In addition to the new gold spam report feature introduced in patch 2.1.0, Blizzard has also decided to file a federal lawsuit against one of the largest gold selling companies, Peons4hire. The lawsuit required them to "immediately cease all in-game spamming efforts by all entities and websites under their control." It was also said that if they refuse to act accordingly, further legal action will be taken.
With this organization pretty much out of the way, hopefully Blizzard will take similar actions against the other companies that have been recently plaguing WoW.
Comments
It's actually pretty amazing how many vendors is in the business of dealing gold....
check out this site that reports these vendors - http://www.spymmo.com - there are 15+ vendors out there that deal wow gold and has gotten a ton of (sometimes terrible) customer feedbacks.
Technically we cant sue Blizzard since the all game elements belong to them. We are basicly paying rent to use what they own (aka our characters) with which they can refuse to rent it to us at anytime without reprecusion from the user.
It's my understanding from reading the EULA that ALL game elements are owned by Blizzard. That being said, if Bliz owns all the items and gold, another party (ie Peons) cannot come in and sell something that doesn't belong to them.
I'm sure that there would be an infringment on intellectual property rights or some similar grounds for action. Not to mention that if the community could organise and sue for harrassment (spam). If only.
I agree that is the way the ToS reads currently. The issue is whether the courts will uphold that contract stipulation or rule that the player who spent time and "earned" the reward retains the right to sell the product of his work.
The core issue actually relates to whether Blizzard can retain control of their world. If an item has demonstrated value and the owner has the right to sell it for money, Blizzard could end up being sued by their own players when they cause an item to lose value (nerfing it).
The thing about that is all items are sole property of Blizzard Entertainment and the only way these gold farmers can get gold is by selling looted items for outrageous prices to us, which is kind of ironic if you think about it.
LOL you go Gronin!
The reason Blizzard hasn't filed suit earlier is the chance that the courts will rule that Blizzard can't bar someone from selling something their work (the farmer) produced. Virtual Property rights is a big deal.
to NPC_Mike:
(Peons4Hire) In Game Dollar Inc. 2715 North Australian Avenue, Suite A West Palm Beach, FL 33407v
not going to accomplish much since most of these companies are from china and the Chinese government has made gold farmers a protected industry
We should all get a settlement for pain and suffering!!!!!
Read this on the forums this morning, was about time.
Hoorah!!!!!!
About time that they do something.. good work
Sweet!
Hell, it's about time!