Would Rockstar sue hackers?

[Miss Malevolent]

Reading my RSS feeds for Geek.com, I came across an article on Blizzard suing Starcraft II hackers. And of course it puts to mind the plague of hacking Rockstar games have had in the past and currently.

 

IF a precedent is set with the Blizzard ruling (in favor of Blizzard), do you think that Rockstar (and other gaming companies, but specifically Rockstar) could/would/should follow suit (no pun intended)?

 

And is this a good or bad precedent to set in the gaming community?

Edited June 21, 2014 by Miss Malevolent

[Xyn]

If they were, they would have done it months ago.

 

The fact they are so lenient on glitchers and script kiddies almost proves they aren't going to take a single legal action.

[xskinzcity]

sue them for what? digital dollas?

[SimsDaniel916]

Sue them? Please, they feature them on their events.

[GTA-Freak-Vi]

They won't really gain much if anything at all when they sue them

[Xyn]

sue them for what? digital dollas?

Those "digital dollas" are worth RL cash...

 

Sadly, they'll never do it.

In fact, it's easier for someone to sue R* for letting people get what some paid for, for free, than for R* to take action.

[Biohazard Abyss]

Sue me for ruining potential kesh kurd sales

[hornedturtle]

this is old, this was old when blizzard where chasing down the people who ran private WoW servers. as soon as they relize it's not an American that made it nothing will happen.

[CatchMeTrolling]

I don't know but they've been trying to catch me riding dirty in my Panto

[RagunCajin]

It's the same old thread since nineteen-sixteen.

In your head, in your head they're still hacking

Hacker, hacker, haa-a-a-acker

[iVoltScopez V2]

Well it depends, if you're talking about the people who hacked for money than you're an absolute idiot because R* can just pop into existence trillions of GTA$ meaning hacking the game to give yourself money can't be justified with a lawsuit since you didn't "steal" anything that was of actual value. It'd be like me walking into a restaurant and asking for a napkin then being forced to work in the kitchen to pay off my debt for a used napkin.

[RagunCajin]

Well it depends, if you're talking about the people who hacked for money than you're an absolute idiot because R* can just pop into existence trillions of GTA$ meaning hacking the game to give yourself money can't be justified with a lawsuit since you didn't "steal" anything that was of actual value. It'd be like me walking into a restaurant and asking for a napkin then being forced to work in the kitchen to pay off my debt for a used napkin.

But they theoretically stole money from R*. The pretend money they created could be valued in cash card sales. Even if they had no intention of buying cash cards (or earning it legitimately) they took potential sales away from R*, thereby "stealing." Maybe steal isn't the right word, but those money hackers could have dissuaded people from buying cash cards.

I don't think R* has a case against them (at least, not a strong one) but saying that they might sue could scare some people straight.

 

Offtopic (sorta); Did Blizzard ever sue private server owners? I remember playing on some a few years back and they somehow became difficult to find.

Edited June 21, 2014 by RagunCajin

[PinkRibbonScars]

I doubt it. I don't think it's on a wide enough scale. For example; some guy hacked the psn back in 2011( I think the year is right. ) and it was down for maintenance for several weeks. I'm pretty sure that he was caught and faced some jail time.

[AlienWillHeMonsta]

50/50. I think most terms and conditions mention "modifying code" but that may affect non-malicous modders too.

 

I would say other players in a server may have case in raising a claim against the hacker, that has modified code, with the intent to cause disruption to other players.

[Serdzy]

They don't even ban anyone.

[Franceska]

Blizzard cares, Rockstar doesn't care enough. Want to get featured? Hack/glitch.

[hotrats773]

 

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/blizzard-sues-starcraft-2-hackers-for-selling-cheats/1100-6419854/

 

"Blizzard claims these hacks "not only disrupt or impair the online experience for purchasers of the computer game, but, as set forth more fully herein, cause serious and irreparable harm to Blizzard and its products.""

 

""Defendants are well aware that they do not have any license, right, or authority to engage in any of the foregoing infringing activities," the lawsuit states. "It is well-known to the public, and Defendants certainly know, that Blizzard owns the copyright in StarCraft II, and never has authorized Defendants to develop and/or distribute Hacks or other software that modifies StarCraft II or its online components."

 

Substitute Rockstar for Blizzard and one could conceive that yes, they *could* go after hackers. Will they? Tough call. My non-legal, just-an-average-person-on-the-street opinion says that if it starts to affect the bottom line in some way that yes, they would. There's also the possibility (maybe?) of a class action suit. I'm not a lawyer so I can't say if that is even do-able.

