Battle.net Goes to War
Howard Wen,
Salon,
Apr 18, 2002
The background: a company called Blizzard creates some popular strategy games and hosts server, Battle.Net, so players can compete online. But the server is buggy and prone to abuse. So some game players write a better server, bnetd, to use with their games. Blizzard files a cease and desist order - not because they are using pirated copies - they aren't - but because people with pirated copies could use the new servers. Really what Blizzard wants is complete control. But if complete control is granted by copyright legislation (the case is still pending) then it becomes a crime to write a program that is compatible with another program. What then? "To say that bnetd allows unauthorized public performances implies that it is a copyright violation just to create software that 'interoperates,' or is otherwise compatible, with Blizzard. Interoperability -- which enables software to work with other software -- is a core principle of how the Internet, or any computer network, works."
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