Blizzard/Vivendi Files Suit Against Bnetd Project

Blizzard's crack legal team, who has earlier tried to rush Bnetd's base, is now busy raining down ice shards on it. Blizzard has filed a lawsuit against Bnetd, listing a variety of causes of action, but read on because the important thing here is that Blizzard is not alleging a DMCA violation, only "traditional" copyright and trademark law violations.

Brief history: Blizzard makes a DMCA complaint against Bnetd, resulting in the temporary downing of the Bnetd website and the Bnetd server code no longer being available for download. EFF decides to represent Bnetd, and they exchange a few letters back and forth. On Friday, Blizzard files suit.

The most interesting thing about the legal claim is that they make no claims under the DMCA. You should recall the distinction between regular copyright law (which prohibits making copies of original works of authorship) and the DMCA (which prohibits making, using or distributing devices intended to circumvent anti-copying protection measures on copyrighted works). Even though Blizzard claimed in their letters that the fact that the Bnetd server doesn't implement CD-checking (which is impossible for them, since it's a secret algorithm known only to Blizzard) makes it a DMCA-violating circumvention device, they didn't raise the claim in the complaint they filed with the court.

Blizzard claims:

• that Bnetd copied code from Blizzard and incorporated it into Bnetd (how this was accomplished isn't stated; since Blizzard does not make their source code available, presumably the Bnetd people would have to break into Blizzard headquarters).
• that Bnetd posted screenshots of Blizzard games to their website (this should be deemed fair use by the courts).
• that Bnetd is engaging in an unauthorized "public performance" of Blizzard's copyrighted material by running a Bnetd server. At least, that's how I parse paragraph 28. Perhaps they're instead making a claim about something that was posted on the Bnetd website, but paras. 28 and 30 read together imply that Blizzard is arguing that anyone who makes software to interoperate with other software over the internet is making a public performance. This would allow Microsoft to shut down anyone who made .NET software, for example, because it will invariably involve a lot of transmission of information that Microsoft can claim is copyrighted.
• that Bnetd infringes on Blizzard's trademark (an identifier for goods or services that are sold) for "BATTLE.NET" by calling their software "Bnetd", because, after all, "Bnetd" is essentially identical to "BATTLE.NET" (coming next: the makers of the elm email client sue the makers of pine, emacs sues eine [who sues zwei], Unix sues GNU... chaos). That is, people who use Bnetd may be confused because the name is so similar to Battle.net that they think they are actually using a Blizzard product.

People who are offended at Blizzard attacking its fans and customers may want to consider Warlords Battlecry 1 and 2 instead of Warcraft 3. The original Battlecry is selling for $10 these days and is quite good.

Comments

What race will Vivendi use to attack tho?

[SaxMaster]

Will they use Orc or Human lawyers?

Re:What race will Vivendi use to attack tho?

[mikeee]

Human, of course. There are some things Orc lawyers won't do...

Re:What race will Vivendi use to attack tho?

[qslack]

Human lawyers? Isn't that an oxymoron, like "fresh frozen?"

Re:What race will Vivendi use to attack tho?

[anpe]

Orc Lawyer : Ddrg gtg adfrj l kfrlziferf
Bnetd Lawyer : Objection your honor this question is a nonsense
Judge: Please reformulate your question
Orc Lawyer : **BAFF**
Judge (without teeth): Obfecfion oveffuled

Must be a Monday.

[llamalicious]

We hate Blizzard on Mondays.
ooohhh... shiny things. i like shiny things.

from Blizzard's perspective...

[Em Emalb]

There's nothing wrong with our system. Yours is illegal and allows consumers to bypass our detection methods. Once we have shut you down in a court of law, the users will have to use our services....

Yep, until they (Blizzard) realize that their system is not up to par, and BNETD is actually doing them a favor....and the user base drops/complains so much they have to change it....

fast forward 1 year..."Damn, it SEEMED like a good idea at the time to get rid of BNETD. Stupid lawyers...."

Well. . . .

[Com2Kid]

BNETD would likely not have come under fire

IF A LOT OF KIDDIES DID NOT USE IT TO PLAY THEIR PIRATED VERSIONS OF BLIZZARD GAMES

Especially true now days with the Warcraft 3 beta (which blizzard is trying VERY hard to keep limited. Not succeeding very well, but they are TRYING hard.)

