Blizzard Entertainment(R) Media Alert: Court Upholds BnetD Ruling in Favor of Blizzard Entertainment(R).IRVINE, Calif. -- Blizzard Entertainment(R) today announced that on September 1, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the summary judgment ruling in favor of Blizzard in the BnetD litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. of October 2004. In that decision, Judge Charles Shaw of the Federal District Court in St. Louis found that members of the BnetD project were bound to the terms of Blizzard's End User License Agreements (EULAs) and Battle.net(R) Terms of Use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. (TOU), and that they violated those terms as well as the provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law which implements two 1996 WIPO treaties. It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services that are used to measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly (DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) A U.S. law enacted in late 1998 that provides penalties for developing hardware or software that overrides copy protection schemes for digital media. ) that prohibits the circumvention of anti-piracy technology. The group's EULA (End User License Agreement) The legal agreement between the manufacturer and purchaser of software. It is either printed somewhere on the packaging or displayed on screen at time of installation, the latter being the better method, because it cannot be avoided. and TOU violations include reverse engineering Blizzard software, creating servers that emulated Battle.net, and providing matchmaking Matchmaking Matricide (See MURDER.) Kecal marriage broker whose plans are foiled by a pair of lovers. [Czech Opera: Smetana The Bartered Bride in Osborne Opera, 32] Levi, Dolly services for users of Blizzard software. In addition, the appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. agreed with Judge Shaw that because the BnetD servers created a functional alternative to Battle.net and were used to bypass Blizzard's anti-piracy technology, "the defendants' actions constitute a circumvention of copyright under the DMCA." The September 1 ruling affirms that Blizzard Entertainment's End User License Agreements and Battle.net Terms of Use are legally binding and enforceable. By supporting Judge Shaw's findings, the Eighth Circuit Court also reinforced that creating and providing access to unauthorized servers that emulate Blizzard's servers is against the law, even if the purpose of those servers is for playing legal copies of Blizzard games. "By ruling in our favor again on every count, the court is reiterating the message that creating unauthorized servers which emulate Blizzard's Battle.net servers is illegal," stated Paul Sams, chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of Blizzard Entertainment. "We have worked hard to provide gamers with a free and secure environment on Battle.net, and this ruling further validates that we are justified in protecting our service and our players. In addition, it represents another major victory against software piracy." Best known for their series "Warcraft"(R), "StarCraft"(R), and "Diablo"(R), Blizzard Entertainment (www.blizzard.com, a division of Vivendi Universal Games) is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software, renowned for creating many of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. The company's free Internet gaming service, Battle.net(R), provides a forum in which owners of Blizzard's games can play in a multiplayer mode remotely across the Internet and against other gamers from around the world. |
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