"A judge in the California Central District Court ruled Thursday that Scapegaming, also known as Alyson Reeves, has lost its lawsuit against Blizzard. Scapegaming had set up private Blizzard servers that included a microtransactions market. Blizzard sued them in October 2009 for copyright infringement. 
 

"The total reward of $88,594,589 comes from $3,053,339 of inappropriate profits, $63,600 of attorney's fees, and $85,478,600 of statutory damages. "

It is sending a message.  One assumes he will immediately declare himself bankrupt.  He would have slipped under the radar if he hadn't tried to make money off it.

The problem is he tried to make money off someone else's game. If he would have just run the sever while still questionable blizzard would have just let it go.

Be brave and commit suicide to pay off your gambling debts. That's what whoever set up that server should do.

I'm fine with that. They were using Blizzards game to make themselves some huge profit, without actually doing any work themselves. They deserve to bankrupt themselves.

So with all this extra money can we have cross region play now?

Jesus.     Might as well just throw them in jail and take all their stuff.     Force them to move off planet even.

My main argument is that Blizzard and the third party fan sites are saying that all private servers go against their terms of service and is copyright infringing. I don't understand how that is. I paid for their game. If I choose not to pay for their service then that's fine, let me choose another server that I don't have to pay for.

88 million dollars? Who do they think they are suing, BP?

I mean, really? Come on, Activision. 

" My main argument is that Blizzard and the third party fan sites are saying that all private servers go against their terms of service and is copyright infringing. I don't understand how that is. I paid for their game. If I choose not to pay for their service then that's fine, let me choose another server that I don't have to pay for. "

Well hell, it's a stupid idea askin for microtransactions. Really just asking for trouble, which they found.

IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!!

" Well hell, it's a stupid idea askin for microtransactions. Really just asking for trouble, which they found. "

Most private servers have microtransactions. The majority of the popular ones you can pay for "VIP Weapons" and stuff.

" Most private servers have microtransactions. The majority of the popular ones you can pay for "VIP Weapons" and stuff. "

"

Be brave and commit suicide to pay off your gambling debts. That's what whoever set up that server should do.

"

" @CL60 said:

" Most private servers have microtransactions. The majority of the popular ones you can pay for "VIP Weapons" and stuff. "

Have any of those servers gotten shut down and the owners sued? "

Moral of this story: Don't mess with Activision.

" Most private servers have microtransactions. The majority of the popular ones you can pay for "VIP Weapons" and stuff. "

The total amount she has to pay is insane, but it also looks like she made about 3 mil before getting caught, which is also insane. I don't know if that's what I'd really call a "private server" at that point.

Hopefully the thieves will be imprisoned in federal prison if they can't pay them!  Damn scum! 

Well, he was stealing off other's people's stuff.
 
That's what happens.

A couple of years ago Blizzard came out and said that they will soon be taking legal action against private servers. They gave all the owners of these servers the opportunity to shut them down and just walk away. If they did so, then that would be it.  Sadly, not everyone went along with this and...well, this is what happened. 
 
Also, if I remember correctly, you can accuse private servers of piracy, theft of services, and I think breach of contract. That might not be the right wording or names for things, so don't quote me on them. Also, when you buy WoW you have to create an account if you want to play. You do not own this account, Blizzard does. The fee you pay from that point on is for the right to access this account. So if you are playing this game outside of a trail membership but you never bought a copy of WoW, then that is theft. Downloading and using the patches and the content in the game without paying the company for the right to do so, theft of services. You agree to understanding this when you accept the ToS.
 
Getting involved in all that and then making money off of it....bad, bad idea.

" @ch13696 said:

" My main argument is that Blizzard and the third party fan sites are saying that all private servers go against their terms of service and is copyright infringing. I don't understand how that is. I paid for their game. If I choose not to pay for their service then that's fine, let me choose another server that I don't have to pay for. "

Private servers usually have a client to download which gives you WoW for free. Then again, you can get WoW for free by using a trial and downloading the core game that way. "

Good for Blizzard, about time a game company took a stand against the more nefarious players out there and protected their intellectual properties. That private server made $3million+ in profits from those micro-transactions. That isn't right, not at all.

Took money off of someone else's game.  
 
This lawsuit seems legitimate, despite the amount of the claim.