copy right, that is just full of sh!t, lies, money seeking. act of communist.
WOW Robot Killers
Rather than fight the Robo-players in the real world, WOW could program in robo detectors and highlight the Robot Players and either:1. Create swarms of nasty little robo-killers, RK's or
2. Create weapons designed to kill them easily and grant extra points for doing so.
Make the solution part of the game. Why threaten players on the outside, make the game unwelcome for cheats. Also put cheat detection in the client sofware and don't block the cheat just make the WOW experience a miserable one for the cheater. If there are no commands from an input device but the player is motivating about chances are he's a robot. So kill him.
Companies rely too much on EULA's that aren't even valid in all points in all countries...
...take Germany as an example.A lot of the points in common EULA's (from US companies..including Blizzard) conflict with German legislation and aren't even valid.
"You do not own this software".."you may not copy it for personal use"...just some typical examples that would get smashed by courts over here as "not valid".
Call me crazy, but I actually *do* read most EULA's, at least to some degree. It's pretty funny when a company yells at you " You may not do this, we sue you!" and you can respond (while laughing at their stupidity) "Sorry folks, not over here...that point of your EULA isnt valid"). Been there done that, 2 times so far.
But enough of that....maybe Blizzard should start thinking..why do people even see the need to use those bots...if someone pays money for such a product, they must've got a pretty good reason.
Instead of firing broadside after broadside, Blizzard should rather start to work towards the community, not against them.
They've won this before..
Blizzard vs BNetD, folks.WoW vs CS
now we know that wow has a lot of subscribers, but how many more Counter Strike cheaters do we hear comparedo to WoW?Is valve sueing Steam Cheaters? No! they have a very well implemented way to ban players to cheat and the only way to play online is to purchase another account with games.
Isn't that a better option?
sue their asses Blizzard
Can I ask how many of the people moaning about paying money to Blizzard every month spend double that or more per month on their Sky subscription? I thought so....A None Issue
Who cares. Beyond getting the 5k for an epic mount, cash is virtually useless in the endgame. The notion that it's somehow cheating to farm money that is largely useless is a nonsense, it won't help you in an instance one little bit, and you won't see any uber epic gear.That someone else buying some gold effects your game in anyway is beyond me... exactly how does it make my game worse?
I really can't see what the issue is, they can farm all day and all night, it won't in anyway effect me, my game, or anyone elses game to any degree that matters.
Deja Vu
I think there are essentially two types of Gamer in the world ... one who "plays" the game and the other who "cant play" the game. The first group buys a game & plays it as intended for the experience it brings. The second group buys the game, either cant play it properly or want all in game rewards for nothing ... and fast ... so will cheat or employ workarounds to get what others can work for a long time to attain.Glider is merely a tool for the second group of people who dont want the experience... just the rewards. It's sad but it's a fact of life with gaming nowadays. FPS games have suffered from cheating via auto aimbots etc for years now so I dont really feel sad for WOWsers .... welcome to the real world and go Blizzard for trying to ensure everyone gets a gaming experience as intended when they created the software.
The big crime here as one person stated previously is that there's soooo many Wowser's ready to plunk down money each month for what is essentially nothing more than a nicer looking Diablo.