Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has filed a lawsuit against a 14-year-old boy who used cheating software for Fortnite Battle Royale and uploaded a video to YouTube showing others how to use it. The boy filed a DMCA counterclaim after Epic Games tried (successfully) to take down his video, and then uploaded a second video doubling down on the cheating (here is a third intact video from the YouTuber explaining the situation, 7m16s). The original video was ultimately removed and resulted in a "strike" against the YouTuber's account. The boy's mother has filed a letter with the Eastern District Court of North Carolina blasting the lawsuit and asking for it to be dismissed. She says that Epic Games failed to bind underage users with the EULA for their free-to-play game and claims that she did not give parental consent for her son to play the game. She also points out that the software in question is easily obtainable online and that her son did not modify the game with his own code:
Epic Games, the game developer of the massively popular Fortnite survival shooter, now finds itself at the center of a heated debate around the ethics of punishing cheaters after filing a lawsuit against a 14-year-old boy. In response, the boy's mother filed a legal note tearing down Epic's lawsuit and calling for it to be thrown out. The ensuing debate has been fierce, with some praising Epic and others decrying the legal measures as excessive and heartless, suggesting this case could become a touchstone for how game developers of highly competitive online titles handle cheaters and licensing agreement violations in the future.
[...] Epic, which has banned cheaters only to see them develop more robust workarounds, has responded by suing both distributors of the software and, now it seems, at least one user of it. Suing an individual user instead of simply banning them is an unorthodox and controversial move because it echoes the misguided actions of the music recording industry in its attempt to crackdown on piracy. That parallel was only further cemented by the note submitted by the 14-year-old's mother in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
[...] "This particular lawsuit arose as a result of the defendant filing a DMCA counterclaim to a takedown notice on a YouTube video that exposed and promoted Fortnite Battle Royale cheats and exploits," Epic told The Verge in a statement. "Under these circumstances, the law requires that we file suit or drop the claim. Epic is not okay with ongoing cheating or copyright infringement from anyone at any age. As stated previously, we take cheating seriously, and we'll pursue all available options to make sure our games are fun, fair, and competitive for players."
Here's some analysis from a copyright attorney (10m53s, starts at 5m45s). He is not impressed with the mom's letter.
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:25PM (5 children)
Cheaters in competitive gameplay make the game unplayable. Adults don't have time for that. Grow up and stop cheaters.
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by FakeBeldin on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:37PM (4 children)
You do realise that capitalism is basically competitive play, with money to keep track of your score, right?
(Score: 2) by infodragon on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:53PM (3 children)
And people go to jail for cheating in capitalism! ZOMG STOP CHEATING!
I understand there is corruption and back dealing and cronyism and all sorts of unsavory stuff going on... Just like in multiplayer games, however there are still quite a few that do get caught and punished. They get their ranking removed (money confiscated) and banned (go to jail). A game is just a game and punishment should be consummate with the crime. If a bank is robbed they have insurance, if the bank's security is garbage they won't get insured... If a game's security is garbage then they should suffer the consequences!
Don't settle for shampoo, demand real poo!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by redneckmother on Thursday November 30 2017, @04:55PM (2 children)
Not very often. Witness, the "mortgage meltdown".
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @06:54PM
you can even be president! not only that, his high score isn't officially published so we have to take his word on what he believes his self-worth is. if only the real donald trump could share with us what he believes right now about this.
(Score: 2) by infodragon on Thursday November 30 2017, @08:12PM
Maybe not jail, I do believe MANY should have gone to jail, however money was confiscated
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-biggest-bank-settlements-of-all-time-2017-4/#9-jpmorgan-chase-529-billion-1 [businessinsider.com]
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/03/banks-have-paid-321-billion-in-fines-since-the-crisis.html [cnbc.com] (this one is a bit misleading, $1T since the crisis means in the 9 years since 1/3 of that time was in reparations.)
I would like to say very clearly, this was not enough and more should have been levied against the plethora of bad actors including jail time.
Don't settle for shampoo, demand real poo!