Blizzard locked in legal battle with WoW bot maker

by Kyle Orland { Mar 26th 2008 at 1:30PM }

The BBC today has a nice little summary of the ongoing legal battle between Blizzard, maker of World of Warcraft, and Michael Donnelly, maker of bot program MMO Glider. In short, Blizzard says MMO Glider violates its copyrights and the end-user license agreement that players agree to when they install the game. Donnelly says he isn't breaking copyright because he isn't selling a copy of the game client itself, and that no one reads those stupid end-user license agreements anyway (we may have made up that last part of Donnelly's defense, but that doesn't make it any less true!).

WoW Insider also has an update on the latest round of legal wrangling in the case, which seems to be a somewhat split decision that leans towards the side of the bot-makers. Ethical issues aside, we definitely don't have the legal acumen necessary to work out which side is in the right here. If any commenters out there think they can untangle this one, have at it.

Tags: battle, blizzard, bot, cheat, cheaters, cheating, court, legal, world-of-warcraft, WoW

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Delgado @ Mar 26th 2008 1:41PM

With my limited copyright and entertainment law experience (2 classes yay) I would say the case will probably go in favor of the botter. If he was selling the program, that might be a different story.

I guess it also depends on exactly what they wrote in their license agreement, but I would think with all the legit UI modding going on there wouldn't be a tangible way for the court to differentiate right vs. wrong mods.

Delgado @ Mar 26th 2008 1:42PM

Oh and botters suck, and I hope against logic that he is found guilty because I hated that stuff when I played WoW.

Hagrin @ Mar 26th 2008 3:03PM

He has in fact sold 100,000+ licenses for the bot which Joystiq seems to have forgotten to include in the synopsis. Therefore, under your original post, the courts will side with Blizzard.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 26th 2008 1:42PM

That all depends on how the cheat program interfaces with the MMO. Is it an input emulator? Or does it interface with the executable more directly?

If its an input emulator, then I see no reason why it would violate copyright. But if its more like the latter, then I'd need more specific information to make an informed judgement.

But my gut tells me there's no infringement.

jcd @ Mar 26th 2008 2:07PM

"Input emulator"?

*imagines a robot playing WoW

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 26th 2008 2:18PM

*Character Hits lvl 70"

Domo Arregato, Mr. Roboto!

wickedneoq @ Mar 26th 2008 1:44PM

So, what did Xbox Live do with cheaters? Gave them zero? Blizzard should identify bots and strip them of abilities, making them mere shells of existence.

Bert @ Mar 26th 2008 1:50PM

This looks be a very interesting case. I actually agree with Joystiq's assumed defense that the agreement is so long and cumbersome that no one really reads it anyways. It will be interesting if this "click through agreement" defense will hold up in court.

According to the Cyberspace Law Committe of the American Bar. "The text of many click-through agreements tends to be long and complex, often to ensure that all the points raised above are addressed. The result is that many users have difficulty reading and understanding the documents (a comprehension problem), and many users click the "Agree" button without considering the terms at all (a consciousness problem). The problems arise because people have limited cognitive abilities that must be considered. We have limited attention spans, a restricted ability to process large quantities of detailed information at one time, and limited memories. Thus, using interface techniques that are sensitive to user characteristics is important. This observation may be particularly relevant if users are being asked to agree to a number of terms that will affect them substantially, such as the processing of their personal data."

Whether or not the Warcraft agreement is "too long" for most users to read and understand seems to be the deciding factor for most of this case. If users are not able to comprehend the agreement in this "click through agreement contract" it may prove to be invalid.

Just my thoughts:)

kevinski @ Mar 26th 2008 1:54PM

The problem with a lot of these agreements, though, is that you're pretty much unable to return a game if it's opened, yet you typically can't even view the license agreement until you're installing the game. This goes for Steam, as well. You purchase the game, then view the license agreement when you're launching the game for the first time. Who can possibly be expected to simply not click through it? There's no possibility of a refund, and I'll be damned if I'm not playing a game because of some license agreement.

Joseph @ Mar 26th 2008 2:21PM

kevinski, have you ever tired to return a game because you didn't agree with the license agreement? I've never met anyone that has actually tried.

arrakisman @ Mar 26th 2008 2:57PM

I beleive PC Gamer did return a few games and they did an article about a few months ago. Also...a lot of EULAs are aviable on game company's web sites that can be viewed before purchase.

Velops @ Mar 26th 2008 2:58PM

People tend not to read EULAs in detail but players do understand the general meaning behind them. While the exhaustive text can be an annoyance, there are serious repercussions if EULAs are determined to have no legal footing. The defendant clearly understands the EULA or wouldn't have tried to fight this case after being told to "cease and desist".

