Blizzard locked in legal battle with WoW bot maker

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.

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.

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.

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:)

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.

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.

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!

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?

Corporations always win because they can afford frivolous lawsuits.

Oooo, Jena Malone.

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

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.

EULA = tl;dr

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!