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Everyone,

We’d like to take a moment to provide a major update on the WoW/MMO Glider case. We know this is a topic that many of you have followed, whether because of being directly affected by Glider users in game or simply because it’s been a controversial World of Warcraft-related issue over the past few years. On January 28, 2009, a U.S. district court judge ruled in Blizzard’s favor on several issues in the civil case between Blizzard and MDY Industries, LLC.

For those who aren’t familiar with the background of this case or the long process that led to this decision, MDY is the creator of Glider, a “bot” designed to play World of Warcraft automatically with little to no player input. We consider such automated play to be cheating because it goes against the spirit of the game and provides unfair advantages over other players, and we have expressly forbidden the use of bots in the World of Warcraft Terms of Use (ToU) because of this. We take violations of this policy very seriously and have consistently worked to identify the use of bots in game and suspend or close the associated accounts.

When World of Warcraft first launched in 2004, our GM and hacks teams searched for bots manually -- a process that became increasingly ineffective as bot technology evolved. Bots continued to proliferate within the game, and the community let us know loud and clear that this was something they opposed as much as we did. In response, we developed some security measures to protect the game and automatically detect the use of bots and other unauthorized hacks. We also reached out to the makers or operators of these bots in an effort to stop their distribution, and in most cases we were able to come to an agreement. While many bots were discontinued as a result, some bot makers continued their operations, and we needed to take a different route to remove them from the game -- with Glider being the biggest example.

In November 2006, we contacted MDY in an effort to halt the distribution of Glider. In response, MDY filed suit against Blizzard, asking the court to allow MDY to continue operating Glider unhindered. We then filed a countersuit alleging copyright infringement, in that Glider made unlawful use of our intellectual property; unlawful interference with the ToU agreement between us and our players; and Digital Millennium Copyright Act violations, in that MDY had circumvented the protections we’d implemented to protect the game. We asked the court to award money damages and to shut down MDY permanently.

Following these filings and associated court proceedings, a summary judgment was made in July 2008 finding in favor of Blizzard on two counts -- copyright infringement and unlawful interference with our business -- with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act count to be decided in a formal trial. In response to the summary judgment, MDY agreed to a stipulated judgment in the amount of 6 million dollars pending further appeal.

The trial for the remaining issues took place in early January of this year, and the ruling we’re discussing today came as a result of that. In his decision, the U.S. district court judge ruled that Glider violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as the program intentionally circumvents our anti-cheat measures. In addition, the judge ruled that Glider’s creator is personally liable for the damages caused. Lastly, the judge ruled that we’re entitled to a permanent injunction against the distribution of Glider, which will take effect shortly unless MDY obtains a stay of the injunction during the appeal process. For the sake of the game and the players, we hope we’ve seen the last of Glider, but we’ll continue to take measures in game and out of game to protect World of Warcraft if MDY chooses to continue pursuing the matter.

Ultimately, this recent ruling strongly supports our efforts. We remain vigilant in defending our games against cheaters and unauthorized third-party hack programs, and we are as committed as ever to maintaining the overall quality of the player experiences in our games. To that end, we will continue to take any measure necessary to protect our games and our intellectual property rights.

While we generally try to keep the focus on the games themselves here in the forums, and try to avoid bogging everyone down with business-related matters, this was an important ruling for us, and we know keeping bots out of World of Warcraft is an important topic to many of you as well. We want to say thanks to all of you for playing Blizzard games and for either speaking out on the subject over the years or simply showing your support by abiding by World of Warcraft’s ToU and helping us keep the game fair for everyone.

haha Glad its being shutdown freaking lazy bastards who can't play on their own.

Great news and I am glad to hear it! Thanks for the post!

meh most players take these things to personally i could care less either way

Anyone who buys gold ,uses powerleveling services , or bots is a scumbag and should be kicked out of all MMOs forever.

I can't believe it took so long to finally get this settled

Can someone explain why it is reasonable for Blizzard to get a court ruling to ban cheaters?

Anyone caught using WoW/MMO Glider had their account permanently banned. What gives Blizzard the right to use the courts to force a mod maker to stop? A mod that was created and worked like any other mod.
 

