Bot company sues Blizzard

[Armakus]

As always, we wish Bossland GmbH the best in their battle against Activision Blizzard.

Why the hell would you wish a company that is obviously exploiting someone else's product the best? That's just kind of... well, shitty. Not trying to go for an ad hominem attack here, but are you one of those people that is going to wish anyone the best of luck if they file some sort of suit or attempt to hurt Blizzard in some way?

I swear, I have no idea what the world's come to.

[Deleted]

Can't believe they even have the nerve to try it.

[Deleted]

Isnt Kazaa still running strong?

[Senka]

While I understand the purpose of counter-sueing, doesn't that cost the bot company money too? Why would they spend even more money offensively when they already have to spend money defending themselves? Their resources obviously can't possibly compare to Blizzard's. It really doesn't make any sense to me especially because these people KNOW they're wrong.

Also, as for the line about "we wish them the best" the OP was copy/pasting a post from another bot distributor site. I don't think the OP himself shares any sympathy with the body of text there. Not even a bot user would be stupid enough to do that on MMO-Champion.

[The One Percent]

The lawsuit will be handled by the court in Berlin, and the German rejoinder can be found at this link for those interested. As always, we wish Bossland GmbH the best in their battle against Activision Blizzard. MMOGlider was not fortunate enough to have the legal insulation and preparedness for an onslaught from Blizzard Entertainment's lawyers. but perhaps Bossland GmbH will level the playing field and change the precedent in the ongoing legal battles between game developers and third-party software developers.




Discuss

Mod edit: Keep it on-topic and constructive. No discussion of actual botting practices, botting names, or whether or not you use a bot

What a stupid shit of a website that this was quoted off of. Yeah, wish the best of luck to a company that fucking forces you to have to buy their program on top of what you paid for the game in order to compete in the game YOU ALREADY FUCKING PURCHASED.

Fuck Bossland GmbH, I don't even particularly like Blizzard-Activision, but I hope their attorneys rape and pillage these bot makers' colons.

[yjmark]

This just shows how stupid the legal system is. What a waste of money and time to even allow stuff like this to happen.

[Huehuecoyotl]

It's blizzard game. They are doing something illegal in Blizzard's game. How is this even worthy of a case?

there is nothing illegal about what they are doing. whether it goes towards violating the contract between the player and Blizzard is the question that needs to be answered. and given that the EULA that we are expected to sign is certainly "incomprehensible" for us normal mortals, this could be interesting.

just to add, i dont support botting in any way, but the heavy handed way big corporations use lawyers to protect their interests, regardless of how fair it is, does concern me in general.

[Feralasys]

Whole copy:


If you've been following the Blizzard Entertainment vs Bossland GmbH lawsuit, this is big news. I did an interview with Hawker awhile back that gave us some indication that Bossland GmbH had been prepping up and insulating their company against a lawsuit by Blizzard Entertainment for a long while, but now the unexpected has happened.

On January 9, 2012 at 18:40, Bossland GmbH formally announced on their official website that they will seek recompense from Activision Blizzard in a lawsuit in which Bossland GmbH and their legal representatives assert that Blizzard's End User License Agreement and Terms of Service were not a part of the game's purchase contract, and that the EULA and ToS are, "...intransparent, surprising, and incomprehensible..."

The lawsuit will be handled by the court in Berlin, and the German rejoinder can be found at this link for those interested. As always, we wish Bossland GmbH the best in their battle against Activision Blizzard. MMOGlider was not fortunate enough to have the legal insulation and preparedness for an onslaught from Blizzard Entertainment's lawyers. but perhaps Bossland GmbH will level the playing field and change the precedent in the ongoing legal battles between game developers and third-party software developers.




Discuss

Mod edit: Keep it on-topic and constructive. No discussion of actual botting practices, botting names, or whether or not you use a bot

Nice copy/paste from MMOWNED.

[artem123]

Costs Blizzard money, and drags it out. They will lose, *but* it will make Blizzard look at the costs involved and think twice about doing it again. The Bot company will probably just reform under another name, and use the same programmers. You cannot send people to jail for stuff like this, you can only prevent them from using the program again (and to good programmers, thats not really much threat...), so its in their interests to cost Blizz as much money as possible so the next company they make might not get sued

yay lets keep making new companys so we lose even more money to make little money before they sue us again so we can be in debt thousands of dollars guiz

[Wozarib]

Seems the outcome of of this is is very much a case of them not winning :P I wonder why they even try - guess it's like it's already mentioned: to just drag it out and get a few more sales in.