Blizzard allows A LOT of stuff to go on with their games, but. . . .

I think that the solution to this BEFORE HAND was that the computer community, huhrump, should have policed their own.

Though granted early court rulings in hacking cases kind of makes vigilantism hard to pull off. :(

Re:Well. . . .

[daoine]

IF A LOT OF KIDDIES DID NOT USE IT TO PLAY THEIR PIRATED VERSIONS OF BLIZZARD GAMES

Thank you.

I'm not particularly thrilled that Blizzard is attacking bnetd with the cadre of ninja attack lawyers, but what are their other options? They have found a 'single source' which happens to contain an enormous number users who pirated games. They have every right to go after those who did pirate software.

And, like Metallica did through Napster, they're going for the one thing that all said pirates have in common. Thousands of people doing the same wrong thing doesn't make it necessarily right. It should make people re-examine the definition of wrong and right, but it doesn't make it right by default.

I'm not so angry at Blizzard as I am the people who are encouraging them to do this. If Blizzard believed that 95% of all players on bnetd actually owned a legit copy, do you think they'd be going after them? Doubtful -- it would destroy their customer base. The people they are going after aren't their customers to begin with...

Re:Well. . . .

[Lonath]

Pockets in clothing would likely not have come under fire

IF A LOT OF KIDDIES DID NOT USE THEM TO STEAL CANDY BARS FROM STORES

Especially true now days with the new GoopyGoop bar (which Hershey's is trying VERY hard to keep limited. Not succeeding very well, but they are TRYING hard.)

Hershey's allows A LOT of to happen to their candy bars but. . . .

I think that the solution to this BEFORE HAND was that the parental community, huhrump, should have policed their own.

I totally agree with you on this. That's why I support the Consumer Banning Pockets and Defeating Thieves Act (CBPDTA) which will outlaw purchase-circumvention devices like pockets.

Once this law is passed pockets in clothing will be made illegal because it's clear (even though I know nothing about clothing) that their main purpose is to help people steal things and these pockets really have no legitimate purpose besides that that I can see.

It will be illegal to take new clothing without pockets and sew pockets onto it (even if you think that the clothing industry is selling "crippled" wares and you want to "fix" it to do the things you can do today with clothing), and doing this will be punishable by up to 10 years in prison and 1 million dollars in fines.

It will also be illegal to tell people how to make pockets, as this would be trafficking in Purchase Circumvention Devices.

Also, it will be illegal to wear clothing with pockets in public after a certain grace period where grandfathered clothing with pockets is allowed out while the pockets are removed from everything.

Regardless of whether or not you have become used to pockets in your clothing, you won't have them in the future. The courts and Congress have spoken, and this legal issue is settled: There Will Be No More Pockets In Clothing. Get Over It.

All of this whining about "fair use" and the "right to carry things around without using my hands" is just the bleating of a few leftie college professors and this entire generation of thieves that have grown up thinking that they don't have to pay for anything. Fortunately, it ends here, and you agitators and terrorists who want to keep your little bombs and guns and candy bars in your pockets will just have to move along with the rest of us, or get trampled in the stampede to the future.

Of course, you thieves don't think about more than your own little petty desires and needs. Consumers will benefit because clothing will be cheaper since the manufacturers won't have to put those difficult-to-make pockets on their clothes. Consumers will also benefit more because stores will sell more things since they won't have to worry about shoplifting as much.

The clothing industry will be whining about how the loss of pockets will cause people to start buying their clothing from overseas sweatshops where 8 year-olds work for 3 cents a day instead of buying domestically made clothing with no pockets, but they will just have to adjust to the new legal climate.

Re:Well. . . .

[EllisDees]

The sale of various theft equipment in real life is quite illegal.

This depends on what state you are in, and what the tools are. That's completely beside the point.

Imagine were the STOLEN vehicles would be serviced at? That is right, the unauthorized service centers. Sure some (or even quite a lot) of people with LEGAL vehicles might go to the unauthorized service centers, hell maybe at times it is just more convenient, but the BEST way for Ford to (help) stop the theft of vehicles is to shutdown the unauthorized service centers.

