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Blizzard Issues DMCA Notice to a Fan-Run 'WoW' Legacy Server (torrentfreak.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the war-on-World-of-Warcraft dept.

An anonymous reader calls it "the never-ending stupidity of copyright wars." TorrentFreak reports: Blizzard Entertainment is taking a stand against a popular World of Warcraft legacy server. The fan-operated project allows gamers to experience how the game was played over a decade ago and to revive old battles... In recent years the project has captured the hearts of tens of thousands of die-hard WoW fans. At the time of writing, the most popular realm has more than 6,000 people playing from all over the world... Blizzard, however, sees this as copyright infringement and has asked GitHub to pull the site's code offline.
The article notes the DMCA notice came "just weeks after several organizations and gaming fans asked the US Copyright Office to make a DMCA circumvention exemption for 'abandoned' games."

28 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. Abandoned games... by Rewind · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Um... I really do think that something needs to be done about classic and abandoned games. We are, unfortunately, losing those parts of history to the obscurity of copyright.

    With that said...
    "The article notes the DMCA notice came "just weeks after several organizations and gaming fans asked the US Copyright Office to make a DMCA circumvention exemption for 'abandoned' games."

    WoW is not even close to an abandoned game. They are working on a subscription right now and maintain and update servers that millions play on right now. In what way is it abandoned? The language in this post is more like the FUD spread by hardcore DRM supporters than someone who wants to preserve software. This is an awful sub EditorDavid...

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    1. Re:Abandoned games... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They have announced recently a "WoW Classic" so it's hardly an "abandoned game".

    2. Re:Abandoned games... by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      WoW in its "classic", level 50 (or was it 60?) cap form, IS abandoned. Blizzard does not offer the option to play on a server where the old dungeons are the endgame and expansion creep isn't forcing people to play the game in a way they never wanted to.

      If Blizzard offered no-expansion servers, we can talk.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Abandoned games... by Xamindar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I think the point is that "version" of the game is abandoned. You had to buy the game before you had the opportunity to pay monthly to actually play it. Shouldn't people be able to set up their own servers if they want as they have already bought the game?

    4. Re:Abandoned games... by mccalli · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There is an issue though - what is 'abandoned'? Let's take the 8 bit games legacy. When mobile gaming took off, suddenly these games were appearing once again but on mobile phones - things like Lords of Midnight, which by every rationale people previously would have considered abandoned. They turned out to be a viable revenue stream again. Or all the Nintendo ones that found a new life in the 'virtual console' on their newer platforms.

      Don't get me wrong - I also agree there should be some solution found. But I really don't think it's simple, because even the definition of 'abandoned' isn't clear cut, and we have a recent example where a technology shifts have rendered viable again things one previously considered abandoned

    5. Re:Abandoned games... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      WoW ( as it stands may not be abandoned ), but as stated the version / release and content that excited people in droves back then most certainly has been.

      Perhaps software companies would do well to embrace communities like these to enhance player experience vrs kill them off cause they seem to do things better than they currently do. Lets face it the gaming industry is super stagnant right now, almost as bad as Hollywood and movies, any help to a company or genre of game should be welcomed not shutdown using DMCA which really is total B$ of the dubya era.

      Just sayin

    6. Re:Abandoned games... by houghi · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Can you explain to me what the difference is in copyright between an abandoned game, an abandoned book and an abandoned movie? It is called a copyright, not a blocked-right-if-used. I can write a book and not even publish it, just let one person read it and then put it in a closet. I die and somebody finds it. That book will still have my copyrights and the kids will enjoy it for 70 years after I die.

      The fact that I have never published it, means it was abandoned.
      Obviously the period for copyright is WAY too long, but it was never dependent of the usage, just of the moment of creation.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    7. Re:Abandoned games... by JMJimmy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Either way just move the server/code to Canada.

      We already have "interoperability" exemptions to copyright. This is an ideal example of why they were put in. User demand for a specific version of the product which the original maker refuses to support.

    8. Re:Abandoned games... by Maury+Markowitz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      > Are you seriously claiming that other people playing one of the roughly two hundred and fifty dungeons released in the last ten years

      If you think that's why people play on these 3rd party servers then you simply haven't talked to any of the people involved.

      They're on those servers to return to the era when the game was played by people who's goal wasn't the collection of stuff and end-game play.

      Returning to an earlier version has the primary effect of selecting those players looking for the original, highly collaborative, user base.

    9. Re:Abandoned games... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's not even a question of expansions existing. The original content was "replaced" by the Cataclysm expansion. You can't experience it at all. It is content that is abandoned.

