Originally Posted by
Raelbo
Except when the semantics are core to the issue. For example if someone steals a loaf of bread, you can't call it murder. Stealing is a crime. Murder is a crime. But that does not make stealing murder, and importantly, not subject to the same punishment.
Same thing here. There is a HUGE difference between triggering a bug and exploiting it. Yet many people have simply merged the two concepts and use them
interchangeably. The term "exploit", used here as a noun, is a made up word which is now so widely misused that it even has a Wikipedia definition (as you pointed out). But a Wikipedia entry is not the same thing as a dictionary definition. The Wikipedia article merely explains how people use the word, not how it *should* be used.
The point though is that for Blizzard's ToU's to have any kind of use, they have to be consistent with some standard, not subject to change because a bunch of people don't understand a word and use it incorrectly. The OP stands accused by many here of "exploiting" the game, not because he actually exploited it, but because those people don't comprehend the meaning of the word "exploit".
And since "exploiting" a bug is a bannable offence, the definition of the word "exploit" is critical to the argument.
Try 8. The first 8 from a google search for "definition of exploit". All of which are dictionary definitions. The ninth hit is your wikipedia "definition" (of how the term is now colloquially (ab)used in the IT industry).
I never said that what he did was okay. I simply put it into perspective as a minor infringement rather than a major, bannable, offence.
Now who is playing with semantics? The fact is that in no way did he gain benefit from his actions or use it "to his advantage". He used the bug. He did nothing with it though. Hence it fails to meet any reasonable definition of the term exploitation.