FC: A nice irony: Blizzard sends DMCA nastygram, then DMCA'd by Sony

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Previous Politech message:

"Blizzard game company uses DMCA to shut down Bnetd emulator app"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03163.html

---

From: [deleted per request --DBM]
To: <declan () well com>
Subject: Blizzard gets smacked with a DMCA notice of their own.
Date: Fri, 10 May 2002 08:55:08 -0700

[Friend is worried this might get him fired.  Would you mind hiding my name
if you print this?  Thanks!]

Thought you might want to see this.   Blizzard had earlier sent a DMCA
takedown notice to BnetD, a system that would allow gamers to play one
another on a networked system.
/. covered it earlier in February:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/02/21/0136256


Blizzard got much flak for the action, and has since recanted on the DMCA
threat, and instead tosses out a lawsuit alleging pure Copyright
Infringement against the creators of BnetD.   The actual filed papers can be
found here.   http://www.eff.org/sc/bnetd/20020405_blizzard_complaint.pdf

Well, Karma's a bitch, so to speak.   Turns out from a source in blizzard,
Sony is going right along and doing the same thing to Blizzard.

Likely, the DMCA end of it won't stand.  But Sony might have a claim for
Copyright Infringement.

The worst thing of this, is that now most of the programmers (who have
nothing at all to do with the legal BS) are pretty much cut-off musically
speaking.


MEMO:

Blizzard was recently served with a DMCA ("Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
notification from Sony Music for copyright infringement. This infringement
was allegedly committed by one of our employees who was purportedly using a
peer-to-peer file-sharing program on a Blizzard computer system to share
copyrighted music with others over the Internet.

Unauthorized distribution of copyrighted audio, video, graphics, software
and/or any other files (e.g., commercial recordings, films, or software) is
illegal. Providing these files over the Company network through peer-to-peer
file-sharing programs (ie. Kazaa, Morpheus, EDonkey, Gnutella, and similar
programs) or by other means puts both the user and Blizzard in jeopardy of
being held liable for copyright infringement. As you can imagine, this risk
is not one that the company is willing to take.

In addition to the legal ramifications, peer-to-peer file-sharing programs
may inadvertently expose confidential and proprietary company files that
have been enabled for sharing to the Internet. When you are connected to the
Internet, anyone on the Internet may then have access to that data or
material. These file sharing programs themselves may install spyware and/or
install Trojans, again exposing local and network data to outside access.
Further, swapping of files causes higher Internet usage and in many cases
utilizes costly network and local hardware resources.

We therefore need to make sure that everyone understands our policy
regarding peer-to-peer file-sharing programs and that immediate steps are
taken to stop any copyright infringement from taking place at Blizzard.

POLICY.  Peer-to-peer file-sharing programs may not be used on any computers
connected to Blizzard or Blizzard North's networks without the express
written approval of Mike Morhaime or Paul Sams. This policy shall go into
effect immediately. Exceptions, if any, will be installed and tested in a
controlled environment and properly configured to ensure an adequate level
of security before implementation. If an adequate level of security cannot
be established, such usage will not be approved, and an alternative method
will need to be found.

REMOVAL.  To ensure currently installed programs have been uninstalled
correctly and all associated files have been removed, an Information Systems
(IS) staff member should be notified to remove all pieces of the infringing
program(s) and make any necessary registry changes. If you currently have
any of these peer-to-peer file-sharing programs on your computer, please
contact IS to facilitate their proper removal. IS will be able to make sure
that any related spyware is removed also.

ENFORCEMENT.  Due of the very serious legal and financial harm that Blizzard
could experience as a result of an employee infringing upon another
company's copyrights in this manner, we have adopted this policy. Please be
aware that disciplinary action, up to and including termination, will be
taken against any employee that is found to be using a peer-to-peer
file-sharing program on computers connected to Blizzard or Blizzard North's
networks




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