Edited June 21, 2014 by hotrats773

[CarimboHanky]

if R* wanted to attack hackers they would have done it years ago when hackers/modders destroyed rdr/iv multiplayer.

 

nowaday, your biggest punishment for hacking gtao, is getting featured on a official R* event and have your youtube channel promoted by R* in all their social media.

[Kampioen]

I'm not sure what kind of punishment that would carry, but suing them is a little over the top. Just close the gaps that allow people to hack and ban them. No 15 year old kid with a little program he found on the internet to shoot RPGs out of a minigun and fly around in a taxi deserves to have a lawsuit against him. This all sounds very American, lol.

Edited June 21, 2014 by CenMan

[MantisFang]

Blizzard cares about StarCraft 2 because of the highly competitive industry it has spawned in Korea and elsewhere.

 

GTA is well.. Not so much.

 

"Hackers" in gta are safe from litigation unless they do something to really f*ck with their money.

Edited June 21, 2014 by MantisFang

[Arlarse]

It'd cost Rockstar more than they'd make back, so it'd only ever be about the message and right now just simply getting them banned is a far more simple route to take.

[Ayylien]

With the PS4/One release on the horizon, which I'm assuming will be mod free for the next few years, I don't think they really care. Sony has an agreement with developers regarding modders with the PS4.

They don't even perma-ban most modders, just a slap on the wrist with a month ban.

If the PS4/One starts getting CFW I don't think it'll be the developers suing, it will be Sony/Microsoft.

 

You're beating a dead horse with the PS3/360. Modders have been rampant for a few years now. A couple more years and Sony and Microsoft won't even care about the PS3 and 360.

[AlienOne]

Sue them? Please, they feature them on their events.

[Miss Malevolent]

Love that pic.

 

I tend to agree with a few people in this thread that, moving to PS4/XBox1 will buy Rockstar some time in regards to this issue. But, what happens on the PC front? And once again, this is all hypothetical and predicated on a judge agreeing Blizzard even has grounds to go after hackers.

 

Say this is set as a precedent...I tend to think Rockstar WOULDN'T use this action because of potential bad press. It would seem like a David and Goliath scenario, even if in the long run it would be better, in my opinion, for the community.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Miss Malevolent

[am30]

I can think of a punishment far worse than suing hacker (let's be realistic, Mummy and Daddy will pick up the tab).

 

Force them into work.

[RoyalRedXIII]

Honestly, I would say I wouldn't be too upset at all if the hackers were dealt with, but lemme say this:

 

Although I'm sure the case could be presented in some kind of way to keep it from sounding frivolous, I'm sure R* wouldn't bother with a case like that. They have too many successful products and even more projects bound to be successful on the way. Not to mention they are just raking in the dough. Doesn't seem like they should even waste effort on a lawsuit.

 

If GTAO was p2p or had priced DLC, then I could see the issue being a bigger deal to them.

 

Now even though I'd like to see the hackers be dealt with, I'd rather that the hacking just "go away" as apposed to having it dealt with legally. That will set a bad precedent that will just cause more people to retaliate and the hacking will escalate in anger of being confronted by a "big company that thinks it can tell people what to do". The infamy and challenge to get noticed would also be too good to resist to them.

[rushfox]

Does anyone have any knowledge of lawsuits? Well it costs money to take them to court. R* would have to pay to take them to court and they'd also need evidence that that person hacked. The hacker could easily say oh it was my friend or someone stole my account.

 

Also there are probably 1000s of hackers in the game, to track all of them down and sue them would be a waste of money and a huge stain on R*s reputation.

 

They are better off banning people.

[G37]

It wouldn't surprise me if some were in fact recruited.

[RagunCajin]

If Blizzard is successful then it will set forth precedents for every other gaming company. This can be a double edged sword.

On one hand, it will let people know that developers aren't to be trifled with and could scare some people straight. On the other hand, people might become vindictive and make matters worse.

 

'Course, what would constitute hacking a game? Skin textures? Custom scripts? This would be open to debate. I know Bethesda could make a massive fortune just for suing sites that host mods.

I would support R* if they did sue the creators of the hacks, but not every user (since I'd bet most of them can't support themselves). I think a developer should only consider legal action if the hacking/modding affects online game play. If someone pays for the single player, they should be able to change the files all they want. But when it comes to online, they are no longer changing files they own, but what the company owns.

 

In any case, I support R* if they go after hackers, think it would be frivolous, but doubt they will follow Blizzard's actions.