    10. Re:Abandoned games... by subanark · · Score: 3, Informative

      To be clear WoW classic will be a compromise of the old game with probably some more recent features that don't impact the gameplay like cross game chat, security exploits removed etc... However you get into some gray area like multi-loot, or what ui addons they support it gets complex. Add into this how fast new content is released within the original game (there are over 12 content patches), and needing to run it on newer servers, and you can understand why it will take a while to get it out the door.

      I've seen non-Blizzard classic servers pull all kinds of shady tricks like being able to donate for grossly overpowered items (e.g. similar to best items in the game, but with an extra 0 on the end of each stat)

      Also, don't play WoW classic if you didn't play it back in the day. There is no class balance, and death was penalized by having to spend a good 5 minutes or more walking back as a ghost to your body (in harder content areas). This was however a drastic improvement over Ever Quest which had a massive XP loss penality (like 4 or more hours of grinding XP gone).

    11. Re:Abandoned games... by TheInternet01 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      But do you have the ability to remove the book from people's hands, update it's content without their permission and desire to do and then go after them if they find a way to read the original copy of the book?

      If they purchase your book, and you charge a subscription to access a book club so they can attend with other book readers, is it right that you can take the book away if they no longer wish to attend the book club? Or go after them if they take their book to another book club that doesn't charge them for attending?

      The biggest flaw is the fact that you have to purchase the game / book and then you're only paying for access to their servers. it shouldn't be illegal in these cases if using a legitimate purchased copy of the game to play on other servers. Or hosting the other servers / book clubs.

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    12. Re:Abandoned games... by MobyDisk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Companies only started releasing those games in response to the public constantly pirating them. It seems like we need pirates to help the copyright holders find valid business models.

    13. Re:Abandoned games... by subanark · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Lets see what do I remember about EQ (got to level 20):
      1. The game was full screen. Any attempt to switch to another app would close EQ
      2. Having to type /con to determine approximately what level an NPC was relative to your own.
      3. Solo play outside of a couple of classes was impossible due to anything granting XP being able to kill you
      4. Having to sit down to slowly regain mana, Also move, sit, wait for mana regen tick, move, repeat.
      5. Unlike WoW multiple characters couldn't occupy the same place.
      6. Massive XP penalization for dying. Clerics could resurrect you to restore some XP, but their 100% XP restore had a 1 day cool down.
      7. Players who volunteered to be in game customer support (they got free subscription).
      8. A high level quest which involved sitting under water for 3 hours +/- 15 minutes for an NPC to show up.
      9. Having to compete with other players on an NPC that spawns once per week for its loot/quest requirement.
      10. No private party only dungeons.
      11. Daylight savings screwed up the servers
      12. If you died you had to get your gear back from your body.
      13. I played after they removed the part where you had to stare at a book in the UI to recover mana
      14. If you got blind, the UI, including chat with other players was black. Although you could hit just fine.
      15. A hack called "Show EQ" pissed off devs and was pretty much undetectable, as you ran it on a proxy server running Linux.
      16 If you carry too much you can go to 0 movement speed. If you got a buff to walk, then even the smallest fall was fatal.
      17, An invisible NPC called "Pain and suffering" which would attack any player lower than 0 hp, but not yet dead (very unlikey at high levels).

      So, No thanks to that. I'm not touching EQ again.

    14. Re:Abandoned games... by Cederic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Basically, you're confirming that EQ was hardcore. Sadly that's no longer commercially viable as MMOs rely on network effects, and the networks build around the less punitive games - as you indicate you'd prefer yourself.

      It's a shame though, as EQ did have a tremendous amount of content and did help define a genre. I'm not sure I'd want to play it myself if it was released today (with shiny new graphics, etc) but EQ does have its place in gaming history.

      Incidentally, points 2, 5, 7 and 16 aren't necessarily bad at all. Shit, you could /con something, find that it's pathetic and still get utterly hammered for attacking it. My first death happened that way..

    15. Re:Abandoned games... by LeftCoastThinker · · Score: 3, Informative

      Vanilla WoW is indeed an abandoned game. There is nowhere you can play it and it is no longer supported in any way by Blizzard.

      --
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  2. Not Infringing - Bliz fault by mfh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    These private servers are interacting with old clients that were released freely by Bliz. They claim the tables are nearly identical; the tables can easily be remapped.

    If I was a judge that'd be my ruling: remap the table names and continue supporting ABANDONWARE; yes, private servers are running abandonware services; they designed the server stuff based on how the client expects to be communicated with.

