Blizzard Sues StarCraft II Cheat Makers

[Something Amyss]

It's cheaters like this that make cheaters like me look bad. I only cheat in single player since it doesn't effect anyone else but the idea of cheating in multiplayer just disgusts me.

The two shouldn't even be compared for all intents and purposes. What you do with your own experience is one thing. What you do in an online game, especially one that has competitive MP is another entirely.

Also this has nothing to do with murderers and rapists. Locking one up means at the very least *that* murderer/rapist will not be out and about.

Shutting down the manufacturer of cheats means there's at least one less manufacturer of cheats. And since that is kind of necessary in this equation, then you've accomplished the same goal.

Heck right now it was costing peoples $63... the makers may out of sheer spite put it up for free on some torrent site out of Tonga or those other 'safe-haven' countries.

Well, no. They've been updating it to keep ahead of Blizzard. Without the developers, you still need someone else to fill their shoes. That could happen, but there's no guarantee that someone else will. Meanwhile, the file's been publicly available for years now. You can't normally use it without paying, still, but a Google search indicates that there are cracked versions. No honour amongst thieves, I guess.

So the worst case scenario is really that someone else takes up the reins and continues to do what's being done. There is no loss here, because all I had to do was hit Google for 30 seconds to find that the doomsday scenario here is already happening.

I cheat hardcore every time I play Call of Duty...

.. by using whatever n00btube is available

Yeah, I've been accused of cheating, hacking, etc. for simply getting more kills than someone else.

If I were gonna cheat, my KDR would probably be a little better than it is, but when has logic ever factored in?

If their real names are unknown, how do they expect to enforce any ruling? Do their online personas have assets that can be seized?

You can file a suit or get a warrant against an unnamed person to get the ball rolling and then use the law to identify them. In this case, it may be the only way to get such information (legally).

Additionally, I'm not sure I like their use of the DMCA/copyright law in the claim. It's one thing to accuse someone of theft or plagiarism, but this is closer to developing a tool specifically designed for a given product.

If done so with Blizzard's code, then there's legal precedent.

I'm actually fine with this right now. But I can already see this as a legal precedent that opened the floodgates for EA to sue every modder out there who tries to "fix" one of many broken EA games and takes away even the smallest cut from their DLC sales by modding the game.

I'm pretty sure the legal precedent is already there, too. I doubt this will be the case that leads to it.

 

[Bat Vader]

SNIP

I agree. Sadly though there are people out there who view cheating in Multiplayer and cheating in single player as the same thing. Mainly that is why I felt the need to disassociate myself with them.

 

[Something Amyss]

Considering that the names of the manufacturers are unknown I fail to see how this does anything to stop them or any of the dozen other enterprising tweakers out there.

Well, I already addressed the whole thing about the Doe listings. This is necessary in order to continue. It doesn't mean they will remain anonymous or be tried in absentia.

Never mind that the hack already exists so it does nothing to stop the distribution in anyway.

And that it needed to be updated to keep up with Blizzard's security.

As I mentioned in the rest of the post... before people had to pay $63 to get it...I can imagine the makers of this thing putting it up for free on the torrent sites just to spite Blizzard.

And the fact that it was made available online several years ago.

It won't stop cheaters... or slow them down.

I've already given reasons why that's not true.

The best they can do is just keep closing the loopholes the cheaters are exploiting in the eternal game of whackamole.

And if they close the loopholes and shut down the devs who are making the updates, rendering it no longer financially viable, that's better. So no, it's not the best they can do. You may not have heard of this, but it was a big, popular program before the suit. And popular enough to be cracked itself. I'm not even playing Starcraft and looking to cheat. This was easy to find, even without already being invested in the game. But again, I'm repeating myself.

 

[RicoADF]

Charging for the cheat-mod means that (A) they have no chance in court and (B) they're in serious risk of being reeled in by the money trail.

Not necessarily, depending on how the cheat runs Blizzard may not have a case. EULA's aren't legally binding (not sure about USA but most countries disregard them). Blizzard are being dicks because their butt hurt over some people having fun with cheats in their game, sure using cheats in MP is being an ass but SP is only the users business.

 

[Easton Dark]

Charging for the cheat-mod means that (A) they have no chance in court and (B) they're in serious risk of being reeled in by the money trail.

Not necessarily, depending on how the cheat runs Blizzard may not have a case. EULA's aren't legally binding (not sure about USA but most countries disregard them). Blizzard are being dicks because their butt hurt over some people having fun with cheats in their game, sure using cheats in MP is being an ass but SP is only the users business.

They're serious in the U.S.

And the hack works online as well. Insane to think these people would risk their account only to use the hack against bots.