Blizzard files lawsuit against private server
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 29th 2009 at 4:00PM
So you can see why Blizzard would want them shut down, and that's exactly what they're trying to do with this lawsuit filed in the California Central District Court against a company called "Scapegaming" that runs at least one private WoW server (and they've apparently been running microtransactions in-game -- selling in-game items for "donations" of money). The law firm working for Blizzard, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, also worked on the "Bnetd" case, which was another piece of unofficial server software that allowed players to play off of Blizzard's Battle.net setup.
The complaint lists copyright infringement as the cause, which means they're probably using the same argument targeted at other private servers in the past. We'll keep an eye on this, but it's very likely Blizzard will win this one unopposed, and Scapegaming (or at least just their WoW server) will get shut down for good.
Thanks, Phenom!
Filed under: Realm Status, Blizzard, News items, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Matt Oct 29th 2009 4:28PM
While agree blizzard has a right to do thing and there is also a need for them to do this. However just like lawsuits brought forth by the RIAA to stop music down loading I think its unlikely to stop many people from opening private servers if that is what they want to do. And few people from going to them.
That is not to say I think blizzard has many other options with the way there current business model is built but at the end of the day I think Mr. Woo fate is unlikely to stop many from partaking in this activity.
Duin Oct 29th 2009 5:28PM
Mr. Woo is Blizzard's counsel. Alyson Reeves is the defendant.
Aardin Oct 29th 2009 4:31PM
Excellent point about how it is not wise to give your financial information to people who seem to advocate theft as part of their business model... but I am wondering why this problem exists at all...
How is it that these companies get their hands on the original server code/executables?
Or perhaps more to the point... how is it that Blizzard is letting the code get out to anyone?
Laughtrey Oct 29th 2009 5:28PM
The server backend code isn't getting out, people reverse engineer and write their own.
This won't hold up, you don't infringe copyright when you make/use/playon/write a private server.
Snuzzle Oct 29th 2009 5:34PM
But they were making money off of it, so yes Blizz does have a case for them using Blizz's intellectual property for profit. If the server was free, or rather there were no microtransactions, I don't think Blizz would have filed suit.
Mike Schramm Oct 29th 2009 5:37PM
Actually, Blizzard already proved with Bnetd (link in the post above) that even if you're reverse engineering software to connect with their games, you're still violating their copyright. It was a controversial decision (especially with open source advocates, who are all about reverse engineering), but this case is pretty open-and-shut for Blizzard. It's very unlikely they'll lose.
West Oct 29th 2009 5:38PM
The blizzard server code didn't "get out," it was reverse engineered.
See the history of bnetd:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle.net#Controversy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bnetd
I don't expect a happy ending here for the defendant based on how the bnetd case went down. however, i don't see it fully stopping all of the server emulation distros, instead it will just make them a little more underground like what happened with bnetd.
Arashikou Oct 29th 2009 5:40PM
Most likely, they're not using Blizzard's code at all. In the old days of EQ, the trick was to reverse-engineer what the game client expects the server to do, then create your own program that mimics that well enough to fool the game client. In effect, you write your own server software because you can't get at the real stuff. I imagine these people have done something similar.
Logi Oct 29th 2009 5:41PM
There is something called "reverse engineering", and WoW Servers Emulators are developd using "reverse engingeering". You can simply start sniffing the packets that sends the client to the retail servers for login. Later, when you are done with login, start with ingame codes.
Well that is a simplification, but that is how they do.
By the way, the article is wrong, you are not forced to pay for anything. Some servers are custom with custom items, and instant level and others are Blizz-like.
Chris Anthony Oct 29th 2009 5:47PM
@Logi, just because you haven't encountered a pay server doesn't mean they don't exist.
Mr. Tastix Oct 29th 2009 8:41PM
It states clearly in Blizzard's Terms of Use that you're not allowed to reverse engineer their software anyway.
And, whilst private servers are reverse engineered and don't work 100% like how the "real" servers do, they still infringe on copyrights and trademarks. Private server owners are still using copyrighted location names, copyrighted NPC names, and item names, and raid names, etc etc.
Todd Oct 29th 2009 5:33PM
I had no idea that private servers had gotten to the point of micro-transactions. That's downright crazy, and very shady.
Rugus Oct 29th 2009 5:36PM
Blizzard vs Idiots => 1-0
lazymangaka Oct 29th 2009 5:39PM
The Scapegaming servers look like they've been down since mid-July of this year, as a Google search revealed. Blizzard is going to gain nothing from beating a dead horse.
dfjdejulio Oct 29th 2009 5:45PM
Actually, in this particular case, one thing Blizzard gets out of beating a dead horse is, they scare the crap out of all the other horses.
If anyone else is thinking about forming a company to run private WoW servers that support microtransactions, this should at least make them think a little harder before doing it.
Lissanna Oct 29th 2009 7:33PM
It's possible that Blizzard has been on this group for long enough that they shut down before the formal lawsuit was filed...
Arbitor Oct 29th 2009 7:35PM
I lol'ed at the imagery provided by that statement:
"one thing Blizzard gets out of beating a dead horse is, they scare the crap out of all the other horses"
xD
Maxilimus Oct 29th 2009 9:09PM
Wowscape, then later Scape gaming are a very tricky bunch. The have faced a lot of things like this. I believe last time they moved their servers out of the US so blizzard wouldn't have any jurisdiction to close their server. Not sure though, haven't talked to my old friends who play on private servers in a while.
joie Oct 29th 2009 5:41PM
I have tried playing on a private server a few times . Why ? It's an easy and fast way to try a new class to see if you like it for one without the massive time sink risk . You can easily power level professions and play around with those so that you can try and make money on the real wow servers again without the massive time sink risk that you would on retail . You can play around and do some pvp without getting a reputation as a scrub on the real wow servers so it's a good place to practice . I get why Blizzard wants to shut them down especially if the server is charging money to play but not all of them are like that.
I hope they dont go after other smaller private servers because I know a lot of people who play on those and play the real retail version but just play on private for one reason or another . Tons of people who have started on private servers have gone over to retail because private servers are buggy as hell . Some people who might be going through a financial hardship play on those until they can get money for retail .
Anyways it's not like provate servers are evil especially if they are not charging . It keeps some people interested in the game . You should see what happens to private servers when a new majot content patch or expansion comes out ....turns into a ghost town because all those people are still interested in playing the game on retail to some degree because of the private servers which keep them from getting bored to death with wows endless time sinks .
mike Oct 29th 2009 9:24PM
I see your point, that playing on private servers is a good way to try out a new class, and i have done that before. the problem is most spells are bugged anyway, and that really doesn't help you pick the class you want. one time on a server, my hunters arcane shot did damage to itself, not good.