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Electronic Frontier Foundation Media ReleaseBlizzard Freezes Bnetd Gaming Platform, Sues Own CustomersElectronic Frontier Foundation Defends Gamers' RightsFor Immediate Release: Monday, April 8, 2002St. Louis - Game maker Blizzard Entertainment, along with its parent company Vivendi Universal Games, late Friday sued a small Internet Service Provider and its owner for distributing free software that emulates Blizzard's free Battle.net gaming service. The lawsuit claims that the creation and offering of the "bnetd" free software emulator for Blizzard games violates copyright and trademark laws. "Blizzard contacted our lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) saying they would consider dropping the case if we help find ways to prevent pirates from using the bnetd server software," noted Tim Jung, Internet Gateway ISP owner of the and defendant in the case. "While we bnetd developers spent many hours last week trying to help Blizzard, they apparently spent many hours preparing to sue me and my small business." "The complaint is a classic big corporate attempt to scare the little guy," noted EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann who represents Jung and Internet Gateway pro bono. "This software was developed by hobbyists using longstanding, legal reverse engineering techniques -- the same ones used by major hardware and software manufacturers. If bnetd is vulnerable to copyright challenge, then most reverse engineering projects designed to create interoperable products, from games to printers to network cards, are also vulnerable." "The bnetd software has many uses that have nothing to do with piracy, and everything to do with improving the gaming experience for legitimate purchasers of Blizzard games," added EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Suing your customers for making your product more fun to play is a poor use of corporate resources, as well as unfounded by law." The bnetd software allows Blizzard game purchasers online or on a local area network to chat, find competition, and start multiplayer games. A group of volunteers, including Jung, created the bnetd project for Blizzard games because Blizzard's Battle.net service was undependable and had limited functionality. Blizzard sent a cease-and-desist letter to Internet Gateway in late February, claiming violations of the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) along with copyright violations. Internet Gateway has removed the bnetd software temporarily in response to the letter. The current complaint does not claim DMCA violations, but instead adds trademark claims never mentioned before. This case, entitled Davidson & Associates d.b.a. Blizzard Games and Vivendi Universal Games v. Internet Gateway and Tim Jung, was filed in Federal District Court in St. Louis, Missouri. Links:
Blizzard's complaint against Jung and Internet Gateway:
Earlier correspondence and other case material:
Bnetd website:
Blizzard's explanation:
Earlier media coverage and websites related to the case: About EFF:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in
1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to
support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information
society. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the
most linked-to websites in the world: About Internet Gateway:Founded in 1995, Missouri-based Internet Gateway provides Internet and networking solutions, as well as consulting services, to businesses and end users across the country. Internet Gateway provides Internet access, consulting and support to other ISPs as well as to its own customers. In addition to nationwide consulting and support, Internet Gateway currently provides Internet access to five cities including the St. Louis metro area, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Perryville and the St. Charles/St. Peters metro area. The company website can be found at http://www.igateway.net/About bnetd Project:The bnetd project is a collaboration focusing on development of a server that attempts to emulate Blizzard's Battle.net gaming server. The bnetd project is run by volunteers and is neither supported by nor affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment. The project website is at http://www.bnetd.org/Contacts:
Cindy Cohn, EFF Legal Director
Fred von Lohmann, EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Tim Jung, President, Internet Gateway Inc. - end -
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