Last month Blizzard filed a default judgment against cheat maker Bossland and they have come out on top.
Blizzard was seeking $8.5 million in damages from Bossland for the distribution and sale of Blizzard cheat tools/hacks Honorbuddy, Demonbuddy, Stormbuddy, Hearthbuddy, and Watchover Tyrant in the US. As Bossland defaulted on the case and did not represent themselves in court, Blizzard has been awarded the full amount they were seeking.
The total amount awarded was calculated based on 42,818 infringements. Each infringement within the US was valued at $200 which is minimum statutory damages. The attorney fees were also noted and have cost $174,872.00 which is no small amount.
This battle between Bossland will continue in other regions but so far Blizzard has been successful against the cheat maker when cases have reached the courts. This is the second successful case this year for Blizzard against Bossland. In January Bossland were ordered to cease selling Honorbuddy in Germany.
Bossland was also facing legal action in the UK. Visitors trying to access the website today are now greeted with the following message.
“On 16th March 2017, Bossland GmbH, and its directors Mr Zwetan Letschew and Mr Patrick Kirk admitted, in and for the purposes of proceedings before the High Court of England and Wales, that the sale of its software which it sells as Honorbuddy, Gatherbuddy, Demonbuddy, Hearthbuddy, Stormbuddy and Watchover Tyrant, to any person resident in the United Kingdom, constitutes an infringement of Blizzard’s intellectual property rights and an inducement to players of Blizzard’s games to breach their agreements with Blizzard. Accordingly, Bossland and its directors are no longer permitted to advertise or offer for sale such software to UK residents.”
The website for the actual Honorbody software now redirects to Google if anyone tries to reach it from the UK.
Due to the nature of all Blizard games and their reliance on online play, Blizzard needs to aggressively pursue cheat makers. Should Blizzard fail to protect their IPs they would be in danger of losing large numbers of regular players and their esports audience for games such as Overwatch.
The net is closing in on Bossland and it’s only a matter of time and legal expense until Bossland vanishes from the major game playing markets.
Thanks TF.