The central issue of this legal battle focuses on whether or not whether or not MMO Glider is a legitimate product that deserves protection.

Roy @ Mar 27th 2008 12:08AM

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/eula.html

According to the EULA, you can call a number for a full refund.

That aside, what we're talking about is the terms of service, your contractual agreement to access the service, not the EULA, which is your license to install the client. They are separate and distinct.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/legal/termsofuse.html

The terms of use, which you can "click through" except in a couple of very distinct scenarios:

- When you install the game.
- When the TOS is updated.
- When they patch the service.

You're required to scroll to the end before the button lights up. They assume that if you scroll through it, you actually take the time to read it. Ignorance isn't a defense.

ApolloIV @ Mar 26th 2008 1:53PM

Let me sum up the user agreement for you.

We are Blizzard this is our game. Go against what ever rule we make up, your screwed.

metaspore @ Mar 26th 2008 2:04PM

As far as i know, EULAs haven't been accepted by the courts. Secondly, Blizzard doesn't OWN your computer they cant determine what software you run on it. Lastly his app is an input simulator, Just as Logitecs programmable keys, and voice command software. How on earth does Blizzard expect to get a win here?
Me think they are pressuring to get the courts to open up his software so they can devise a scheme to work around it.

nojak @ Mar 27th 2008 1:10AM

Actually, they CAN determine what software you're running on your computer, and you DO actually agree to let them do so in the EULA.

nerrrrrrd @ Mar 26th 2008 2:19PM

Blizzard isn't trying to win this with being legally right, they are trying to win by burdening the person with legal fees until they give up. Blizzard isn't short on cash. Bullys!

Zertoss @ Mar 26th 2008 2:21PM

Seems like Blizzard usually just bans botters. For example, I don't remember Blizzard taking the guys behind Diablo 2's Mephisto-bot to court (of course, they may not have been American), and I can only recall Blizzard suing the people that made that Battle.net alternative, which was quite a bit different from this.

Is there more to this one?

WiNG @ Mar 26th 2008 2:23PM

Corporations always win because they can afford frivolous lawsuits.

LiqwidZero @ Mar 26th 2008 3:00PM

Oooo, Jena Malone.

Velops @ Mar 26th 2008 3:04PM

Even if botters are banned, their impact on the server economy remains for several months.

LaughingTarget @ Mar 26th 2008 3:22PM

It will remain forever. Since MMOs, almost universally, have broken economies, it can never right itself. World of Warcraft is a great test subject that the Federal Reserve should note when deciding monetary policy. Gold enters WoW at a rapid rate, which greatly outstrips the increase of new players or other services which can be used.

Bots just accelerate an MMO server to its natural end, hyperinflation. Since it isn't feasible to introduce a fixed resource supply in an MMO, unavoidable money sinks have to be introduced (WoW has none) to keep the inflation from exploding. When item emphasis is placed on other players and raiding, the bulk of the purchasing will be player to player. Since money does nothing but enter the economy, very little actually leaves (occasional vendor purchases, some skill purchases), the available coin just goes up and up and up.

This is a particular problem in PvP servers where new players to an established server simply cannot afford the items required just to remain at parity with their peers since established players have access to large sources of gold or can simply run their better characters through dungeons to obtain items for lower level characters.

The Bot just ruined things faster than they would have normally deteriorated and imploded.

LaughingTarget @ Mar 26th 2008 3:15PM

Frankly, I think if he actually uses the click-through argument, he just invalidated his entire defense. "Since no one reads it, I can do whatever the hell I want."

If I recall, the legal realm basically says ignorance is not a defense.

paulienoodles @ Mar 26th 2008 4:36PM

EULA = tl;dr

Shagittarius @ Mar 26th 2008 3:47PM

I'd like to be locked in a legal battle with Jena Malones thighs. Wowie wow wow wow.

Stefan @ Mar 26th 2008 4:11PM

You know what? You can write an agreement to say whatever you want, but that doesn't mean it is either legal nor binding. I'm pretty sure that unless you are stealing IP or copyrighted material ala pirating software or media, what's on your computer is your property, and you can do what you wish with it.

So they run a program that cheats.. great, that sucks. That doesn't mean it's against the law. It's surely against Blizzard's end user agreement, so Blizzard should figure a legal way that they can detect these bots, and terminate their accounts. Better yet, design the game so that botting is pointless. Of course, that would negate the whole premise of modern MMOs being a huge time sink to generate more income.

humidfreak @ Mar 26th 2008 5:02PM

Of the tools website

Is using Glider cause for suspension/ban?
A: Yes, Glider is against the Terms of Service as provided by Blizzard for World of Warcraft. If you are detected using Glider, your account will be suspended for 72 hours and very likely banned completely. While Glider does not violate any of the terms listed under Blizzard's "Client/Server Manipulation Policy", it is still a third-party program and their Terms of Service are very open in what falls under that definition, meaning they can find you in violation for pretty much anything they want.
Glider provides a number of features to help lower the risk of detection - for more information, see the next topic.