From a different point of view mods like Omen, DoTimer, Grid etc are cheating too. They making something easier and give an advantage to players using them over players who don't. I couldnt imagine playing my warlock without a dot timer. It would be mean a massive DPS nerf. Back in early 2008 when I was healing on my paladin I couldnt imagine playing without Grid and a click to cast mod.

So what is and isn't cheating is arbitrarily defined by Blizzard. Which is fine. Blizzard makes a list of what is and isn't cheating and then enforces it. But that gets back to my original point. Why should Blizzard use the courts to enforce something they should be doing themselves?

I suggest you people go and read what this ruling was about and what it means since most of you have no idea.

Originally posted by floppyface

Can someone explain why it is reasonable for Blizzard to get a court ruling to ban cheaters?

Anyone caught using WoW/MMO Glider had their account permanently banned. What gives Blizzard the right to use the courts to force a mod maker to stop? A mod that was created and worked like any other mod.
 

From a different point of view mods like Omen, DoTimer, Grid etc are cheating too. They making something easier and give an advantage to players using them over players who don't. I couldnt imagine playing my warlock without a dot timer. It would be mean a massive DPS nerf. Back in early 2008 when I was healing on my paladin I couldnt imagine playing without Grid and a click to cast mod.

So what is and isn't cheating is arbitrarily defined by Blizzard. Which is fine. Blizzard makes a list of what is and isn't cheating and then enforces it. But that gets back to my original point. Why should Blizzard use the courts to enforce something they should be doing themselves?

I suggest you people go and read what this ruling was about and what it means since most of you have no idea.

Blizz can't police the internet, they don't want to end up like Ragnorak, UO or Mu online where everyone has a  game exploit hack.

It's odd your on the other side of this.

Originally posted by floppyface

Can someone explain why it is reasonable for Blizzard to get a court ruling to ban cheaters?

Anyone caught using WoW/MMO Glider had their account permanently banned. What gives Blizzard the right to use the courts to force a mod maker to stop? A mod that was created and worked like any other mod.
 

From a different point of view mods like Omen, DoTimer, Grid etc are cheating too. They making something easier and give an advantage to players using them over players who don't. I couldnt imagine playing my warlock without a dot timer. It would be mean a massive DPS nerf. Back in early 2008 when I was healing on my paladin I couldnt imagine playing without Grid and a click to cast mod.

So what is and isn't cheating is arbitrarily defined by Blizzard. Which is fine. Blizzard makes a list of what is and isn't cheating and then enforces it. But that gets back to my original point. Why should Blizzard use the courts to enforce something they should be doing themselves?

I suggest you people go and read what this ruling was about and what it means since most of you have no idea.

This actually is a horrible finding that further limits our rights and expands those of the game producers.

"Unbeknownst to most software users, a lawsuit now at a critical stage could drastically expand the ability of software vendors to restrict how their customers can use their software.

Blizzard Entertainment, the company that makes the hugely popular massively multi-player online role-playing game World of Warcraft, sued Michael Donnelly, the developer of Glider, a program that helps WoW users raise their character level to 70 by “playing” for the user while the user goes to get a cup of coffee, read the paper, etc. The WoW licensing agreement ostensibly forbids using programs like Glider. Blizzard says that Donnelly illegally interfered with that agreement by selling Glider and, therefore, encouraging users to breach the license agreement by using the program.

Here’s the scary part: Blizzard also insists that because the license agreement forbids using Glider with WoW, Glider users are committing copyright infringement when they load copies of WoW into RAM in order to play the game. (Blizzard says Donnelly is contributing to that infringement.) If Blizzard’s theory were correct, Glider users could be on the hook for statutory damages, which could start at $750 per RAM copy. Blizzard’s theory would also give software vendors the power to stop the sale of software that interoperates with their product.

But Blizzard’s theory is wrong, because it confuses a copyright holder's intellectual property rights in the software it develops with a buyer's rights in the actual copy of the software. An owner of software has a right to copy it if that copy is essential to the customer’s use of the software. (See Section 117 of the Copyright Act.) This rule is a crucial part of the balance Congress crafted between the rights of the copyright holder to manage and benefit from its expressive work, and the rights of the public to innovate, recreate and otherwise use and build on that work.