The point you are missing is that Ford has exactly zero legal right to shut down those service centers. Zilch. I am allowed to operate my competing service regardless of what kind of cars happen to drive in and Ford can whine about it all they like - at the end of the day, my shop hasn't broken a single law. Even if my shop were providing the keys to start those stolen cars, I have not stolen a single car or encouraged anyone else to do so.

This program does nothing to help spread pirate copies of games around. All it does is implement some of the same protocols as Blizzard's proprietary server.

Re:Well. . . .

[Lonath]

The problem is that there's no way to separate stopping thieves from stopping me from programming. In truth, all I want is computers so I can sit there and program things that amuse me. Not things that steal things from other people. Not things that hurt other people, and it won't be possible to separate these two things. So, they will be taking away pockets when all I want is something to carry around my change in.

Bad tactics by vivendi

[sterno]

Seems like Vivendi's lawyers are really screwing up here. The evidence of a direct violation of copyright is non-existant. The only possible violation from their list that might stand up in court would be if bnetd included battle.net code, and I seriously doubt that this is the case.

My guess is that Vivendi's lawyers thought that if they fired off a real lawsuit, even if totally unsubstantiated, the bnetd people would back down. We'll see what happens, but since the EFF is already involved I get the sense that the bnetd folks are intending to fight this. So Vivendi is actually risking legitimizing bnetd in the courts.

Re:Bad tactics by vivendi

[Kintanon]

The thing is, there is an almost garauntee that some block of code within Bnetd will resemble some block of code in Blizzards server software in some significant manner, simply because the two programs do the exact same thing. So Blizzard can point to that and say 'See! This whole thing was obviously ripped off from us via illegal hacker tactics and stuff!' and the judge, not knowing any better, is likely to look at the two pieces of paper and agree. The Bnetd lawyers would do well to find an expert witness, preferablly a CS professor from a decent university, who can tesitfy that the two programs have similar code because they perform similar tasks and that doesn't mean one borrowed code from the other.

Kintanon

Re:Bad tactics by vivendi

[po8]

Seems like Vivendi's lawyers are really screwing up here...

I don't see it. It's very inexpensive for Vivendi to file a suit, and the threat might get bnetd to make substantial concessions. If the threat fails, it's easy enough to withdraw or amend the suit at the 11th hour.

The only possible negative for Vivendi I can see is the bad publicity, but I seriously doubt it's going to impact their sales much. At least negatively: when it comes to publicity, one must always remember Barnum's Adage...

Re:Bad tactics by vivendi

[Eric Green]

But the point is that unless there's evidence of a "firewall" between the reverse engineering team and the implementation team, the courts tend to give the copyright holder the benefit of the doubt here. If there is a bug in the copyright holder's product that also occurs in the reverse engineered product, it is pretty much assumed de' facto that unless proven otherwise, you lifted code from the copyright holder's product.

The rest of the arguments in the complaint are just so much drivel, probably there to keep the other side's lawyers busy. This one (the duplicated bug) is the one that's going to be VERY hard to get around.

There's reasons why engineers (real engineers) carry around those numbered/dated notebooks and log everything they do every day in them (and get them notarized from time to time), and there's a reason why commercial reverse engineering projects use the "two-box" paradigm along with those numbered/dated notebooks, and you just found out what that reason is. Welcome to the real world, where legal CYA is as important as code.

-E

Re:Bad tactics by vivendi

[BasharTeg]

Well, lets see what they actually said, since you have a score of 5 for such amazing insight. You're saying similar code will look similar. Perhaps, but lets see what Blizzard is actually saying.

24. One instance of Defendants' copying is found by examining the BNETD source code, which is available to the public at Sourceforge.com. On information and belief, in order to provide unfettered access to the BNETD servers for illegitimate users of unauthorized copies of Blizzard programs, Defendants reproduced and incorporated into the BNETD server program the code for Blizzard's proprietary client-side key check software that executes certain login functionality including the First CD Key Check, described above, altering it so as not to perform any CD Key check function. Defendants' copying was so blatant that Defendants included the programming bug described above in the BNETD code. The duplication of such a unique bug in the BNETD code shows wholesale, deliberate and willful copying on the Defendants' part.

