Blizzard Files Suit Against Alleged Bot Creator

Blizzard has filed a new lawsuit in California that alleges that James "Apoc" Enright, creator of HonorBuddy, StormBuddy and DemonBuddy, has cost the gaming giant millions of dollars in lost revenue as a result of bot sales and use in World of Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm and Diablo III. The suit seeks an order to stop all sales and distribution of the bot programs and financial compensation that could total tens of millions of dollars if successful.

According to the documents filed on November 9, 2015:

The Bots created by Enright and his team have caused, and are continuing to cause, massive harm to Bl izzard. Blizzard’s business depends upon its games being enjoyable and balanced for players of all skill levels, and Blizzard expends a massive amount of time and money to ensure that this is the case. The Bots that Enright has programmed and helps distribute destroy the integrity of the Blizzard Games, alienating and frustrati ng legitimate players, and diverting revenue from Blizzard to Defendants. As a result of Enright’s conduct, Blizzard has lost millions or tens of millions of dollars in revenue and in consumer goodwill. Meanwhile, Enright and his team have been massively and unjustly enriched at Blizzard’s expense, having received hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars in profits from the sale of the Bots.

In creating and distributing the Bots, Enright has engaged in numerous acts of copyright infringement. He also has knowingly and intentionally violated the limited license he entered into with Blizzard pursuant to which he obtained access to the Blizzard Games, and he has encouraged and induced others to do the same. Enright knows that his conduct is unlawful and is causing ongoing harm to Blizzard. For that reason, he ha s carefully sought to conceal his identity, operating only through his alias “Apoc.” He also has cautioned users of the Bots that Blizzard is “scanning” for his software and thus he will continually modify the Bots to avoid detection by Blizzard.

In reaction to the lawsuit, Zwetan Letschew, CEO of Bossland GmbH has rebutted Blizzard's claim that Enright owns the rights to any of the bot programs and that Bossland shareholders are the rightful owners and distributors.

Interestingly, the lawsuit is filed just days before the 100,000 bot users banned from World of Warcraft will be coming back online. Coincidence?

Source: Torrentfreak.com