Blizzard wins online game suit

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This one has a good chance of being overturned...

...because the so-called "agreement" is not valid. A copyright holder does not generally have the right to dictate how users use the products they buy. Copyright only says that the end user isn't allowed to make copies, not that the end user is only allowed to use the product under a specific set of terms. Blizzard is trying to use contracts to pre-empt the rights granted to users under Copyright, and I think ultimately they will fail.

There is already precedent in Softman v. Adobe that users BUY their software, not LICENSE them. This judge mentions the Softman case, but basically ignores the substanstive parts of the ruling (which is why IMHO it will be overturned in appeal). The inherent problem is that someone can't buy software (as is undisputed in Softman) but suddenly have that sale magically turn into a license when the software is installed. (And no, you don't need a license to install software because one of the terms of Copyright law says that users can make any copies as part of "normal" use of the software. Permission isn't needed from the copyright holder just to load the software into RAM.)

Furthermore, BNetD isn't a copy of anything, which is another reason why I think they will prevail. BNetD interfaces with a copyrighted program, but itself does not infringe on Blizzard's copyrights. Although BNetD does incidentally allow pirated copies of a game to be played, BNetD was not designed for the express purpose of circumvention and I do not believe that this fact will weight against BNetD's creators.

Basically, there is no moral or ethical reason why software is licensed, or why software should be licensed. Copyright law doesn't state so. And the judge in Softman doesn't think so either, with his judicial opinion:

"The Court understands fully why licensing has many advantages for software publishers. However, this preference does not alter the Court's analysis that the substance of the transaction at issue here is a sale and not a license"

Cheers!

Posted by: Root User   Posted on: 10/11/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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