Mum defends teen in gaming lawsuit

[Naoto]

He cheated then declined to take down a video which only encourages other people to cheat, regardless of age he is a cocky little shit who thinks he's untouchable so I hope they hammer the kid and send out a message.

[admeteora]

I cannot believe that most people here thinks that it is right to bring anyone to court, let alone a 14 year old, for cheating. It’s a damn video game! You guys literally have no empathy, have completey lost your moral compass and should re-evaluate what it means to be human...

[Vespian]

I cannot believe that most people here thinks that it is right to bring anyone to court, let alone a 14 year old, for cheating. It’s a damn video game! You guys literally have no empathy, have completey lost your moral compass and should re-evaluate what it means to be human...

Thank you _O_

[Jtbrig7390]

The name of the kid was released publicly by Epic Games as pointed out by his mother reply:

https://torrentfreak.com/images/epicreply1.pdf

Edited: I mean, brah, didn't you read the story?!

The kids name was publicly released by the kid via the videos well before Epic released it.

Also Epic releasing the name doesn't equal doxing him.

Didn't you read the story? I guess not.

- - - Updated - - -

I cannot believe that most people here thinks that it is right to bring anyone to court, let alone a 14 year old, for cheating. It’s a damn video game! You guys literally have no empathy, have completey lost your moral compass and should re-evaluate what it means to be human...

Good thing epic isn't bringing him to court because he cheated....

So many people just read the thread title.....ffs

[Naoto]

I cannot believe that most people here thinks that it is right to bring anyone to court, let alone a 14 year old, for cheating. It’s a damn video game! You guys literally have no empathy, have completey lost your moral compass and should re-evaluate what it means to be human...

He got banned multiple times and I'm sure there's more to the story than he "just cheated" the fact you cheat that many times, get banned and make videos on youtube showing HOW to cheat is different to just cheating, where do you draw the line? this is 99.9% most likely scaremongering and they will never go through with the entire court process.

You can't be making videos on youtube showing how to cheat in online games encouraging other people to do it, you honestly think Blizzard wouldn't do something similar if he posted the same shit for wow and showed everyone how to hack and get free stuff? get real.

[Tackhisis]

You can't be making videos on youtube showing how to cheat in online games encouraging other people to do it

Of course you can. Cheating in online games is legal.

[I Push Buttons]

He's fucking 14? 14!!! You are mentally, physically and intellectually underdeveloped when you are 14.

21!!!! is the age where you are actually probably close to being 'an adult'. 14 years, jezus christ. I still played with lego at 14. Every single fucking insane fuck in this thread that thinks 14 years is old enough to "be responsible" needs to get a checkup with the local psych.

The kid understood what he was doing, but even if he didn't, his mother is still liable for his actions.

I understand the company's intent behind trying to stop cheating (I don't like it either), but going after this kid seems like a waste of time, when there's a lot of individuals who cheat.

Yes and they go after the people who make the cheats and other people who post cheating videos. Those people have the good sense to stop what they are doing when Epic comes after them. This kid did not, he challenged their DMCA, which is where the lawsuit emerged.

The name of the kid was released publicly by Epic Games as pointed out by his mother reply:

https://torrentfreak.com/images/epicreply1.pdf

Edited: I mean, brah, didn't you read the story?!

Everything the mother says is not only irrelevant, but mostly bullshit.

1. She claims they violated the law releasing his info, she cites Delaware House Bill 64. That law is about consumer credit reporting agencies and says consumer credit reporting agencies can't share information on "protected consumers" with each other or release it publicly, with protected consumers being people under the age of 16 and otherwise incapacitated people who have a guardian. IE: Equifax can't release a credit report on the kid or give it to a bank/store. Epic didn't release the kids name, they filed a lawsuit against him and the court released his name when they put him on the docket.

2. Being a kid doesn't exclude him from liability, especially since he intentionally did everything he did. Juries/judges waive all kinds of protections for kids if the intent to cause harm is evident, which it absolutely 100% is in this case. Every step of the way the kid is like "Lololol hell yeah I did all of this because its fun! Fuck Epic Games!"

3. The mother claims the kid isn't liable because he didn't have her permission to play the game or accept any EULAs... That is entirely fucking irrelevant... Most of the time a parent is strictly liable for their kid in the same way a person is strictly liable for their dog, especially if they were negligent (like letting your kid cause damages to a company). So even if the kid can't be sued, his mother is probably liable for everything he did, with or without her permission.

4. She also references the game being "free" multiple times and argues that means they can't have financial losses because of the kid's actions... Well one, the game isn't fucking free yet, you have to pay to play it. And two, its filled to the brim with microtransactions. They have probably lost a ton of money from cheaters and can easily prove that.

Being a kid doesn't just grant you a free pass to cause damages to another person/entity.

[I Push Buttons]

I don't think anyone in this thread is really saying that...