Okay, so they're stating that this bug in their client side CD key check code is very obvious. They're stating that the bug exists in the BNETD code.
Now, can you explain to us please, in your pseudo-computer science 5 karma hyped perspective, why exactly properly reverse engineered code, which would have to be derived from packet analysis (just like many other video game hax0rs do), would include a code bug that is shared with the original source? A far more likely possibility is that the BNETD people used a disassembler like W32DSM, traced into the code and found the first CD Check, and did a simple literal conversion of the assembly there into some C instructions (thus preserving the bug).

None of this "someone must have broken into their building and stolen the code" bullshit.
The source code is right there in the binary, if you know how to view it.

None of this "similiar code will look the same" bullshit.
If someone reverse engineers a protocol or cdkey checker through _legit_ means, a bug in the original source code would NOT be copied unless it effected the transmitted results. Since the first CD key check is ENTIRELY client side, it was obviously taken from a disassembled copy of their binary EXE.

If you are going to do something like that, you can at _least_ try to "cleanroom" the code. Read what the other programmer is doing, write down on paper the math involved in his key generation and validation. Then rewrite your own version from scratch. Using that method *MIGHT* make it legal. But this kind of stupidity is blantant theft of code, and is terribly obvious to anyone with any knowledge of programming, disassembling, cracking, etc.

I could repeat the claim that if this were copied from Linux, like a certain header file that was copied from FreeBSD way back when (variable names and comments hardly changed!), people would be throwing a fit. But in this instance, the gamers want to play but not pay, so the code theft is not the issue. Blizzard's case isn't entirely about fighting emulation. It's about fighting code theft, and the theft of their game by beating their copyprotection.

I would have supported BNETD too, if it weren't obvious they stole code.

Re:Bad tactics by vivendi

[NonReal]

I just looked at the latest CVS code of bnetd and there are no cdkey checking routines in the code. The code for the packet handling has 3 cases in which the cdkey is handled (one for each of the authorization packet versions Blizzard has used). In the oldest auth packet (CLIENT_CDKEY), bnetd merely copies the key into the connection structure it keeps. In the newer two packets (CLIENT_CDKEY2, CLIENT_CDKEY3) the cdkey is hashed and so bnetd ignores it all together. The cd key is never checked by the code that I have seen (and I have worked with it extensively).

WarCraft III required slightly more elaborate schemes (both of the login packets are encrypted). But, remember that bnetd did not implement these packets.

Also, based on my experience with the code, none of it feels as if someone had converted it from assembled code removed from a Blizzard game.

Re:Bad tactics by vivendi

[barawn]

OK, here's the best that can be gleaned from the actual document:

The "bug" they're talking about is a bug in the login procedure - the "cd key checking" bit doesn't make any sense, as the server doesn't do any checking. So the only thing that makes sense is they're talking about the procedure that the game uses to login to other games (remember battle.net is a passing server, that is, it doesn't actually 'serve' the games) - apparently the games screw up some portion of the login logic, and bnetd copies that as well.

Unless we're talking about a completely internal bug (which I don't see in the source...) it's gotta be a protocol bug, which would OF COURSE be copied in a clean-room reimplementation of the Battle.net protocol. In fact, if they had done a disassembly of the source, they probably would have recognized the bug and FIXED it.

Look, I tend to believe bnetd in this case - especially because, remember, innocent before proven guilty - and they say that it was done as a cleanroom implementation. Given that Blizzard has already misinterpreted legal statutes, I find it more likely that Blizzard doesn't understand what reverse engineering is. (It obviously doesn't know what "trademarks" are, or it never would've complained about the screenshots, or the 'bnetd' name!)

talk about stretching it

[mark_lybarger]

from the 14 page pdf fax document, paragraph 36:

"BNETD is a shorthand for BATTLE.NET DAEMON"

anyone using BNETD is well aware that they're using something that isn't Blizzard's. i really would like to see this go to trial though. it's always entertaining to see them law-yers sling BS all over the place.

maybe mcd's should be taking burger king to court for their new line of breakfast sandwitches i went to bk to get one and was almost fooled to thinking i was at a McD's (of course when i spilled the coffee on myself and didn't get blisters, I knew where i was).

Re:Must be time for easy karma whoring

[llamalicious]

you are correct.
but I hit the cap long ago, so I only whore because it makes me happy.

Besides, I like to rag on /. when it's not just 2 or 3 conflicting articles, but whole flocks of them. Now run along.