Blizzard argues that players aren’t owners but merely software licensees, so section 117 doesn’t apply. But court after court has held that the question of whether a user is an owner for purposes of Section 117 depends the substance of the transaction, not just how one party wants to describe it. For example, if you buy the software, keep it on your own computer and don’t have to return it when you are done, you probably own it.

This is not to say that there might not be a contract, like the license agreement, that restricts use of the software. But violation of that agreement is a matter of contract law, not copyright, which means that different standards apply and there is no minimum statutory damages requirement.

Blizzard has filed for summary judgment on its claims. Given the facts of the case—Glider is, after all, a program that helps some folks cheat at WoW—there is a danger here that the court will lose sight of the implications of its ruling for all software users. Public Knowledge filed an amicus brief last week calling the court’s attention to those implications. We hope the court will take heed, and reject Blizzard’s absurd and overreaching copyright theory."

www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/do-you-own-your-software-wow-glider-case-not-just-

Originally posted by floppyface

Can someone explain why it is reasonable for Blizzard to get a court ruling to ban cheaters?

Anyone caught using WoW/MMO Glider had their account permanently banned. What gives Blizzard the right to use the courts to force a mod maker to stop? A mod that was created and worked like any other mod.
 

From a different point of view mods like Omen, DoTimer, Grid etc are cheating too. They making something easier and give an advantage to players using them over players who don't. I couldnt imagine playing my warlock without a dot timer. It would be mean a massive DPS nerf. Back in early 2008 when I was healing on my paladin I couldnt imagine playing without Grid and a click to cast mod.

So what is and isn't cheating is arbitrarily defined by Blizzard. Which is fine. Blizzard makes a list of what is and isn't cheating and then enforces it. But that gets back to my original point. Why should Blizzard use the courts to enforce something they should be doing themselves?

I suggest you people go and read what this ruling was about and what it means since most of you have no idea.

Talk about wrong...

It does not work like *any* mod. Especially the mods you mentioned are even completely off the mark. Glider automated everything for you, everything. Those mods don't automate anything, they just sort information and make decision making easier but nothing happens unless *you* do something.

Then comes a more important point. Glider actively worked on evading Blizzard's Warden/Anti cheat structure.

Skeaser you're crazy. I don't play WoW I simply saw the topic as a new one on the main page and come in here reading your utter BS and honest crap. A bot is in no way the same as something that provides information easier. You're crazy if you think that. I'm glad Blizzard won this case, and the only people angered by this are bot users who are pissed they can't bot anymore.

good news indeed but you do realise it wont make a blind bit of differance. it will be re-released after a few weeks under a new name etc and the botting will continue, if you think blizzard have put a stop to the botting you are sadly mistaken.

and the post about glider being a mod  dude seriously you need to read up on things before you make yourself like a complete muppet.

Originally posted by floppyface

 From a different point of view mods like Omen, DoTimer, Grid etc are cheating too. They making something easier and give an advantage to players using them over players who don't. I couldnt imagine playing my warlock without a dot timer. It would be mean a massive DPS nerf. Back in early 2008 when I was healing on my paladin I couldnt imagine playing without Grid and a click to cast mod.

Any mod that gives the user an inherant advantage should be considered a cheat. That obviously applies to the above mentioned programs as well.

You obviously lack the skills to manage your character properly and have no incentive to learn to do so with these mods acting as a crutch.

Originally posted by Pheace

Talk about wrong...

It does not work like *any* mod. Especially the mods you mentioned are even completely off the mark. Glider automated everything for you, everything. Those mods don't automate anything, they just sort information and make decision making easier but nothing happens unless *you* do something.

It does work just like any other mod FROM A PROGRAMMING POINT OF VIEW. I've said a million times that this isn't about if MMO Glider is cheating or not. THE MOD AUTHOR FREELY ADMITS ON HIS WEBSITE THAT IF YOU ARE CAUGHT USING THIS SOFTWARE YOU WILL BE BANNED.

SHOW ME ONE PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT MMO GLIDER ALTERS ANY BLIZZARD CODE. YOU CANT BECAUSE EVEN THE JUDGE SAYS IT DOESN'T. I'll repeat, MMO Glider does not alter Blizzard code installed on your hard drive. Its just a third party piece of software you run concurrently with WoW - like any other mod. I DONT CARE WHAT THE MODS DO.

