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Blizzard Wins Legal Battle Against WoW Bot Company
New submitter gamersunited writes with news of Blizzard Entertainment's defeat of another company that created bot software to automate World of Warcraft characters. Ceiling Fan Software faces a judgment of $7 million, and must disable any active licenses for the software. They're also forbidden from transferring or open-sourcing the bot software, and from facilitating its continued use in any way. The court order (PDF) follows more than two years of legal wrangling. Blizzard won a similar judgment a few years ago against another bot company called MDY Industries, which created the popular Glider bot.
" Gold farmers do it for cash."
Exactly. And Gold farmers in China are not easily impressed by US law.
Put it this way: Blizzard is an entertainment company. They have a lot of paying customers who play their game 'by the rules' and enjoy doing so. It is less entertaining for their players/customers if there are other people manipulating the game with automated functionality.
If someone showed up at a bowling alley, entered in a tournament, and just ran down the lane and kicked over the pins, a bowling alley operator would be similarly justified in throwing them out.
People who actually play WoW find bots annoying.
If your form of enjoyment is hacking other people's games, why not show up at golf courses with All Terrain Vehicles? It's certainly more extreme. If you like cheating and coding, perhaps write a solitaire game that cheats for you.