Blizzard throwing weight around

[!splut]

Skimming down the list of purported violations, one gets the impression that Blizzard/Vivendi has no intention of being clever or strategic with this whole Bnet business. Without the shiny shield of the DMCA the Blizzard suit takes on the patina of a run-of-the-mill "he stole my popsicle" lawsuit.

Obviously they didn't steal code. They reverse engineered, which is prohibited by the EULA, but isn't a copyright issue.

Same deal with screenshots... They weren't making money off of them. The EULA gives guidelines for how screenshots may be used, but since they didn't mention violation of EULA, Bnetd should be able to put up a fair use defense.

They may have an argument with the "public performance" issue, but it is difficult to understand what they mean. The difference between Blizzard and Microsoft is that MS wants you to make .NET software... But the Battle.net name trademark crap just sounds like filler material.

Blizzard is throwing its weight around, trying to squash Bnetd with its vast bulk. Like a swarm of Protoss carriers... Lets hope Bnetd's lawyers bothered to develop "Lockdown."

Could this be a trend?

[imadork]

Prof. Felton gets threatened with a lawsuit by the RIAA regarding DMCA violations, but the lawsuit never comes.

Bnetd gets threatened with a lawsuit by Vivendi regarding DMCA violations, but the lawsuit doesn't mention the DMCA.

Perhaps the media companies know that the DMCA goes too far, and will not bring an actual high-profile lawsuit out of fear the entire thing will be overturned on appeal? After all, as long as the law is still on the books, it can still be used as a threat, even if it will never get tested in a court of law.

Re:Could this be a trend?

[terrymr]

This seems to be a matter of extraordinary bad faith by VUG - if I followed this correctly :

VUG : You are in violation of the DMCA take down your site.

BNETD : Ok - the site is down - we have checked our compliance with the DMCA and will reinstate the site in 10 days unless you sue under the DMCA to prevent that.

VUG Files lawsuit claiming violation of some other part of the copyright code.

"DMCA complaint" can be traditional copyright

[Seth Finkelstein]

Note a "DMCA complaint" isn't at all restricted to only addressing the infamous anti-circumvention provision.

The Blizard letter states (emphasis added)

The aforementioned site either hosts or distributes software which illegally modifies and/or alters Blizzard Entertainment copyrighted software or or bypasses anti-circumvention technology, thereby infringing upon Blizzard Entertainment copyrights.

That is. Blizzard technically claimed in their letter that Bnetd violated EITHER traditional copyright OR new anti-circumvention, but didn't actually say which one it was.

Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)

Lawsuit isn't against Bnetd...

[crisco]

The lawsuit isn't against bnetd, it is against Tim Jung and his ISP, Internet Gateway. They are involved because Tim was kind enough to host the project and had the balls to stand up to Blizzard instead of bending to their will.

The lawsuit reads like a press release, using phrases like 'Blizzard is one of the preeminent entertainment software companies in the world'.

Don't tell anyone, but the source for bnetd is available with many linux distributions... I might have a look at some of Blizzards absurd claims myself.

In other news, the coming of Dungeon Siege numbers the days for DiabloII. Dungeon Siege is much prettier and more immersing while offering the same kind of hack and slash gameplay, character advancement and 'finding nifty items' that was first pioneered in games like Rogue.

Issues

[grakwell]

On Item 24:
The existence of a unique bug that mirrors battle.net in bnetd's client-side login indicating that the source code was blatantly copied:

During reverse-engineering, if you observe something happening with the program on every login, would you not implement it? How would the bnetd coders know it was a bug? How does this prove the *code* was copied, not the functionality?

on 38, and 39:
bnetd has been around for years. Isn't a provision for keeping a trademark timely defense of the trademark?How can Blizzard claim they were unaware of bnetd's infringing name when they sent the original developer a cease-and-desist notice that they never backed up? They have been aware of bnetd for the past 5+ years. The fact that they have not defended their trademark for this long (and if this is a trademark issue), they should lose the trademark.

on 45:
bnetd only devalues the battle.net trademark because it is a superior product to battle.net. Blizzard's servers are unstable cheater-havens. bnetd is used, in my experience, mostly by tight-knit groups of friends that choose to play without the lag and without the disrespectful people that are so common on battle.net.

