Lawyer: Dead Space 3 Resource Exploit Might Be Theft

The Wooster

King Snap
Jul 15, 2008
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Lawyer: Dead Space 3 Resource Exploit Might Be Theft


What do bakeries and Dead Space 3 have in common? You're stealing from both of them, you monster.

Dead Space 3's infinite resource "feature" is not a glitch, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122038-Dead-Space-3-Resource-Exploit-Not-a-Glitch-Says-EA] at least, not according to EA. But that didn't stop a British solicitor from suggesting that taking advantage of the "exploit" could be considered stealing, presumably in some bizarre legalese definition of the term.

"If you go into a baker's to buy a bun and they give you the wrong change and you walk away knowing you have been given more change than you handed over in the first place, that's theft," IP expert, Sara Ludlam, told the BBC last week.

"So, arguably if you go into this game knowing you are supposed to be paying for these weapons and you notice a glitch allows you to accumulate them without paying, that's theft as well," she said. "But it is arguable because it's a new area."

Now Ludlam's argument doesn't apply in this case for couple of reasons. One: The fact EA is aware of the exploit but is taking no steps to stop it indicates the company doesn't view it as theft. Two: The resources collected by performing the exploit do not allow players to purchase or craft any items they wouldn't normally have access to during the course of the game.

That being said, the fact we're having this discussion is rather unnerving. Gamers being punished for taking advantage of broken systems is nothing new; the line between an "exploit" and "high-level play" is slim and easily overstepped. MMOs have been banning players for acting against the spirit of the rules rather than the letter for years, but only recently has the idea of cheaters facing actual legal action entered the realm of possibility.

The only upside is that should this horrific future come to pass, you may be able to file charges against those amoral monsters who choose Meta Knight in Smash Bros. Brawl.

Source: The BBC [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21367852]


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karloss01

New member
Jul 5, 2009
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Saw this a couple days ago on the Gamespot website. it would be just outright wrong if someone is ever convicted of such a "crime".
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
13,769
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Ah! But! What if one of the coins that the bakers gives you just starts mysteriously self-replicating every time you touch it?

Would that be theft too?

Eh? Eh?

...

That sounded funnier in my head.
 

ritchards

Non-gamer in a gaming world
Nov 20, 2009
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Erm... at worst, you are 'cheating'(*) to get some item in a single player game that only affects you. It's not like you are 'stealing change' then going around buying things with it from other vendors. It's just an exploit in game to make your play of it a little easier... (does this hold in the two-player game? even then, if both don't care about doing it...)

Basically, how is my using this resource inside this game and restricted only to inside this game in any way 'stealing'?

(*)not, as EA know about it, and say it is fine.
 

RicoADF

Welcome back Commander
Jun 2, 2009
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I can never take a lawyer seriously when they call something theft considering they make a livelyhood off charging so much to those in need that it practically is theft.

OT: that's just plain stupidity, there are so many thing wrong with that crap it doesn't even need to be pointed out. someone just wants to make more money.
 

FoolKiller

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Feb 8, 2008
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Boosters of achievements, beware, Microsoft will go after you since there is a financial bonus to having at least 25000 gamerscore
 

VanQ

Casual Plebeian
Oct 23, 2009
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Ah yeah, I read about this somewhere. I can actually see game companies taking people to court just like the music industry has done to people that downloaded a song and charging them millions in damages. We're all heading down a very slippery slope at the moment and it's sad to see so many defending the corporations.

It may not be EA or Acti or someone we know today that does it either. Nothing is stopping someone new from coming along and being the big nasty that starts to target the players for their own gain.

On a side note, I love that illustration.
 

Tumedus

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Jul 13, 2010
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Idiot lawyer who wants headlines should actually know what he is talking about before being wading in. The bakery analogy is atrocious because we aren't "supposed to be paying" for resources.

Resources are already free in the game. You can farm them via other methods beyond just this "exploit". The monetization allows people to circumvent the gathering process, that's it.

A more apt analogy is someone baking bread at home versus buying at said bakery. That isn't stealing and neither is this.
 

sethisjimmy

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May 22, 2009
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Except that his entire point was invalidated the day before this when EA stated it wasn't a glitch.

Whether or not it was a glitch, it was a decent PR move on EA's part to let it slide. It shouldn't be considered a decent PR move, it should just be basic common sense, but it's EA we're talking about here.
 

Lunar Templar

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Sep 20, 2009
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this chick is a fucking idiot if she thinks this is theft.

never mind that EA has already said its not a glitch, never mind EA has said from the beginning that the resource pack are totally optional and at no point needed to get any of the gear, let alone the best gear.

let just go ahead and call it stealing anyway
 

SomebodyNowhere

New member
Dec 9, 2009
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for some reason I now want to see a Dead Space/issac clark version of the Lex Luthor took 40 cakes meme made out of this
 

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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hazabaza1: Lawyer might be idiot.

Wait, I've just been reported to, there's no 'might be' about this.
 

Ed130 The Vanguard

(Insert witty quote here)
Sep 10, 2008
3,782
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And this is why I consider legal studies to be a pile of BS.

Trying to apply ownership laws to something as intangible as resources in Dead Space 3 (compared to other more permanent virtual items in MMO's) is stupid.
 

oldtaku

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Jan 7, 2011
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'lawyer' + 'IP expert' = desperately wants this to be something she can bill time for.
 

Loonyyy

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Jul 10, 2009
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It would help if the lawyer understood what she was talking about. You can collect the items in game, or purchase them outside it. There's a certain amount freely available no matter what, so to take those would not be theft, unless you're completely brainless. IP expert my ass.

Added to that, that as many would point out, with a digital copy of something which doesn't exist, you can't take something away, and leave someone else without, so the strict definition of theft fails.

Why is this person a lawyer, and why are their inane musings being reported?
 

Vegosiux

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May 18, 2011
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I think this particular lawyer should go back to chasing ambulances. Seems right up her alley.

Seriously.
 

Togusa09

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Apr 4, 2010
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The important part isn't the lawyers opinions of or knowledge of games, it's whether her interpretation of the applicable laws are correct.

I can understand the argument too, at least for DLC. Games are software, and since software is licenced rather than sold, if you are using features or content that you aren't granted by that license, your breaching the license, which could be ruled as a form of theft.

I think a discussion to do with valuation of digital assets, and what causes that value could be interesting, especially with the advent of trading systems like steam. At the moment trading is only for assets in multiplayer gamese, where items seem to have a more real value than in single. But what happens if items from a single player game are introduced? I think it'd probably cause massive devaluation of all assets from the given game due to their abundance and ease of aquisition, just like flooding a market with money. I think Yanis Varoufakis and valve would probably do a better job of working out such issues though.

However, if a large company believes that it stands to gain money from something, or need a scapecoat to blame the failings of an outdated business model on, and sees people getting around paying them for it, they will pursue whatever legal avenues they can find. We're better off having someone point this out early on, rather than the first thing we heare being one day getting a letter saying that because their game glitched, they will be sued thousands of dollars.