Blizzard Entertainment moved for Summary Judgment against MDY the maker of the popular Glider program for Word of Warcraft. MDY filed its own motion for summary judgment on the same day. In the closely watched case (at least by me), Blizzard is alleging the MDY’s Glider program violates its copyright by allowing users to automate their online game experience in violation of Blizzard’s End User License Agreement (EULA). MDY argues that its legally impossible for its product to subject it to liability for copyright infringement, when the only basis for the liability is Blizzard’s EULA saying its a no no. After all, Blizzard’s users are the one violating the EULA, not MDY, and if Blizzard doesn’t like it, it can kick the users off. MDY never agreed to the EULA.

Napster and Grokster fell afoul under similar arguments where their services allowed massive copying. Users also were able to function fairly anonymously and divert revenue from the content owners. In the current case, Blizzard has complete control of the naughty users and its only basis for attaching liability to MDY is a EULA that its not a party to.

I think MDY is Alliance and Blizzard is Horde.

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Alleging every possible cause of action against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), exonerated defendant, Tanya Andersen, is on the offensive against RIAA for their Soprano-esque style of stalking, spying on, and whacking possible file sharers. Stay tuned.

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In remarks published on Friday, the Swedish government said that Sweden should require Internet service providers to hand over information identifying people involved in illegal file sharing. The government plans to present a proposal on implementing this policy within the next few month.

Sweden has previously been seen as haven for file sharers, with several members of parliament going so far as to call for decriminalizing file sharing. That all changed when Swedish prosecutors filed charges against four people suspected of running Sweden-based Pirate Bay, one of the world’s most popular websites for illegal downloading of films, music and computer games.

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The United States Constitution (Article I, Section 8) instructs Congress that it is “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries”

But the founding fathers never thought about whether file sharing is theft or where the line should be drawn between inspiration and plagiarism in the fashion industry. In some U.S. industries (most notably motion pictures and music), congress has enacted extraordinary penalties for both people who share, copy or illegally view the copyrighted materials, and the people who pirate the content. However, in the fashion industry, Congress (unlike its counterparts in the EU) has resisted providing designers with any protection for their designs.

However, that could change if H.R. 2033 is enacted into law. Something that looks more likely this year then ever before.

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