Legal Action Taken Against Cheaters

[-AK-]

Tuxedo_Penguin wrote..

Give em' the chair, and don't wet the sponge.

Hell Yea! Fry those bastards

[XTRMNTR]

Lento wrote..

Well if virus writers and hackers can get arrested for malicious code, wouldnt surprise me if they go after crackers and cheatdevelopers.



Also from a well known cheatsite:

Dear Users,



as we are in conflict with Valve Corporation about the content of the sites of our client: the programmer team, we ask you to help us to pay legal advice.



We thank you very much!



Sincerely, Hosting



Artur Brylka



We are thankful for every cent we get from you, thank you!

LOL!!!! That's comedy! I hope the sites get shut down and we at least see less cheats. Let's hope Valve is successful with this one.

[Nunka]

Valve should have "started" taking action a long time ago.

[xlokix]

does vac update every week? i can't remember the last time they said vac was updated.

[-:Nighthawk:-]

I'm really curious what sort of legal action can be taken against someone who makes a cheat for a game. I mean, seriously... so long as you're not making a profit for it, and aren't distributing free versions of the game, I can't imagine there being much legal room for charges.



About the only angle I really can think of is somehow claiming they're creating a product that destroys the ability of other consumers to enjoy their product, and that could fall under some protection against anticompetitive acts. Still, that's a stretch, as it's not like hack developers are trying to pimp other games while they target CS.



But hey, I'm no law student, so I'm not exactly speaking from expertise. Part of me says good luck with it, but the implications scare me somewhat, honestly.

[itsMrHankey2u]

its in the eula, which u agree to by playing the game. u remember that thing that u accept terms of service u always check but never read. thats where u sign your life away.

[Buddah]

Notice that the legal action is aimed at the makers and the people behind sites that spread them, not the common run of the mill users. Kind of like taking out the suppliers and leaving the junkies high and dry.



Valve will have an easier time making a case against them then the users as is. It won't seem frivolous in court and also Valve can make a case that the cheats these people make/distribute are hurting their business (profits).

[[SDSU]David]

-:Nighthawk:- wrote..

I'm really curious what sort of legal action can be taken against someone who makes a cheat for a game. I mean, seriously... so long as you're not making a profit for it, and aren't distributing free versions of the game, I can't imagine there being much legal room for charges.



About the only angle I really can think of is somehow claiming they're creating a product that destroys the ability of other consumers to enjoy their product, and that could fall under some protection against anticompetitive acts. Still, that's a stretch, as it's not like hack developers are trying to pimp other games while they target CS.



But hey, I'm no law student, so I'm not exactly speaking from expertise. Part of me says good luck with it, but the implications scare me somewhat, honestly.

I agree. EULAs haven't really been tested much in court so I don't know how well they'd stand up. Maybe the idea is to actually put them to the test. Another thought is that they may just be trying to scare them out of doing it. Valve has the bankroll to go through a long court process. Most hack authors probably do not.



Or perhaps for US residents the DMCA would come in here. I know it relates to copyrights, but I'm pretty sure that thing somehow makes it illegal for me to sneeze.



Anyway, just my thoughts.

[I2o[G]uE TacT-X]

itsMrHankey2u wrote..

its in the eula, which u agree to by playing the game. u remember that thing that u accept terms of service u always check but never read. thats where u sign your life away.

EULA deals with using hacks. It doesn't have anything to do with writing hacks. To play, you need to agree to the EULA. You don't need to agree to the EULA to write a hack.

[xlokix]

wasn't the EULA just added in 1.6? (or updated)

[SoLiDUS112]

I2o[G]uE TacT-X wrote..

EULA deals with using hacks. It doesn't have anything to do with writing hacks. To play, you need to agree to the EULA. You don't need to agree to the EULA to write a hack.

You can get high any way you wish but the drug dealer makes it easier for you to acquire that which you desire. In this particular case, getting rid of the dealer will eliminate a link in the chain. If, somehow, you can remove them all, you've succeeded in making the acquisition of drugs much harder for the simple client. My 0.02$

[CheesyPeteza]

I'm no law student, but it would seem common sense that the EULA is something you agree to before playing Half-Life. I cannot see any way it could cover a web site too, they are unrelated. You could start up a web site for HL cheats without ever having played Half-Life.



Maybe they are saying that these sites promote illegal activity as they can only be used with Half-Life which would require them to break the EULA. But hmm, I don't really see it standing up in court.



The threat of legal action is usually enough though, which is probably their most likely aim.



I'm all for it anyway, it won't solve the problem completely, but I don't think there is one magic solution to remove cheaters from the game. Attacking them from all sides is a good idea.

[taurus80]

Yay! Sounds good and lets hope this works :)

[Fajo]

I2o[G]uE TacT-X wrote..

They have to prove that the user agreed to the EULA, first. Writing a hack is very different from using a hack.

Not to hard to prove means everytime you loginto Steam you agree to it also when you sign up your account you agree to it and pinpointing the computer it was used on is a very very easy task means your computer sends your IP addy along with your user name and password to valve

[BrutalGoerge]

will valve be seeking death penalties?

I say get the people who make the cheats to tell valve exactly how they work, so they can find the people using them, then send all to jail for a big hacker orgy.