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Call of Duty Cheat Maker 'EngineOwning' Sued By Activision Under The DMCAAndy Maxwell, 06 Jan 09:17 AM In response to rampant cheating in Call of Du

Call of Duty Cheat Maker 'EngineOwning' Sued By Activision Under The DMCA Andy Maxwell, 06 Jan 09:17 AM In response to rampant cheating in Call of Duty, last October Activision announced RICHOCET Anti-Cheat, a supposedly robust system designed to stop cheaters in their tracks. The system reportedly identified and banned 50K cheaters across Warzone and Vanguard during the first day but this didn't appear to solve the problem. As recently as yesterday there were reports of players openly mocking the system so, in common with companies including Bungie (1,2,3), Activision has now resorted to legal action. Lawsuit Filed in the United States Filed in a California district court yesterday, the complaint targets EngineOwning UG, CMN Holdings S.A, six named individuals (Valentin Rick, Leonard Bugla, Leon Frisch, Ignacio Gayduchenko, Marc-Alexander Richts, Alexander Kleeman) and 50 'Doe' defendants. "By this lawsuit, Activision seeks to put a stop to unlawful conduct by an organization that is distributing and selling for profit numerous malicious software products designed to enable members of the public to gain unfair competitive advantages (i.e., to cheat) in the COD Games. These ongoing activities damage Activision's games, its overall business, and the experience of the COD player community," the lawsuit begins. The defendants allegedly develop and distribute (via the website at EngineOwning.to) a portfolio of cheats and hacks for popular online games, including those in the Call of Duty series. According to Activision, the defendants are also preparing new cheating software for Overwatch, which is published by its affiliate Blizzard Entertainment. "The Cheating Software enables players to manipulate the COD Games to their personal advantage, such as by automatically aiming weapons, revealing the locations of opponents, and allowing the player to see information that is not normally available to players because it would give them an unfair advantage within the game," Activision adds. Circumvention of Technical Protection Measures The complaint states that to protect the COD games from cheating and exploitation, Activision develops and deploys anti-cheat technologies. Activision says it is not possible to play the COD games online without installing its cheat detection system and as a result, it has been able to ban "hundreds of thousands" of accounts in the past year. However, in order for hacks and cheats to work, they must be able to prevent or avoid detection by the anti-cheat software. According to Activision, this means that the cheating software is comprised of or contains technologies that are primarily designed to circumvent technological measures that control access to its games. "As a result of the foregoing, Defendants are offering to the public, providing, importing, or otherwise trafficking in technology that violates 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2). Defendants' acts constituting DMCA violations have been and continue to be performed without the permission, authorization, or consent of Activision. Defendants have violated Section 1201 of the DMCA willfully and for private commercial gain," Activision notes. Claim for Damages Activision says that the defendants' conduct has unjustly enriched them and caused damage to its business. As a result, it is seeking the maximum statutory damages of $2,500 for each violation of the DMCA or, in the alternative, defendants' profits attributable to their violations. It's alleged that the defendants made "hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more," from their distribution and sale of the software. Activision further alleges that the defendants intentionally interfere with contractual relationships between the gaming company and its customers. All COD players must assent to Activision's Terms of Use (TOU) and when they use the defendants' cheating software, that constitutes a breach of the agreement. "[D]efendants are aware that the TOU prohibits players from using the Cheating Software and that players are at risk of being banned from the COD Games should they be caught using the Cheating Software. Nevertheless, Defendants intentionally encourage and induce users of the COD Games to purchase and use the Cheating Software, knowing that the use of these products by their customers is a breach of these customers' contracts with Activision," the complaint adds. As a result of these actions, Activision says it has suffered damages including a loss of goodwill, diversion of resources to deal with the cheating software and loss of profit from the accounts Activision terminated for a violation of its TOU. The company also seeks damages for unfair competition. "Defendants are guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice, and Activision, in addition to its actual damages, by reason thereof, is entitled to recover exemplary and punitive damages against Defendants," the company concludes, adding that it is also entitled to an injunction to restrain the defendants' activities. The complaint can be found here (pdf) From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. "Popcorn Time" Shuts Down Due to a Lack of Use Ernesto Van der Sar, 05 Jan 05:59 PM When the original Popcorn Time application launched eight years ago, we billed it as the "Netflix for Pirates." The software offered a clean and easy-to-use interface to stream pirated movies and TV shows, all powered by BitTorrent. Rivaling Hollywood and Netflix In the years that followed Popcorn Time had to endure plenty of legal threats, mostly from Hollywood. The original developers were quick to throw in the towel but the open source code was widely copied with Popcorn-Time.to emerging as one of the leading forks. During those early years, millions of people used the software. This was a major concern for Hollywood and Netflix began worrying too when Google searches for Popcorn Time began rivaling those for Netflix in some regions. "Piracy continues to be one of our biggest competitors," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings commented in 