Bottom line: use at your own risk.

thehoz @ Mar 26th 2008 5:46PM

The Judge's decision referred to simply denies Blizzard's subpoena of certain information they requested. I don't think that gives much of an indication where the lawsuit is going at this point.

Mr Khan @ Mar 26th 2008 6:14PM

My bet is that the information they wanted was specific data that he used to create the program

Psaakyrn @ Mar 26th 2008 5:49PM

Frankly though, even if Blizz doesn't win against the botter, Blizz can get an alternate victory: permission to legally sue actual botters for harming the service for damages. which IMO blizz should be looking to prove in this case.

Psaakyrn @ Mar 26th 2008 5:50PM

wickedpheonix @ Mar 26th 2008 8:25PM

Blizz can't sue the botter under the EULA, the only thing that the EULA does is that it allows Blizz to cut off the botter's service, if the botter does not have an active account than he is not bound to any EULA (read: contract) and the case goes out the window.

What Blizz should be looking at is at the origins of copyright law - one of the main criteria under the law is that you are breaking it if it causes the owner of the copyright to lose money. So if Blizz could prove that the botter was making a lot of their customers get off and quit, then Blizz would have a case - perhaps even though he hasn't really violated copyright law, it could still be done under damages or something.

WorMzy @ Mar 26th 2008 8:33PM

What's the point of buying the game (and pay to play the same sodding game) if you're going to use a bot to play it for you? =/

I was under the impression that people bought games to have fun on.

Mr Khan @ Mar 26th 2008 9:33PM

The bot does the grinding, basically. It's what people used to do in old RPG's by taping down a direction on the d-pad and tapping A repeatedly while watching TV or something, except totally automated

I could see this, as sometimes grinding gets very tedious, the massive grinds needed at the end of Final Fantasy III (massive grinds, many, many hours) to be able to survive beyond the Point of No Return is what turned me off of that game

He's probably doing them a favor, people would be all "Grinding sucks, no MMOs for me" and he says "no grinding with this!" and they're all "cool, just fun with some kickass raids or something!"

Purchase made

nojak @ Mar 27th 2008 1:08AM

Quote from Glider's FAQ's Section:

"Q: Is using Glider cause for suspension/ban?
A: Yes, Glider is against the Terms of Service as provided by Blizzard for World of Warcraft. If you are detected using Glider, your account will be suspended for 72 hours and very likely banned completely. While Glider does not violate any of the terms listed under Blizzard's "Client/Server Manipulation Policy", it is still a third-party program and their Terms of Service are very open in what falls under that definition, meaning they can find you in violation for pretty much anything they want.

Glider provides a number of features to help lower the risk of detection - for more information, see the next topic.

Bottom line: use at your own risk."

I believe these statements answer the question at hand.

hvnlysoldr @ Apr 14th 2008 1:23AM

Cheating is bad. Don't cheat yourself out of an education. Shrugs off Patriots Coach Bill Belechik and Barry Bonds et al.

Spellbinder @ May 29th 2008 1:59PM

Seriously, I have never botted since wow came out and I started. About to grind out my last of 9 70's (hes 68 and a half) Frankly, If I had use of a bot, I would have used it ages ago. The game IS meant to be fun. Grinding isn't fun. Raiding is fun. Questing is fun. PvP can be fun. Instances are fun. But what about ppl without 2 hrs a night to instance, or 3+ to raid? What if PvP isnt your thing? What if your like me and did it the hard way 9 times out of sheer boredom? Who are they to say that you cant ask a friend to sit at your pc, let you log them in and let them play? The bots no different. The economies suck on most servers anyway. I got 9 70's or so, and only enough COMBINED gold for 1 epic flyer. Well, I need 8 more.... So your saying I need to spend 6 months grinding and doin dailies just for the movement boost? If I don't, which toon do I make epic fly? There's a million arguements.

Here's mine: The bot program doesn't actively breach contract. Blizzard simply wishes to interpret that it is. The bot program in no way affects actual game play (hacks, cheats etc) and allows for alternative play style. The fact that its the easy way out, or that it provides an edge isn't relevant, since anyone can use it. It doesn't touch game code. Whats on your computer should be your own business unless its something illegal in its entirety. Would a bot lower the fun factor? Perhaps... but i already played through the game. I don't need to see it all more than once or twice. The end game content is what I am going for. Same as most other people. So, in short, I see the bot company winning. If they DO win, i will start botting. If they dont, I wont. Not risking my precious account at this point!