Blizzard v BnetD

As a former World of Warcraft and Warcraft III addict my interest peeked when the video game developer Blizzard popped up in the news. Blizzard has wasted many of my, and many others of our generation, time with incredibly addicting software. They are now in a law suite with BnetD. BnetD was an open source program that allowed gamers to play Blizzard's games online with other games. They were outside of Blizzard's own program Battle.net service. BnetD had reverse engineered Blizzard's Battle.net and created a service to benefit other gamers. Blizzard was not happy with there software being copied and are now suing BnetD for infringing on Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and Blizzard game's End User Licence Agreement (EULA). Blizz argues that the programmers of BnetD violated the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions and Blizz's EULA's bti about no reverse engineering.

An organization know as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the firm of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder defended BnetD saying that programmers should be able to make free software that works with commercial sold programs. They think this kind of activity should be allowed, because it the users of Blizz's games profit from programs such as BnetD and that it encourages creativity that is needed in this world. Court decided that BnetD was illegal though due to reverse engineering and emulating of Blizz's products was illegal as agreed in the EULA and DMCA.

The anti circumvention provisions of the DMCA has been widely criticized. It doesn't allow the market to grow, but stiffles it as companies have to find ways around using necessary hardware and software that have been copy written by large companies. It makes it impossible to base new programs off of older ones. It doesn't allow anything to grow or breath.

I think Blizzard is being ridicules. They especially should understand innovation and its values. They have already created the most widely played game that drains 15$ a month from it's users and is impossible to quit. Believe me it's impossible. I have been playing World of Warcraft (WoW)for 4 years (on and off)and have tried to stop upwards of 5 times now (not currently subscribed). Playing WoW if anything has made me realize how amazingly innovative of a company Blizz is. They churn out fresh ideas monthly hooking you deeper into the game. They've captured and enslaved (not an exaggeration) the imaginations of 10 million people. With how much money and innovation the company has it should at least be able to see BnetD's side and cut them some slack seeing as how the programmers of BnetD didn't make any $ off their product, but released it for the good of gamers. It isn't like this rogue company is sapping money and users away. Rather BnetD only encouraged people to play Blizz's video games. It enhanced their gaming experience only making it more addicting. In turn they probably made Blizz money in the long run. It is outrageous that Blizz would even thinking of suing the programmers of BnetD.

I agree with the EFF and their stand to encourage beneficial free software and innovation. I feel that Blizzard has been a little blinded by capitalism and the huge amounts of money they pull in. Blizz should look to their roots and realize that they also started as a near profitless software developer that only brought innovations to previously explored territory within the video game industry just like BnetD's creators.