2015, specifically mentioning Popcorn Time's growing popularity. This triggered a wave of enforcement actions including a lawsuit in the US, targeting the alleged operator of Popcorn-Time.to (later .tw). That case was eventually dismissed after the movie companies realized that they had identified the wrong person. Ultimately the fork remained online. Popcorn-Time.tw Shuts Down Despite weathering several storms, the curtain finally fell for Popcorn-Time.tw this week but legal issues didn't play a role. Speaking with TorrentFreak, the Popcorn Time team says that decreased interest from the pirating public drove it to take this drastic decision. "It's time to say goodbye," the Popcorn Time team notes. "The world doesn't need Popcorn Time anymore." This decreased popularity is in large part the result of competition from other pirate tools that rendered the software pretty much obsolete. Pirate streaming sites and dedicated streaming boxes have surged in popularity over the years, effectively taking over the "Netflix for Pirates" role. Alternatives Take Over The shift in preference also had a clear impact on Popcorn Time usage numbers. A few years ago millions of people regularly used the software but most of those people moved on to more convenient alternatives. This evolution is also summarized by a Google Trends graph posted by Popcorn Time as part of its farewell message. Interest in the application continues to wane, and the days when it rivaled Netflix in some regions have long gone. Popcorn Time's demise doesn't mean that Netflix has successfully beaten online piracy of course. Pirate streaming sites and devices remain a massive challenge, and Netflix content is still widely pirated on regular torrent sites as well. Also, pirates who really insist on using Popcorn Time can probably still find a working fork somewhere. The official Popcorn Time repository on GitHub remains online, even though the associated PopcornTime.app domain has been offline for nearly a year. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. Tarantino's NFT Auction Goes Ahead Despite Miramax Copyright Lawsuit Ernesto Van der Sar, 05 Jan 01:07 PM Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have been booming over the past year. People are willing to pay millions of dollars in return for the rights to unique digital assets as well as any perks that come with them. These NFTs are not without copyright issues. For example, some artists have found their works being sold as NFTs without their permission. There are also more complex copyright angles too, as Quentin Tarantino discovered a few weeks ago. Miramax Sued Tarantino The award-winning moviemaker was sued by Miramax after he announced the auction of several exclusive "Pulp Fiction" NFTs. While Tarantino wrote and directed the film, he assigned many of the exclusive rights to the movie studio. Miramax, therefore, argues that it holds the rights to sell Pulp Fiction NFTs as the company also made clear in its complaint. "[I]t could also mislead others into believing they have the rights to pursue similar deals or offerings, when in fact Miramax holds the rights needed to develop, market, and sell NFTs relating to its deep film library," the movie studio wrote. Tarantino wholeheartedly disagreed. Responding in court, his lawyers pointed out that the director has always retained the right to publish portions of his original handwritten Pulp Fiction screenplay. As such, the lawsuit is characterized as "offensively meritless." "Now a shell of its former self and flailing under a new ownership consortium, Miramax has decided to bite the hand that fed it for so many years by bringing this offensively meritless lawsuit," the complaint added. NFT Auctions Go Ahead NFTs didn't exist last century and it will be up to the court to decide whether Miramax's claims have any merit. However, today it becomes clear that Tarantino is not backing down. The planned NFT auctions will go ahead. SCRT Labs, which is coordinating the auction, circulated a press release noting that the director will "strike back" at Miramax. The first NFT auction will go live on January 17, with six more following in the days after. The NFTs that will go up for auction are linked to iconic Pulp Fiction scenes. They come with a personalized audio commentary from Tarantino, which reportedly offers a unique view into the creative process that led to the final product. "Secret Network is proud to stand with Quentin," says Guy Zyskind, founder and CEO, SCRT Labs, commenting on the news. "We are committed to working with talented artists across the globe, by providing them a better way to release their works directly to fans without relying on older distribution models, which favor conglomerates over creators." Lawsuit Has An Impact on Several Levels Needless to say, the legal battle is about much more than principles and copyright. The NFTs could potentially bring in millions of dollars, which may also be an incentive for all parties involved. In that regard, the lawsuit could even be a blessing for Tarantino and his team. The mainstream media attention that comes with it can be seen as valuable PR. And indeed, the fact that we received an embargoed press release days in advance shows that the project isn't shying away from extra attention. This doesn't mean that the lawsuit had no impact at all. On the contrary, when we look at the TarantinoNFTs.com website there are some subtle changes. For example, early artwork featuring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta has been replaced with an image of Tarantino himself. The original image was labeled as copyright-infringing by Miramax so this change appears to be a direct response to this claim. In addition, several tweets from the Tarantino NFT team with alleged copyright-infringing material were deleted as well. These tweets are also listed as infringing examples in the legal paperwork. TorrentFreak hoped to hear more from Tarantino directly but, despite the early heads-up, we were informed that the movie director isn't available to comment on the matter. Similarly, SCRT Labs wasn't able to respond to our questions before publication. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. ©2022 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company