Wow, you just discovered the secret of the "sequal". New versions are supposed to sorta emulate the old versions gameplay with a few extra bonuses plus better graphics and sound.
I think every programmer knows that removing IE is not as easy as setting iexplore=false before compiling. IE is the gui shell. Its your desktop cluttered with files. Its the my computer icon, the start menu, etc. Its like wanting to run Xwindows without a window manager. (yes I know thats a loose comparison but its almost true)
True, bnetd is not intended to defeat copy protection. But this is the most frightening thing of the DMCA: if a device has the CAPABILITY of circumventing ANY copy prevention or encryption system, it is in violation of the DMCA. The actual use or intended use of the product is not the issue. Look at it this way: A hammer is a tool. A hammer can also be a deadly weapon. Instead of punishing those who use the hammer to kill, the hammer itself would be outlawed.
This is true too but the key protection is designed to stop multiple keys from playing on BATTLE.NET, not 3rd party servers which are NOT BATTLE.NET. The key system was not designed to stop people from playing multiplayer games. You can play multiplayer via LAN or direct TCP/IP without key checking. You can use IRC to basically accomplish the same thing.
I think your information is a bit skewed. Bnetd does not infringe on the battle.net network. It does not contact it in anyway, shape, or form. It does not people to play on Battle.net with a pirate key, it does not allow people to play on Battle.net at all. It does not steal anything from battle.net. Battle.net is FREE you idiot, as well as Bnetd. Noone is making money here on this.
The agrument is not about battle.net, its about the legal right for software author's to reverse engineer a product. Since the team legally has the right to do, they should be allowed to. Since Blizzard doesn't like it, they'll use scare tactics to stop them and under normal circumstances it probably would have worked.
The point of this whole thing is that legally the bnetd project has the right to reverse engineer Battle.net. It says so in the DMCA. The fact their code does not check CD keys is trivial to this matter because bnetd itself was not created to bypass copy protection. Its a piece of standalone software. Its not a crack/hack file that patches anything in the client and allows it to bypass Battle.net key checking.
Even if you agree with Blizzards point that the bnetd project does in some way promote piracy, unless you are a complete fool, you should not agree that the DMCA applies to this case. Blizzard is grasping at best.
Its everyone's right as a consumer to fight this even if you agree with Blizzard. This is everyone's chace to stop complaining about the DMCA and actually do something. This will determine if software companies have the right to not only tell you how, when, and where you will utilize their products after your purchase them but also gives them the right to prosecute you if you don't. If Blizzards case holds up, it will open the door for many many more useful emulation projects to be shut down.
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Wow, you just discovered the secret of the "sequal". New versions are supposed to sorta emulate the old versions gameplay with a few extra bonuses plus better graphics and sound.
I think every programmer knows that removing IE is not as easy as setting iexplore=false before compiling. IE is the gui shell. Its your desktop cluttered with files. Its the my computer icon, the start menu, etc. Its like wanting to run Xwindows without a window manager. (yes I know thats a loose comparison but its almost true)
Yeah, I didn't even consider running bnetd until this crap. I have 6 servers running now.
You call that a crack? Its simply an alternative configuration. The gateway list is not encrytped or anything. A trained monkey could edit it.
I think your information is a bit skewed. Bnetd does not infringe on the battle.net network. It does not contact it in anyway, shape, or form. It does not people to play on Battle.net with a pirate key, it does not allow people to play on Battle.net at all. It does not steal anything from battle.net. Battle.net is FREE you idiot, as well as Bnetd. Noone is making money here on this.
The agrument is not about battle.net, its about the legal right for software author's to reverse engineer a product. Since the team legally has the right to do, they should be allowed to. Since Blizzard doesn't like it, they'll use scare tactics to stop them and under normal circumstances it probably would have worked.
The point of this whole thing is that legally the bnetd project has the right to reverse engineer Battle.net. It says so in the DMCA. The fact their code does not check CD keys is trivial to this matter because bnetd itself was not created to bypass copy protection. Its a piece of standalone software. Its not a crack/hack file that patches anything in the client and allows it to bypass Battle.net key checking.
Even if you agree with Blizzards point that the bnetd project does in some way promote piracy, unless you are a complete fool, you should not agree that the DMCA applies to this case. Blizzard is grasping at best.
Its everyone's right as a consumer to fight this even if you agree with Blizzard. This is everyone's chace to stop complaining about the DMCA and actually do something. This will determine if software companies have the right to not only tell you how, when, and where you will utilize their products after your purchase them but also gives them the right to prosecute you if you don't. If Blizzards case holds up, it will open the door for many many more useful emulation projects to be shut down.
BTW, I just patented the 2-2,000,000 click ordering processes.