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.

Taken from the FAQ from the software's website in question. I'm not linking the URL.

Then comes a more important point. Glider actively worked on evading Blizzard's Warden/Anti cheat structure.

And do you know what Blizzard's argument for that was?

World of Warcraft includes software called a "warden" that scans a user's computer looking for bots such as Glider. Blizzard contends that Glider violates the provision of the DMCA that prohibits "trafficking" in software that is "primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work" protected by copyright.

Judge Campbell has distinguished between the actual bits stored on the World of Warcraft disk (which he called the "literal elements" of the game) and the interface elements the user encounters as he's actually playing the game (which he dubbed "non-literal elements"). In his ruling last summer, Judge Campbell ruled that Glider did not violate the DMCA with respect to the "literal elements" because Warden did not "effectively control" access to those elements: they are stored, unencrypted, on the World of Warcraft disk. But he deferred until this month's trial the question of whether Glider violated the DMCA with respect to the "non-literal elements."

In Wednesday's ruling, Judge Campbell found that Warden did effectively control access to the "non-literal elements." That is, while Warden does not prevent users from accessing the individual elements of the game separately, it does effectively bar users from accessing all of the elements together while playing the game. Therefore, Judge Campbell concluded, MDY violated the DMCA when it evaded warden's checks.

That is a weak and pathetic use of the DCMA laws in the USA. Non-Literal elements? Even the way I play the game is copyrighted?

Originally posted by ShuttleXpC

Skeaser you're crazy. I don't play WoW I simply saw the topic as a new one on the main page and come in here reading your utter BS and honest crap. A bot is in no way the same as something that provides information easier. You're crazy if you think that. I'm glad Blizzard won this case, and the only people angered by this are bot users who are pissed they can't bot anymore.

virtuallyblind.com/files/mdy/07-14-08_Order.pdf - This is from the courts.

A. Do Users of Glider Infringe Blizzard’s Copyright?
MDY does not dispute that Blizzard owns a valid copyright in the WoW game client
and game server software. Nor does MDY dispute that the game client software, which
typically is located on the hard drive of a player’s personal computer, is copied from the hard
drive to the computer’s random access memory (“RAM”) when WoW is played.
Ninth Circuit law holds that the copying of software to RAM constitutes “copying”
for purposes of section 106 of the Copyright Act. MAI Sys. Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc.,
991 F.2d 511, 518-19 (9th Cir. 1993). Thus, if a person is not authorized by the copyright
holder (through a license) or by law (through section117, which will be discussed below) to
copy the software to RAM, the person is guilty of copyright infringement because the person
has exercised a right (copying) that belongs exclusively to the copyright holder.
MDY contends that users of Glider do not infringe Blizzard’s copyright because they
are licensed to copy the game client software to RAM. MDY claims that WoW players
acquire this license when they purchase the game client software and load it on the hard
drives of their personal computers. MDY claims that contrary provisions of the EULA and
TOU, such as express prohibitions on the use of bots, are mere terms of contract, not
limitations on the scope of the license granted by Blizzard. Thus, although Blizzard may
assert a claim against Glider users for breach of contract, MDY argues, it cannot assert the
more powerful claim of copyright infringement.4
“Generally, a copyright owner who grants a nonexclusive license to use his
copyrighted material waives his right to sue the licensee for copyright infringement and can
sue only for breach of contract.” Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 188 F.3d 1115,
1121 (9th Cir. 1999) (“Sun I”) (citations omitted). “If, however, a license is limited in scope and the licensee acts outside the scope, the licensor can bring an action for copyright
infringement.” Id. To prevail on a copyright infringement claim, therefore, a plaintiff who
has granted a license must establish that the license terms are “limitations on the scope of the
license rather than independent contractual covenants,” and that the defendant’s actions
exceed the scope of the license. Id. at 1122.

Blizzard not only want monetary damage from the bot creator, Blizzard wants all the customers that have purchased bot program. So if you purchased the bot program and blizzard wins the court case your screwed. Blizzard will get you.

