deanb Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/12/mixed-ninth-circuit-ruling-mdy-v-blizzard-wow Well there ya go. However I'm unsure, as WoW is a subscribed thing, if it expands to regular games too or just things like WoW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slithy toves Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 it expands to any game with an EULA, which most games have, but i believe blizzards EULA's for WoW are probably a bit more specific than the ones slapped onto most videogames. i think the normal EULA on most videogames is similar to the ones slapped onto like DVDs and the like, i.e. for private, non-commercial use yada yada. Edit: and to concur with what ethan said, this is only currently binding in the area covered by the 9th circuit. this could conceivably come up in other federal courts with different results until or unless it's ruled on by the supreme court, which may happen if the ruling in another circuit is in favor of consumers because i can see blizzard being real dicks about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 Based on what that article said, it looks like it would apply to any game that worded its EULA appropriately. However, that's just the 9th Circuit, and unless the US Supreme Court rules on the issue the other 10 circuits (there are 11 total) can choose to either follow that ruling or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 I'd like to think that if Valve ever went under (highly unlikely, but never impossible) that they would be nice enough to release the DRM for everything we've downloaded from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 See I have no effing idea what a circuit is. I hear it, I just assume it's levels/tiers. I just imagine it to be like this Supreme court at the bottom. You've got the 9th circuit/circle. But from what I'm reading I think it might be more various areas. So 9th circuit covers sates f-h, 1st circuit covers states a-c etc. I'd like to think that if Valve ever went under (highly unlikely, but never impossible) that they would be nice enough to release the DRM for everything we've downloaded from them. There is no contractual garuntee in the Steam ToS. But they have said that should they go under they'll release an unlock code. They've tested it, know it works. Just got to wait to go out of business. However I assume that would only unlock games you have downloaded. I doubt they'll let everyone redownload all their games ontop of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_court_of_appeals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 I know they don't HAVE to do it. I was just hoping they'd be nice. But that's good to hear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slithy toves Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 But from what I'm reading I think it might be more various areas. So 9th circuit covers sates f-h, 1st circuit covers states a-c etc. that's the right idea Circuit Court Structure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 But from what I'm reading I think it might be more various areas. So 9th circuit covers sates f-h, 1st circuit covers states a-c etc. that's the right idea Circuit Court Structure Woohoo!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcidCrownie Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 I remember going on field trips to the 11th circuit courthouse when I lived in ATL. Good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bouchart Posted December 15, 2010 Report Share Posted December 15, 2010 The US Supreme Court overturns more decisions from the 9th circuit than any other circuit. Keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber Rat Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 So the 9th is the annoying, ambitious, but incompetent child? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 The US Supreme Court overturns more decisions from the 9th circuit than any other circuit. Keep that in mind. That's because it's the biggest circuit and sends the most cases SCOTUS's way. It also had a reputation for being more liberal and anti-business than the others Circuits and SCOTUS. Since this decision is pro-business, I don't think it'll be overturned as easily as other 9th Circuit decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 What he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bouchart Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 Hey, law isn't my thing. I'm the finance guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. GOH! Posted December 16, 2010 Report Share Posted December 16, 2010 Hey, law isn't my thing. I'm the finance guy. It's cool. I just don't want folks to have any false hope that SCOTUS will overrule the 9th. I think it could go either way and is really dependent on convincing a majority of a certain nine old and technophobic East Coast elitists one way or the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slatz_grobnik Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 So the 9th is the annoying, ambitious, but incompetent child? I'm inclined to give that to the 11th. OT: I seem to recall a 7th Circuit decision that suggests it might rule otherwise. If I remember an article that surveyed some lower court decisions on the general topic of the enforceability of software licenses, there's an extent to which that courts play things both ways - courts won't keep the license theory when a program owner tries to do something truly oppressive, as opposed to annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bouchart Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Who cares. As long as I have a copy of my game on some physical medium, it's mine, no matter what the black robed frauds think. As for you folks that love digital downloads, that's another matter. But you know by now that I don't like Steam or those distribution platforms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 What if you buy a disc with DRM that has to be checked on a server every so often, and one day those servers no longer exist? And don't say pirating. That's not supposed to be a valid legal option. It's an ILLEGAL option, and I understand how DRM makes people feel and don't condemn them for that, but for the sake of argument piracy is off the table. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 You may own the disc. But you don't always own the software on those discs. As shown with restrictions console makers put on game modifications. Blizzard may be the ones who pushed this forward but they are cool with you using lua. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 I'm in agreement with Mr. GOH!. I don't think it is likely that the 9th's decision will be overturned in this case. Personally, I agree with the ruling and don't understand why people think that it even needs to be overturned... If you only own a license then you have no right to transfer that license. Use game sales become illegal if the publishers decide that's what they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted December 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Autodesk case drom a few months back may be relevant here. That one dealt with resellers. from my under standing this ruling isnt free reign. The law of first sale (iirc) is still the Scissors to a companies eula Paper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 They ruled that gamers do not own their games, they merely license them (provided that the EULA is written properly). If it's just a license, then the publisher, as the licensor, can write into the license that it is nontransferable, which means I can't sell the game to another person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 No, just the article. The article lied, didn't it? I hate it when they do that. *Edit* - I do understand that the court said that modding the game was not copyright infringement, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrifeROKs Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 The internet always lies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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