[Deleted]

The EULA just don't matter in germany. So stop circling around this point.

[ticklemo]

Are the EULA and TOS clearly presented anywhere outside of the log in screen? If not, the argument could be made that there was at no point any log in by the company and therefore agreement to any sort of terms of service that would prevent them from continuing to do what they do. If this agreement is made clear on the box, that's one thing, but if the TOS and EULA arise only when you log into the game, it's possible that it really is on a per instance basis that they could be applied.

Question: can Blizzard prove which copy, which account, and which person is actually logged in and creating these programs? If not, how do they know who is bound by the TOS? How does an entire company come to be bound by the TOS? Don't be surprised if this does get dragged out longer than you'd think.

[Deleted]

In Germany, standard software EULA are only part of the contract, if they were between the seller and purchaser of the software already agreed upon purchase. The buyer after the purchase made ​​available licenses (for example, during installation or as a printed insert in the box) are ineffectual for the buyer. This applies even if the buyer during the installation "I accept the license agreement" or similar clicks, because otherwise the software refuses to install.

P.s. Google Translate

[Xeraxis]

Are the EULA and TOS clearly presented anywhere outside of the log in screen? If not, the argument could be made that there was at no point any log in by the company and therefore agreement to any sort of terms of service that would prevent them from continuing to do what they do. If this agreement is made clear on the box, that's one thing, but if the TOS and EULA arise only when you log into the game, it's possible that it really is on a per instance basis that they could be applied.

Question: can Blizzard prove which copy, which account, and which person is actually logged in and creating these programs? If not, how do they know who is bound by the TOS? How does an entire company come to be bound by the TOS? Don't be surprised if this does get dragged out longer than you'd think.

On the outside of every box you will see it printed that any and all use of the software is bound by the EULA listed at http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company.../wow_eula.html

[Bjarne]

It's blizzard game. They are doing something illegal in Blizzard's game. How is this even worthy of a case?

I agree. The chances of winning are quite slim

[Caiada]

Are the EULA and TOS clearly presented anywhere outside of the log in screen? If not, the argument could be made that there was at no point any log in by the company and therefore agreement to any sort of terms of service that would prevent them from continuing to do what they do. If this agreement is made clear on the box, that's one thing, but if the TOS and EULA arise only when you log into the game, it's possible that it really is on a per instance basis that they could be applied.

Question: can Blizzard prove which copy, which account, and which person is actually logged in and creating these programs? If not, how do they know who is bound by the TOS? How does an entire company come to be bound by the TOS? Don't be surprised if this does get dragged out longer than you'd think.

"THIS SOFTWARE IS LICENSED, NOT SOLD. BY INSTALLING, COPYING OR OTHERWISE USING THE GAME (DEFINED BELOW), YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO INSTALL, COPY OR USE THE GAME. IF YOU REJECT THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER YOUR PURCHASE, YOU MAY CALL (800)757-7707 TO REQUEST A FULL REFUND OF THE PURCHASE PRICE. "

At the very beginning of the EULA.

"Any and all uses of the Game are governed by the terms of this End User License Agreement (the "License Agreement" or "Agreement")"

In the second paragraph.

It's legally written to be applied in all cases involving their property, no matter what. I don't know crap about German law, but in the USA at least, they'd have no grounds whatsoever.

[Dacia Ultan]

Well. If nothing else, one has to give them credit for sheer gall.

[Loaf Lord]

Would be funny if they won.

[Alayea]

They were orchestrating a means of cheating in an environment that prohibits cheating.

I hope they lose. Just play the damn game like everyone else.

That is my feeling on this matter as well. Cheating is cheating no matter what name or reasoning you put to it.

[Xeones]

but perhaps Bossland GmbH will level the playing field and change the precedent in the ongoing legal battles between game developers and third-party software developers.

Just quoting this part because I find it astounding that there is a bot sympathizer writing this article -.-

Hopefully the court will through this argument out, sadly the argument actually seems to have merit. They aren't trying to fight the case Blizzard has against them (they have no case) but trying to attack the TOS which is pretty much unreadable. Not sure how that would hold up in Germany.