What are the rights of hackers? Can EA sue them (as if they cared but anyway)? I saw on a google search a snippet that said that hacking is defined as terrorism. Really, is there any major action people can do against them other than making programs like Punkbuster? Some hackers even have their pictures posted on the hackmaking site like ***. Doesn't a game company have a right to sue *** for this? I was just wondering what rights people have to ruin others' games.
-
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
well, when they say hacking, as in sueing, then thats usually hacking , in as stealing things, or into goverment files. hacking in games is more put under "cheating" and thats what PB GUID bans are for. -
Re: Rights of Hackers
I think sueing is only viable if there is some damage done (ie financial or reputation). This is hard to prove or non existent in the game as it stands at the moment. Perhaps, clan members could sue a proven hacker in their clan that their reputation has diminished due to the association of the hacker to the clan. This would be a landmark case if successfulComment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
Hacking DOES cost the gaming industry money. I know that I quit playing CS when I first got it because the first five servers I joined had a guy who could snipe other players as soon as the round started. He was shooting through walls and everything from the other side of the map. That led me to tell all of my friends to avoid CS. Word of mouth can be a powerful tool for or against a game.
People tend to avoid games that are rife with hackers, it ruins everyone's fun. From what I've heard, CS had a few patches and PB got into the mix so there were less hackers, I still never got back into it. The early games were enough to put a turd-like taste in my mouth towards that game.
CS is just an example. I know that it ended up being one of the biggest online games ever. Obviously, my decision to avoid the game and persuade my friends to do the same didn't really hurt Valve's pockets much. Some games have much bigger groups of people avoiding them for the same reason, though. They DO end up getting hurt by the hackers.Comment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
Hacking when it involves reverse engineering, is illegal. That includes ***** patches too, it's all copyright infringement. Not that companies bother enforcing it... The best tool I find against hackers is VAC. "OMFG WHY HAS MY STEAMID BBANNED U STUPID STEAM IT WOZ MY LITTLE BROTHER WTF VALVE SUX"Comment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
Well i was talking about hacking as in ,cheating in game. The type of hacking that involves an infringement against copyright is way more serious but hard to enforceComment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
VAC isnt perfect eitherOriginally posted by camperstruck
if software companies were smart they would employ hackers to test their software, someone better might come along but atleast it gives them a head start. Alternatively all games could just be released with Starforce protection lolComment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
It's very close to. It detects all the public hacks, read the cheatmaker's forums, people are panicking.Originally posted by ScintoVAC isnt perfect either
And Starforce got cracked long ago.Comment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
i know but people dont like installing games that use it :pOriginally posted by camperstruckComment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
Hacking itself (not to even mention cheating) is not illegal by law, right? As long as there's no money involved in gameplay (like WoW or something where you trade stuff for real money). When you buy a game, you have all rights to mod it or do almost what you want with it. Everyone knows single-player trainers and they're no different from multiplayer hacks, even though purpose might be different.
When you install PB you agree that you may get a GUID ban and GUID becomes banned on PB servers but it can not become useless. Valve's VAC tells you if you've been banned or not (banned from some, banned from all), but you still can play local on non-VAC servers.
But what about PsB or other things, which may ban you from many servers? They have their own rules and interpretation what is cheating? I was banned by PsB by the most stupid reason ever once and it had nothing to do with cheating or gaining unfair advantage. No matter what, I would have had to get a new CD-key. Luckily ban was lifted later. But who are they to decide my 45€ key is suddenly worthless? You can choose whether to play on PB servers or not, but you can't choose or know whether servers runs PsB or not. If I could choose I'd never play on PsB servers again, but unfortunately the only way to do that is get banned.Comment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
Anything that would diminish the value or gameplay of others is also an illegal offense. If I could snipe you from 600meters headshot whomever and whenever I wanted, players could be frustrated and leave game, not buy expansions, not buy future games by company, etc....
Equals loss of money to company and would easily be proved as such.
You do not have the write to disassemble any game you buy. Create the game orr use the supplied tools, then you can do that....Comment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
i think they dont enforce it so when they put out another game ppl will move to it since its newer.Originally posted by camperstruckComment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
It only appears not to be illegal because no gaming companies bother to pursue legal action.
You may be able to justify the modification of the game with the purchase of said game. But as soon as those modifications cost the company one single dime, there is grounds to sue for damages.
When you buy and automobile you can do what ever you like to it's engine, but if it then doesn't meet environmental standards you are subject to a fine and/or tow.
I can purchase a box that decodes "pay" channels and have it shipped to my home, that is not illegal , as soon as I hook it up to a Comcast cable feed, I have then broken the law.
Don't confuse re-engineering the game, or reverse engineering, or cheating or hacking in an online game as the "rights" of the hackers. They do not have the right to ruin a companies reputation, cost them money in revenues, or have any other such adverse affect on the company.
Whether it's illegal in the criminal sense is another question entirely. It's more civil situation for loss of revenue then a criminal one.
You can't be arrested for pulling the catalytic converter off a car's exhaust system. But as soon as you drive the car on a public road and begin polluting the air at a higher then legal rate, your subject to fines.Comment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
And 90% of those are the people that pay for their games, the other 10% being people who just discovered piracy and post on bulletin boards, such wonderful threads as "wots an iso file lol" and especially in a disk-partitioning thread - "wot does this game do?".Originally posted by Scinto
All StarForce did was make people hate its creators.
Also, for LuckySeven:
When you buy ANY software on a PC (including consoles and such), you are NOT buying the ownership to it, you are buying a lease for it. The second you punch that program through W32DASM, you have committed a crime. Read the license agreements
Comment
-
Re: Rights of Hackers
true,, the program itself would be pretty good if it didnt include its own device driver that cause's the problems, ive been a victim of it and its a bloody pain.Originally posted by camperstruckComment
Comment