Funny, since you are all arguing that Epic Games is in the wrong for protecting their brand/seeking damages for the injury the kid caused...?

[I Push Buttons]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot that people nowadays only work in extremes, “you are either with me or against me!” kind of shit. It’s not like most of people here who believe that Epic Games is taking this a little too far have already admitted that the kid is indeed a little shit and deserves some kind of punishment, just one that doesn’t involve dragging a minor trough a court over “copyright” *cough* infringements…

Well they have already banned him several times and tried to remove the video? He just buys more copies of the game/circumvents their IP bans and challenged their DMCA...

What else can they do? Those two things are literally the only extrajudicial recourse available to them and they both have failed.

[barackopala]

what does epic get? precedent on the usage of modifications to software as a DMCA violation.

[Deleted]

I feel like you can punish this kid with a lot less than 75.000 dollars and still make the same point. As much as I think the mother should have kept a better eye on her kid, the US is a very shit place to me so it wouldn't surprise me if it turns out that the mother is just struggling as is and her kid just turned to be a bit of a brat, it happens.

[LanToaster]

It’s not like most of people here who believe that Epic Games is taking this a little too far have already admitted that the kid is indeed a little shit and deserves some kind of punishment, just one that doesn’t involve dragging a minor trough a court over “copyright” *cough* infringements…

I would actually agree with you, if the Kid would actually care.

He´s beeing sued, and what does he do? Makes a Video about it, where he says: "Whatever".
I would have sided with the: "Epic should´nt press the Issue"

If he would actually have a shred of "Oh, maybe I did wrong". But he hasnt, so he should in my Opinion face everything he´s got coming.
If he´s lucky he gets away without any real Punishment, if not: He and/or his Mother could´ve avoided it.

[Deleted]

Yeah, ...and then?

And they protect their copyright.

Lets face it, the guilty part here is the kid's mother. Everything would be avoidable if the mom simply took the computer from the kid as soon she learned about what happened.

[barackopala]

Yeah, ...and then?

And then you create precedent to protect software modification under DMCA, and then less cheating due to threat of precedent, how fucking dense you have to be?

[I Push Buttons]

Roflmao, oh sure! I just had no clue it was that easy ~

How the fuck ain’t you working for one of those fatass gaming companies? They have been trying to combat cheating for decades and you knew how to stop it all along… my god, you sir are a genius!

People break laws, might as well just stop enforcing them since it being illegal doesn't stop them, right?

[Tackhisis]

And they protect their copyright.

They don't.
No copyright had been violated.

[Foosha]

He's fucking 14? 14!!! You are mentally, physically and intellectually underdeveloped when you are 14.

21!!!! is the age where you are actually probably close to being 'an adult'. 14 years, jezus christ. I still played with lego at 14. Every single fucking insane fuck in this thread that thinks 14 years is old enough to "be responsible" needs to get a checkup with the local psych.

Come the fuck on. He knew what he was doing was bad and against the rules/cheating. He knew what a cease and desist order/DMCA meant from Epic. Still, he chose to keep on truckin'. A goddamn toddler can reason like this, hell even animals....it's basic learning. He's responsible for his own actions, and you reap what you sow, my god. I can tell you are a millenial or baby boomer because only they think like this

[Tackhisis]

He knew what he was doing was bad and against the rules/cheating.

Everyone can decide for oneself whether follow the rules in a videogame or not. You cannot be sued for that.
Everyone can make videos on YouTube advertising everything that is legal for trade, including cheats. You cannot be sued for that. Even a 14-y.o. can understand that.
If a company claims a third-party software violates its copyright, it should sue its creators, and obtain a court decision to prove that.

The DMCA takedowns are for obvious violations of the copyright, like cracks, keygens, downloading links, or playing pirated games. It is not designed for butthurt reactions for cheats, and use it in that way is abuse. Again, even 14-y.o. can understand that.

[Halyon]

Cheating and exploits should not be excused because he's a kid. And if he went and challenged a DMCA and escalates instead of just sacking up, he deserves the court. Maybe it can teach the brat something.

[Bigbazz]

Tell him he's a naughty boy and everyone get on with their lives, that is what should happen here.

Cheating and exploits should not be excused because he's a kid. And if he went and challenged a DMCA and escalates instead of just sacking up, he deserves the court. Maybe it can teach the brat something.

It's not really that simple though, the issue comes down to copyright claims for a video and cheating/exploiting is not a criminal activity, do the game developors own a video that they otherwise wouldn't just because of the content of the video exposes their product?

You can apply this to a lot of situations to create examples, if someone makes a video in their home showing themselves lets say modyfing an apple phone to have a headphone socket, so they are showing others how to do it... Does apple now own that video because it shows someone demonstrating how to alter their product? If the example doesn't work for you then find another, the idea though is that it's ultimately an argument over who owns the video, does the company own the video just because they don't like how it shows their product?