Blizzard Versus Glider Bots: The Latest

Thanks to Kotaku, I've found an article about the latest in the legal battle between Blizzard and the company that created and sold the Glider bots so that players could level their characters automatically.  It covers the key points that Blizzard and MDY Industries each won in the latest round in this court battle.
http://www.gamerlaw.co.uk/2010/12/thoughts-on-wow-glider-appeal.html

If you are interested in legal issues as they relate to video games, bookmark this site.  It's interesting.

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

California Tries to Limit Sales of Violent Video Games

This is the definitive article about the case (now before the U.S. Supreme Court which just heard legal arguments) according to the WOW Insider legal columnist.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6191/video_game_regulation_and_the_.php

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Interview: Kotick on the Brutal Legend Lawsuit

Joystiq has done an interview with Bobby Kotick about the Brutal Legend lawsuit and his version of events.  The second link is to the actual interview.  The first link is a brief description.
http://www.1up.com/news/bobby-kotick-explains-role-brutal-legal-battle

The second link is to the actual interview.  More is promised but to date (Nov. 9th) there has not been a followup.
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/08/activisions-kotick-on-brutal-legend-drama-thats-not-really-w/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Why Blizzard is Likely To Win Any Privacy Lawsuit

Cleric's opinion is that because players sign the Terms of Service and the End User License Agreement, any suit due to damages from privacy violations have to go to arbitration and the cap on damages is $90.  He also points out the corporate responsibility Blizzard and its parent corporations have and how any such lawsuit is likely to damage these corporations heavily in terms of their reputation.
http://ferarro.blogspot.com/2010/07/nope-some-changes-gotta-be-made-because.html

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Battle.net New Terms of Use Agreement in Patch 3.3.5

There will be changes to the terms of use agreement around Battle.net when Patch 3.3.5 hits today.  Details here.  The most important item I noticed was Blizzard will be allowing access to in-game advertising.  I presume they will allow third parties to advertise inside Battle.net somehow but I don't know that for sure.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/21/the-lawbringer-new-battle-net-tou/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Blizzard and The Law: A Series

I'm going to consolidate all the WOW Insider columns about legal issues and WOW here.  Search on "law" or "legal" to find this summary.  I've also added other articles about WOW and the Law that aren't part of the series.

The new legal column at WOW Insider has started with this article about "the magic circle" which is the world of games and play separate from the real world and in which players consent to what happens as long as it doesn't violate game rules.
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/01/the-lawbringer-wow-and-the-magic-circle/

The WOW Insider legal columnist looks at privacy and how it works in WOW. It isn't as straightforward as you would think.
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/08/the-lawbringer-contracts-and-the-achievement-tracker/

The WOW Insider legal column takes a look at the issues around banning players, mostly the contract between Blizzard and WOW players.
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/15/the-lawbringer--contracts-and-player-bans/

Is is possible to get Blizzard to modify your game play provisions?  Maybe.
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/22/the-lawbringer-unconscionability/

European Law and Contracts
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/the-lawbringer-know-your-legal-lore/

More on the same topic
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/09/the-lawbringer-euro-ver-my-head-contract-law-edition/

Blizzard and the Gold Selling Ban (from the legal aspect)
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/16/the-lawbringer-legal-gold-sales-not-a-blizzards-chance-in-hel/

Gold Sellers and Contract Law
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/22/the-lawbringer-interfering-with-gold-farmers/

Why Gold Selling is a Crime
http://www.wow.com/2010/04/05/the-lawbringer-gold-sellers-are-criminals/

Copyright Law and WOW
http://www.wow.com/2010/04/26/the-lawbringer-copyrights-and-wow/

http://www.wow.com/2010/05/17/the-lawbringer-scope-of-copyrights/

Purchasing Versus Licensing Software and Why This Debate Matters
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/24/the-lawbringer-purchase-vs-license-cage-match/

End Use License Agreements
http://www.wow.com/2010/05/31/the-lawbringer-license-v-purchase-sgt-joe-friday-edition/

A history of MDY versus Blizzard which is really about the Glider bot program that MDY offered to get around Blizzard's scanner Warden programs.  Although Blizzard won on most counts, this is still under appeal.
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/07/the-lawbringer-the-history-of-blizzard-and-mdy-glider/

Questions from the above MDY vs. Blizzard case with answers-
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/14/the-lawbringer-mdy-v-blizzard-q-and-a/

Another milestone in the MDY vs. Blizzard case.  (This site is all about video games and the law so explore further if this is a topic of interest.)
http://www.gamerlaw.co.uk/2010/12/thoughts-on-wow-glider-appeal.html

Battle.net has a new Terms of Use Agreement (Patch 3.3.5)
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/21/the-lawbringer-new-battle-net-tou/

Why Blizzard won't Sell Gold (note that this is a stand-in columnist while the regular legal writer takes the bar exams)
http://www.wow.com/2010/06/29/the-lawbringer-why-youll-never-buy-gold-from-blizzard/

Rookies' Guide to the End User License Agreement (EULA)
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/11/the-lawbringer-a-rookies-guide-to-the-eula/

Part Two of Rookies' Guide to EULA
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/17/the-lawbringer-rookies-guide-to-the-eula-part-2/

Lawsuits Over Game Addiction
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/27/the-lawbringer-this-mmo-is-too-addictive-im-suing/

Rookie's Guide to Terms of Use (TOU)
http://www.wow.com/2010/09/02/the-lawbringer-a-rookies-guide-to-the-tou/

Fan Fiction (and Fair Use, Parody and Critique)
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/17/the-lawbringer-the-trouble-with-fan-fiction/

Ways to Get Into Trouble with WOW in Trade Chat
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/01/the-lawbringer-5-ways-trade-chat-can-get-you-in-trouble/

Machinima
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/08/the-lawbringer-blizzard-and-machinima/

Real Money Transactions (eBay)
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/15/the-lawbringer-real-money-transactions-and-some-ebay-history/

Karthias Talks Terms of Use
http://systemicbabble.com/society-politics/terms-of-use-legal-blackmail/

Matthew Discusses Blizzard's Starcraft 2 Hacker Lawsuit
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/24/the-lawbringer-buying-precedent/

Three WOW Criminals
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/29/the-lawbringer-consequences-2010/

About the California case trying to limit sales of violet video games.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/12/the-lawbringer-schwarzenegger-v-ema/

The WOW Insider article says that this is the definitive article on the California case.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6191/video_game_regulation_and_the_.php

Self-Regulation in the Video Game Industry
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/19/the-lawbringer-self-regulation-and-the-video-game-industry/

Account Security
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/03/the-lawbringer-account-security-and-you/

Dangers of Addons That Auto Update (More Account Security)
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/12/10/the-lawbringer-the-dangers-of-addon-auto-updaters/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com

Contracts and Banning Players (A Legal Look)

The WOW Insider legal column takes a look at the issues around banning players, mostly the contract between Blizzard and WOW players.
http://www.wow.com/2010/02/15/the-lawbringer--contracts-and-player-bans/

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Copyright Solo MMO Player at http://solommo.blogspot.com