3 Count: World of Borecraft

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1: Court Upholds Ban on World of Warcraft Bot

First off today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision declaring the “Glider” bot to be a copyright infringement of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft. The bot performs mundane tasks for players, such as killing enemies and collecting gold, while the player is away. The lower court had ruled the bot was infringing since it violated the game’s terms of service but that part of the ruling was tossed out. However, the Appeals Court upheld that it did unlawfully circumvent protections placed into Word of Warcraft, making it a violation of the DMCA. However, Glider’s maker, Michael Donnelly, claimed that the bot doesn’t circumvent, only avoids detection, and he may take the matter to the Supreme Court. The court also ruled that the lower court needs to reevaluate the $6.5 million it said Donnelly owed Blizzard.

2: Failed Pirate Bay Buyout Blamed for Global Gaming Factory Going Bust, Again

Next up today, Global Gaming Factory, the Swedish company that has attempted to buy The Pirate Bay and other bittorrent services on multiple occasions, may be headed for bankruptcy. Two of the company’s debtors, claiming that they are owed about 1.5 million kronor ($220,000) are asking a court to put GGF into bankruptcy so they can begin collecting what they can on their debts. Despite the setbacks, GGF owner Hans Pandeya has vigorously pursued the purchase of a bittorrent site, allegedly sending out offers as late as September.

3: Dinosaur bones prompt federal lawsuit in Montana

Finally today, a copyright lawsuit millions of years in the making. According to a recent filing in Montana, The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. is suing Fort Peck Paleontology claiming that they failed to return castings made of bones from two famous tyrannosaurus rex skeletons, dubbed Stan and Sue, and are selling unauthorized copies of the castings. The Black Hills institute is seeking some $8.2 million in damages and admits that this lawsuit is the first of its kind.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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