    DCMA has a very specific clause that blocks copyright on ABANDONWARE. Old warcraft patches aren't currently available and were unavailable for many years.

    The servers are fine if there is an honest judge hearing the case.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:Not Infringing - Bliz fault by mfh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No. 2.4.3 vs, 3.3.5...etc.

      Private servers run different EXPANSIONS. Because Bliz took that feeling away from TBC and WOTLK. CATA garbage, MOP garbage.... and everything else pretty much after.

      Even if Bliz starts to do classic mode (which they are) that still can't change the facts.

      Bliz is wrong; they changed MAJOR aspects of the game to the extent that each expansion is like a GAME in and of itself, and not a VERSION of a GAME.

      That is the final crux; Warcraft is many different games each time there is an expansion and the company DENIES PLAYERS the right of playing previous GAMES.

      ie: TBC is warcraft but it is the game TBC. WOTLK is warcraft but it is the GAME WOTLK. When they bring out this next patch, LEGION will be ABANDONWARE.

      I just hate how nobody UNDERSTANDS THIS. Dammit.

      --
      The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  3. and more by fyngyrz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I really do think that something needs to be done about classic and abandoned games

    I see it as even more than that. Abandoned applications of every type: operating systems, drivers, vertical applications, etc.

    Frankly, if software is unsupported, I see no reason it should continue to enjoy the protection of copyright, patent, or anything else, frankly.

    I don't draw a distinction as to why. If the developer is gone or no longer willing, if the "upgrade" no longer supports the operating system or hardware you've been using (or vice-versa... operating systems should be treated the same), basically if the thing no longer is "live", then it's abandonware. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who steals it, reverses it, copies it or, as here, supports it from a third-party position should be blameless.

    And yes, I am a developer, and yes, I still think this should be the case. If you aren't going to support your customers, then there's no particular reason to expect your now ex-customers to support you. From my POV, that most certainly includes no longer honoring the legal protections you are awarded in trade for producing something useful. As soon as you, as a developer or large entity (Adobe, Apple, etc.) decide to abandon, compromise or outright destroy that usefulness, you are the one that has broken the compact.

    Let the chips fall where they may.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  4. How much Blizzard code ... by Rip!ey · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How much Blizzard code exactly, has been copied, to produce the non-Blizzard server?

  5. Blizzard Issues DMCA Notice to a Fan-Run 'WoW' Leg by zifn4b · · Score: 4, Informative

    Blizzard Issues DMCA Notice to a Fan-Run 'WoW' Leg

    No. They issued the DMCA notice to GITHUB. Terrible summary.

    Blizzard has asked GitHub to pull the site's code offline.

    Blizzard asked Github to take down ONE file. Github complied because they are located in the United States. Light's Hope on the other hand is run outside of the United States so there is absolutely no jurisdiction for Blizzard to take it down and they can't really stop the code from being disseminated. Blizzard is just quite frankly wasting their time and money.

    --
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  6. To be expected by TheSanAdmin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Blizzard recently announced they were bringing back the classic version so it only makes sense they would start clearing out any "competition". These servers have been around for years and Blizzard didn't care until now.

  7. You can never please (any) of the people .. by RabidStoat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All these people, here and elsewhere that are claiming they should be able to play the game as released by Blizzard. Sure, go on then ! Having played since the early Betas, i remember what the game was like when it was first released and my account history shows how much free time there was when it was _released_. Oh and of course, next you'll have people claiming "oh no, we didn't mean when it was released, we mean when it was stable", or "oh no, we didn't mean when it was released we meant at the end of the expansion". Copyright is copyright. Like it or not, dislike the period or not , get over it.

    So what version are we talking about when they say its been "abandoned", as someone else pointed out that means they should be keeping servers running for every patch "I want to play the second Burning Crusade patch please - you've abandoned that Blizzard, I'm not entitling myself to create my own server and copy all your material". Reductio ad absurdum - I want to have my own server running the patch the day before yesterday, 'cause you've abandoned that version Blizzard.

  8. Reverse engineering != copyright infringement by bradley13 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Blizzard is really reaching here. AFAIK, this is a pure reverse-engineering effort. No code was copied. There's basically almost no case for claiming any sort of copyright infringement. In desperation, Blizzard claims, for example:

    "Blizzard’s notice targets several SQL databases stating that the layout and structure is nearly identical to the early WoW databases."

    Given the data to be stored, and the rules of normalization, of course the structure of the databases is similar. All that shows is that whoever designed the database was competent.

    They complain that the code includes direct references to - get this - another fan-run WoW server (Nostalrius). Whose copyrights Blizzard does not own, ahem.

