Blizzard, Bnetd Respond on Bnetd Shutdown

EvilDonut writes: "Following the roar of protests following the shut down of the BnetD-project, Blizzard has posted a Battle.net emulation FAQ, citing their reasons to to search out and close any project that allows people to play Blizzard games online without using Battle.net. Their main arguments are software piracy and the ability to control and expire the WarCraft III beta." There's also a brief note from the Bnetd people, included below.

From: "Tim Jung"
Subject: bnetd.org shutdown

If you would like more information on this please feel free to contact me. I am one of the developers and the hosting ISP for www.bnetd.org. I have talked at lenght with both the Blizzard/Vivendi lawyers and with EFF lawyers about our options both as an ISP and as a developer.

As an ISP I did not force the group to do anything, but rather presented them with all the legal information I have recieved and asked them what they wanted to do. As you can imagine neither my company nor any of the developers have the money to fight the Blizzard/Vivendi lawyers at this time. So until we are able to get some legal help to fight this we felt we had no choice but to close down the site for now until the time at which we could fight this legal battle.

If you have any questions or suggestions let me know.

Tim Jung
System Admin
Internet Gateway Inc.

Comments

This is interesting...

[gamgee5273]

What has Blizzard done that is so wrong? They're protecting their property. If they don't want Starcraft or Diablo played on non Battle.net servers (unless, of course, you're running over UDP or TCP), who are we to complain? They created and wrote the game, they sell the game - it's their decision how they want to handle their own property. This isn't a case of fair use ala Napster - you bought a license to use this game not the game itself. Blizzard can decide how they want to administer their property.

I. for one, will still play Starcraft or Diablo and judge any new products as they come out on their merit. If I decide that server emulation would be a good idea at that time, then I will complain and contact Blizzard. But, for me personally? I've no issue with Blizzard cracking down on BnetD

Re:Full Text

[Eccles]

It does not take a lawyer to know that bnetd is not a "circumvention device" under the DMCA

You have this reversed.

It takes a lawyer to know that bnetd is primarily a "circumvention device" under the DMCA. The rest of us, not being lawyers, actually go by reason and common sense.