As for copyright infringement, I don't think Blizzard is going after them for screenshots. What they are claiming is that bnetd allows gamers to access the copyrighted content in battle.net games, that they couldn't otherwise access.

Didn't Sony lose to Connectix, trying the same thing?

And, isn't it fallacious, considering that these same users *can* access the copyrighted content without bnetd, through use of the games' touted single player aspects?

Re:Issues

[Puk]

You've hit the nail on the head. It may not be observable -- you have to see the source code.

Blizzard has their Battle.net source. Blizzard has the bnetd (open) source. If they want to prove this, they don't need to resort to "duplicated bugs", they can just compare the two.

I am making no assertions as to whether their claim is true -- I have not seen the Battle.net source and don't know what the bug itself is. But the fact that they have to go about making their claim in this manner makes me think it's either baseless, or they're overly paranoid of having to show their code in court.

In fact, due to the openness of bnetd, I would think it would be tougher for Blizzard to authenticate their code than it would be for bnetd. How does the court know that Blizzard didn't just rip off bnetd's code in order to make them the same? Again, I'm not saying they didn't, I'm just saying they would probably have to prove that is was already there (which is reasonably possible, if you make the assumption they won't go to ridiculous lengths to fake it).

-Puk

Re:Must be time for easy karma whoring

[damiangerous]

I mean, who wants discontented prostitutes?

Lonely masochists?

Boycott Blizzard

[drivers]

This is why I am asking everyone to Boycott Blizzard.
http://boycottblizzard.org/

Uh, I'm not sure I totally understand this issue..

[yeoua]

Ok, lets get some facts straight...

I was on the irc channel that was working their asses off developing the warcraft3beta work arounds for bnetd, and let me tell you, none of them are affiliated with bnetd.

In fact, they weren't using bnetd to begin with i believe... they went through several choices (including closed source fsgs) before going with opensource bnetd. BTW there was a possible nondoctored shot of fsgs working with warcraft3, before bnetd was fixed to work for it.

Anyway, from the bnetd sourceforge page, it seemed pretty obvious to everything that they were not going to officially support warcraft3 until it was retail anyway, though they were starting to work on it.

It was the channel i was on that did actually pull it off, and again, they were not related to bnetd... and since it was open source, well... no one stopped them. It was reverse engineered, no code was stolen. The coolest part was the original bypass of the password, which was done by using a crack into the exe, by passing the whole password check (client didn't send, server didn't ask, all was good, but no passwords in this case). It was actually quite amazing that it was done in such a short period of time, about a week and some bit after the original beta was released.

So what am i getting at? Well, bnetd didn't put in the war3b code that we all know and love now. And blizzard didn't complain till after the war3b code was working. So exactly why is it that after all this time, its still bnetd under fire? The code was open source for god-sakes... anyone could have played with it.

And i'm pretty damn sure sourceforge has enough documentation to rule out the usage of ripped code from blizzard.

As far as i'm concerned, this is a silly lawsuit, as you can't buy war3 at all at this point, and blizzard didn't care until war3.

sorta makes sence when you think about it...

[Rashan]

This isn't really about WarcraftIII or Battle.net as it currently exists at all... it's about Blizzard's future revenue model. they're trying to set a presedent for when they release World of Warcraft. They need to be the only place to play their games online so that they can push their pay-for-play MMORP sucessfully. If anyone can put up a server to play Blizzard games on, what is the incentive to pay Blizzard to play the game?

Well, SOMEONE is missing the point...

[Hrothgar The Great]

Try reading their original DMCA threat, followed by the actual suit they filed. Notice that they have now taken a completely different direction than originally indicated. That shows you that their original threat was completely empty and so insubstantial that they weren't even willing to pursue it themselves. It's laughable.

Now, read the suit they have filed. It is almost completely without legal merit. Blizzard is abusing the U.S. legal system in a tactical manner, to some end or another, without actually having a case. They are wasting the courts' time with nonsense. If you want to defend them, then put together a good lawsuit for them. (Please note that "THEY MADE ME LOSE MONEY!!!!! WAAAAAH" does not qualify as such.) If you write up a good reason that bnetd is illegal, send it to Blizzard/Vivendi, because it looks like they have no clue!

Can I sue Blizzard for ripping off Nethack?

[ChadN]

(ie. Diablo... ie. Dia-BLOW)