Blizzard Sues Overwatch 'Cheat' Maker For Copyright Infringement (torrentfreak.com)

From a TorrentFreak report: Blizzard Entertainment is suing Bossland, the maker of the popular Overwatch cheat tool "Watchover Tyrant" and several other game cheats. Among other things, the developer accuses the German company of various forms of copyright infringement and unfair competition. Blizzard is not happy with the Overwatch cheat and has filed a lawsuit against the German maker, Bossland GMBH, at a federal court in California. Bossland also sells cheats for various other titles such as World of Warcraft, Diablo 3 and Heroes of the Storm, which are mentioned in the complaint as well. The game developer accuses the cheat maker of various forms of copyright infringement, unfair competition, and violating the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision. According to Blizzard these bots and cheats also cause millions of dollars in lost sales, as they ruin the games for many legitimate players. "Moreover, by releasing 'Overwatch Cheat' just days after the release of 'Overwatch,' Defendants are attempting to destroy or irreparably harm that game before it even has had a chance to fully flourish."

Comments

Blizzard takes games seriously

[Anonymous Coward]

Titan fall was (may be it's yet) impossible to play on Brazilian servers cause of cheaters, good to see someone cares about their business.

Re:Blizzard takes games seriously

[guises]

Blizzard certainly takes money seriously. You're applauding this, so I'm going to assume that you're not familiar with the history here. This is not the first time Blizzard has abused copyright to sue people for over something which has nothing to do with copyright, and won: link

Among the consequences of twisting around an inapplicable law in this way is that any time you use a piece of software without permission from the copyright holder, including just using it in a way that the copyright holder did not intend, you are committing copyright infringement. Regardless of whether you've paid for that software, regardless of whether you have a license to use that software for another purpose. If, for example, you install a mod for a game and that game does not give explicit permission to use mods? Or to use that mod? Copyright infringement. A macro for a word processor for a word processor which doesn't want you to use macros? Or doesn't want you to use anyone else's macros? Copyright infringement.

How about if that word processor is only licensed to write letters, and you use it to make a sign? What if you use some politician's campaign app in a way which doesn't support that politician? Copyright infringement. You get the idea. Blizzard is abusing the law in a way which wasn't intended.

Germany + DMCA = ?

[Anonymous Coward]

German maker, Bossland GMBH....violating the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision

How would that work? Germans are not subject to the DMCA, which is an American law.

Re:Germany + DMCA = ?

[Yvan256]

Every cheating player should have his account banned. Want to play again? Buy the game again.

Re:There's a contradiction there.

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

I know _I_ won't buy a game if I know that cheating like this exists.

Re:There's a contradiction there.

[Mr. Spock]

I know _I_ won't buy a game if I know that cheating like this exists.

If that is the case, then you'll never be able to buy any sort of pvp game. Sad, but true.

Overwatch has microtransactions

[The MAZZTer]

Players quitting earlier == less microtransactions. Not all players will spend money on them of course but some will.

Re:There's a contradiction there.

[angel'o'sphere]

Plenty of Blizzards games are subscription based, so yes: they lose sales to cheat bots.
However they lose more sales to stupid game design decisions ... e.g. in World of Warcraft.

Re:There's a contradiction there.

[Anonymous Coward]

I played Medal of Honor for a grand total of about 45 minutes over about five sessions spread out over a few weeks. Continuous insta-headshots from across the map.

I was done with it at that point, and refuse to consider buying another MoH franchise game.

Tell me how that does not equate lost sales?

Re:Bliz

[xlsior]

They do NOT have a right to sue because it's their own responsibility to build software checks and balances that would prevent cheating but THEY ARE TOO TIGHTFISTED to do so

They DO have a right to sue. Anyone can sue pretty much anyone. That doesn't automatically mean they stand a chance of winning of course.

Re: Blizzard: Get a new business model

[BronsCon]

Completely different! Cracks for Windows activation allow people to use Windows without paying for it; people using the cheat still have to buy Overwatch and pay Blizzard for access to their servers. This is more akin to writing software that makes certain Windows tasks easier, something a good many companies make an absolute killing doing, perfectly legally.

Re: Blizzard: Get a new business model

[BronsCon]

Okay, I can go with that. How often does, for example, the IOC sue drug companies?

Full disclosure: Never played Overwatch, I prefer much more casual games, though I do get something of a kick out of watching others (of any skill level; I often find myself as much in awe of pepoles' mistakes in games as I do their successes) play these types of games. That said, also never watched Overwatch.