Originally posted by floppyface

Originally posted by Zorndorf

Best news from the last year. And best news for all mmorpg's out there.

Of course Blizzard has the means (money) to persue.

I wonder how long it will take the haters to show up hating Blizz for doing the right thing again.

(oops sorry I forgot to read some posts above - apparently they alread showed up).

 

How long before WoW fanbois who haven't read anything about this except for Blizzard's "press release" turn up?

Oh, wait, they've already turned up. I wouldn't want you to actually have to read anything or think about it. Just be a good little mindless drone and eat everything Blizzard dishes up to you without question.

Now go back to kneeling in front of the Kalgan and Tigole posters and praying to them like a good, obedient consumer.

You  know normally when I hear Fanboi I can assure myself I can agree with the poster, you however seem die hard to defend game hacks. Alot of your posts are borderline fanboi anyway, now your defending game hacks and calling everyone else a fanboi. In this case WoW has always been in the lead in running out hacks, at least they do try to do that.

in order to stop weeds from infecting your gardin, you don't chop off the heads each time they appear, you go and dig out the roots to stop them from spreading. that is what blizzard did by getting the courts involved. they tried chopping off heads to discourage people but they don't have the man-power to police 11million accounts. they needed to stop the source of glider in order to stop it. also trying to compare glider to omen is like trying to compare a Citron C5 to a Ferrari supercar; just don't go there. mods like omen speed up things in the game but still require user input, whereas glider doesn't.

Originally posted by floppyface

Can someone explain why it is reasonable for Blizzard to get a court ruling to ban cheaters?
 

I could, but you wouldn't read it anyway so why bother.  You aren't interested in debating this, you are only interested in stirring up trouble and your not worth the trouble.

---

Originally posted by floppyface
Can someone explain why it is reasonable for Blizzard to get a court ruling to ban cheaters?
Anyone caught using WoW/MMO Glider had their account permanently banned. What gives Blizzard the right to use the courts to force a mod maker to stop? A mod that was created and worked like any other mod.
 
From a different point of view mods like Omen, DoTimer, Grid etc are cheating too. They making something easier and give an advantage to players using them over players who don't. I couldnt imagine playing my warlock without a dot timer. It would be mean a massive DPS nerf. Back in early 2008 when I was healing on my paladin I couldnt imagine playing without Grid and a click to cast mod.
So what is and isn't cheating is arbitrarily defined by Blizzard. Which is fine. Blizzard makes a list of what is and isn't cheating and then enforces it. But that gets back to my original point. Why should Blizzard use the courts to enforce something they should be doing themselves?
I suggest you people go and read what this ruling was about and what it means since most of you have no idea.

---

Third-party programs = Cheating
In-game modifications by defined LUA standards = Not cheating.

Too hard for you?

Originally posted by skeaser

 

Here’s the scary part: Blizzard also insists that because the license agreement forbids using Glider with WoW, Glider users are committing copyright infringement when they load copies of WoW into RAM in order to play the game. (Blizzard says Donnelly is contributing to that infringement.) If Blizzard’s theory were correct, Glider users could be on the hook for statutory damages, which could start at $750 per RAM copy. Blizzard’s theory would also give software vendors the power to stop the sale of software that interoperates with their product.

But Blizzard’s theory is wrong, because it confuses a copyright holder's intellectual property rights in the software it develops with a buyer's rights in the actual copy of the software. An owner of software has a right to copy it if that copy is essential to the customer’s use of the software. (See Section 117 of the Copyright Act.) This rule is a crucial part of the balance Congress crafted between the rights of the copyright holder to manage and benefit from its expressive work, and the rights of the public to innovate, recreate and otherwise use and build on that work. 

Please explain how the use of Glider is essential to the customer's use of the software? It's not.  And you have it wrong, it's not the act of the copying that is being made an issue, it's that using Glider to make a copy of the software compromises the software.  Glider cannot work the way it does unless a copy of the software is made by Glider.  The copy is not being made to use the game, it's being made so that Glider can circumnavigate the built in anti-cheat devices that Blizzard has included in the game.  That's the difference and why the ruling does nothing except shut down those companies who would bypass the anti-cheat measures.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.