    Some files have names that reference fantasy elements in WoW - they don't specify, but I assume things like town names. Which would make sense for the server-side implementations of these elements. Whether they can legitimately claim copyright on those names?

    Lastly, they point out that "some" database record IDs are the same. Not all, but some. How many, they don't indicate. Statistically speaking, of course some of them match, though it should be very many. Of course, Blizzard does not specify a number.

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    1. Re:Reverse engineering != copyright infringement by Solandri · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Some files have names that reference fantasy elements in WoW - they don't specify, but I assume things like town names. Which would make sense for the server-side implementations of these elements. Whether they can legitimately claim copyright on those names?

      If I remember right, when Phoenix reverse engineered the IBM BIOS, they had to put "Copyright IBM" in their BIOS because IBM had put it in the original and required it to operate. The judge ruled that since it was required for the reverse-engineered copy to work, that was a purely functional constraint and thus had no creative element, meaning it couldn't be copyright infringement - copyright infringement being when you have the freedom to do it differently, but you make it the same as the thing you're copying. If IBM had included "Copyright IBM" but not made it required for the BIOS to function, and the reverse-engineered copy also had "Copyright IBM" in it, then that would be a clear copyright violation. It's one of those "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers" situations.

      So if their client requires those specific names for the server to function, copyright law doesn't apply and the private servers can use the same names. If it doesn't require those specific names, then Blizzard can claim copyright on the names (assuming they're unique to WoW) and force private servers to come up with different names for their towns and such.

  9. Debatable by DrYak · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you look in the URL linked in the summary (Yeah I know, /. and actual article reading) :
    it might seem debatable.

    The complains hinge around 2-3 sql file using names and having a few data that looks like the data used in wow (spells have the same characteristic as old versions of wow, same old trademarked names are used, etc.).

    Fantasy Names – “Script” files and folders are named after and reference WoW fantasy names.

    They're not complaining about game assets being lifted of blizzard's own software (e.g.: bitmaps, etc.)
    They are complaining about the code using official Blizzard trademarked name to designate Blizzard's said trademarked characters.
    (Note: e.g. it's not a trademark violation when you use microsoft's trademarked "Microsoft Windows" name to speak about Microsoft Windows itself).

    They're complaining that the datamodel is very close to how it used to be in old servers :

    The LightsHope spell table has identical layout and typically identical field names as the table from early WoW. We use database tables to represent game data, like spells, in WoW. In our code, we use .sql files to represent the data layout of each table (i.e. the fields of each specific table, like a spell name or the magnitude of its effect). MaNGOS, the platform off of which Light’s Hope appears to be built, uses a similar structure. The LightsHope spell_template table matches almost exactly the layout and field names of early WoW client database tables.

    (Looks like the devs made their "Classic" recreation by using old dumps / backups as a referrence).

    Matching Record IDs – There are “scripts” that reference database records directly by ID; there are cases where these IDs directly match the ID from WoW’s content.

    "Hey, their serial numbers looks suspiciously close to our serial numbers !"
    Oh, come one.
    (Numbers aren't copyrightable in the US. That's basically Intel complaining that competitor's 386-compatible chip also use numbers like 386)

    None of the complain is anything that looks like : "these huges chunks of code are actually a un-licensed copy of the network code of our server".

    Overall : Some of the complain could almost fell under the "but these old numbers are necessary to get interoperation" exemption that exists to copyright in some jurisdiction (other /.ers have mentioned Canada as an example).

    --
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  10. Legal != right by fyngyrz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I understand the legal issues just fine.

    However, my mindset was best expressed by St. Thomas Aquinas:

    in so far as [law] deviates from right reason it is called an unjust law; in such case it is no law at all, but rather a species of violence.

    There are obvious examples: Slavery was legal; and in no case was it reasonable to follow the law. Forbidding women's right to vote was legal, and in no case was it reasonable to follow the law. And so on.

    The law, unfortunately, is not a golden chalice of right and reason, and there are definitely times when extremely bad law should be ignored until/unless it can be repaired. In my personal estimation, this is one of those areas.

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  11. Re:Are they actually infringing copyright? by Cederic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hmm. You're assuming though that the server has or provides the text and names.

    I'd expect all of that to be client-side. Server will send "Quest 044 status 382" and the client will interpret that as "Chief Boyo congratulates you on your successful conquest. Would you like the ring of glowiness or the necklace of pantswetting?"

    If the gamer has an original purchased copy of the game and is merely connecting to a different server then I'm not sure where the copyright violation lies.