Project Lore

Activision-Blizzard and several other leading developers of MMORPGs are the targets of a a lawsuit recently filed by Paltalk Holdings, according to an article in the Boston Globe. The complaint alleges that the makers of many leading MMORPGs have infringed upon Paltalk's patented technology that allows players at separate computers around the world to see the same images in-game simultaneously. According to the article:

"In 2002, Paltalk purchased two patents from a company called HearMe, covering technologies for sharing data among many connected computers so that all users see the same digital environment. Paltalk claims that the data-sharing technologies used in games... violate those patents."

Other developers named in the suit include Sony Corp., which created Everquest; Turbine Inc., the makers of Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online; South Korea's NCSoft Corp., maker of Guild Wars; and British firm Jagex Ltd., which makes Runescape. We've reported in the past on several other lawsuits involving Blizzard, such as one on a "Virtual World" patent, and it seems that there's always something new coming up that they must defend. Perhaps what sets this case apart is that Paltalk already defended the same patent against Microsoft Corp. In 2006, Paltalk sued Microsoft for its alleged use of the technology in Halo. The case was set to go to trial in March until Microsoft opted to settle out of court, paying Paltalk an undisclosed amount to license the patent rights, and in the process conceding that the patents are valid. And it's obvious that Paltalk means business just based on where the case was filed: the U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas, "one of the nation’s most popular venues for patent lawsuits," because of its label as a "plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction." Looks like Blizzard could have a bit of a fight ahead if the technology it uses can be proven to be different from Paltalk's proprietary designs. Or, it may need to pay up for licensing rights.

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Silicon Alley Insider is reporting today that Worlds.com CEO Thom Kidrin claims that the idea of scalable virtual worlds with thousands of users is his company's intellectual property, and that Worlds will sue anyone who refuses to license the idea.  Worlds currently has a lawsuit against NCSoft, publisher of such games as City of Heroes/Villains, Guild Wars, and Lineage II. Should litigation against NCSoft succeed, Kidrin 'absolutely' plans on moving on to sue MMO industry leaders such as World of Warcraft and Second Life. The patents originally were developed by the Starlight Starbright Foundation, a charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for seriously ill children.  They had the idea of creating Starbright World, a virtual world for the enjoyment of children who may not have been able to interact or explore due to illness. The patents cover an architecture for enabling thousands of users in a 3D space, and Worlds.com now owns the rights to those patents. Of course, I am no lawyer, but the idea of thousands of users in a 3D space sounds like just about every MMO out there right now, save those that linger in two dimensions. Should the courts rule in Worlds.com's favor, it will make such games more expensive due to licensing fees, which may translate into higher costs for you and me.  We'll have to wait this one out and see how things go in the NCSoft case. Check out Silicon Alley Insider for more details.

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Money, Money, Money, Money, MONEEEEY - Via GameCyte

Last week it came out that MDY Industries would likely have to stop selling their product, known as Glider.  MDY would be able to continue sales while the appeals court heard the case, if the company was able to present arguments to the judge defending their position.  In a post on the Glider forums, MDY Industries CEO Michael Donnelly stated that the company did not expect to make a successful case for the botting program, essentially handing the victory to Blizzard Entertainment.  Blizzard, by way of blue Poster Nethaera, responded to the recent changes in Blizzard v. Glider lawsuit.  In laymen's terms, MDY was charged with breaking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Let's back up a minute, though.  While the case is essentially over, many players out there may not have any idea what the 2006 case is all about, or how it got to this point.  For starters, MMOGlider is a botting program that was originally designed for use with World of Warcraft.  Originally called WoW Glider, the name was quickly changed to avoid any possible confusion that Blizzard may endorse the program Glider is not a teleport hack, map hack or any kind of hack.  It is simply an automated farmer. It controls an in-game character given some preset instructions, and it is capable of doing all the routine grinding you normally do but at a way lower price.   It is against Blizzard's Terms of Service and End User License Agreement and has often led to accounts being banned.  Not to mention, most players - this one included - see it as cheating...while prospering! Blizzard vs Glider has been going on since the early days of World of Warcraft, so there is a lot to cover.   Rather than reinvent the wheel, here are links to various sites that have covered the case with a quick synopsis.

• MDY Industries sues Blizzard (November 2006) - That is correct, the case started off with MDY suing the developer for allegedly attempting to block the sale of the botting software.
• Blizzard tossed MDY a counter-suit (March 2007) - A few months later Blizzard turns around and sues MDY for damages.
• MDY receives a small victory (March 2008) - The first judgment comes out.  MDY's licensing partner Lavish Software will not be forced to give up information about Lavish and MDY's dealings to Blizzard.
• Public interest group stands up for MDY (May 2008) - Public Knowledge submits a "friend of the court" brief stating that Blizzard is claiming more power than copyright protection offers them.  The group, while not trying not to take sides, states that if Blizzard wins the suit, the lawsuit will become a landmark case that gives copyright holders immense power.  More thoughts on the far-reaching topic by Terra Nova, Ars Technica and then Blizzard's response to Public Knowledge's filing.
• MDY is found guilty (July 2008) - Blizzard wins the case due to MDY's program copying proprietary code into the system's RAM.  That is illegal under the DMCA.
• Blizzard seeks to bury MDY's program (August 2008) - Blizzard attempts to stop Glider from resurfacing by handcuffing MDY in every way possible.  Company looks to stop possible open-sourcing of the code or MDY helping others develop such software.
• Blizzard gets paid (October 2008) - Judgement awards Blizzard $6 million for the hassle.
• MDY's soul is crushed - Bot maker doesn't feel they will convince the judge to allow them to keep selling MMOGlider during the appeals process with Blizzard.

As you can see, legal wranglings took awhile to come to fruition. As it stands now, the case isn't truly over, but things certainly look bad for MDY.  Should the company be unable to make its case to continue selling the software, it will like go under.  They have until February 13 to come up with something. As noted by numerous software advocacy groups, gurus and copyright lawyers, the case affects far more than just WoW's millions of players.  In actuality, it can have an impact on all third-party apps that run alongside software for anything, including every other MMOG and even this spiffy machinima tool.

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