A federal appeals panel on Tuesday upheld a lower court's 2009 injunction barring the distribution of a computer program that automatically plays the lower levels of World of Warcraft, sparing a gamer the tedium of their character's experience.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Glider bot, which automatically kills enemies and performs other Warcraft functions while you're away from your computer, is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act provision banning the marketing of products that circumvent a technological measure that "effectively controls access to a copyrighted work."
Glider, in short, hides itself from the Warden software that scans the machines of Warcraft's 10 million players for bots, thus allowing Glider license holders to play Warcraft while taking a shower in violation of Warcraft's terms of service that prohibit bot use.
"Indeed, Glider has no function other than to facilitate the playing of WoW," (.pdf) the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a 3-0 decision.
The attorney for Glider's maker, Michael Donnelly, decried the decision, saying he may ask the Supreme Court to review it.
"It just opens the door to too much protection. This says if you circumvent detection you are violating the DMCA," attorney Joseph Meaney said in a telephone interview.
Under the DMCA of 1998, it is a crime or civil violation to offer a product or service that circumvents a technological measure designed to protect copyright material. That law was recently used to block RealNetworks from distributing DVD-copying software as well as to criminally charge a Southern California man on allegations of running an Xbox-modding business.
At the same time, however, the law offers websites effective immunity from civil copyright liability for user content, provided they promptly remove infringing material at the request of a rights holder.
Blizzard Entertainment, the maker of World of Warcraft, maintained that it lost monthly subscription fees from Glider users who were able reach Warcraft's highest levels in fewer weeks than players manually playing.
Donnelly's company, MDY Industries, had gross revenues of $3.5 million based on 120,000 Glider license sales as of 2008, the San Francisco–based appeals court said.
After a bench trial last year in Arizona, a federal judge ordered Donnelly and MDY Industries to pay $6.5 million (.pdf), and barred distribution of the bot.
Donnelly appealed.
The appeals court Tuesday also reversed one of two DMCA violations and, among other things, ordered the lower court to reconsider how much MDY and Donnelly should pay.
Representatives for Blizzard did not immediately respond for comment.
Photo: juanpol/Flickr
See Also:
- YouTube to McCain: You Made Your DMCA Bed, Lie in It
- DMCA Muscle Kills DVD Copying, for Real
- Google Wins Viacom Copyright Lawsuit
- DMCA Coupon Flap Ends — Nobody 'Won'
- U.S. Declares iPhone Jailbreaking Legal, Over Apple's Objections
- Judge Bars 'Fair Use' Defense in Xbox Modding Trial
- Prosecutors Dismiss Xbox-Modding Case Mid-Trial
