Blizzard suing 10 StarCraft 2 hackers over cheat software

Blizzard Entertainment filed suit against 10 unnamed StarCraft 2 hackers this week, alleging that their actions cause "serious harm to the value" of the game. 

According to the complaint filed May 19 in a California court, the defendants circumvent Blizzard's Warden software, which prevents unauthorized access to the game, stops users from loading unauthorized copies and monitors StarCraft 2 for "malicious or unauthorized software products," thus preventing cheats and hacks. Bypassing Warden violates Battle.net's Terms of Use and the game's End User License Agreement, according to the document. 

Blizzard believes that the 10 defendants distribute, develop or sell the unauthorized software, are "well aware" of Blizzard's prohibitions and cause "immediate, massive and irreparable" harm by infringing on copyright, contributing to copyright infringement and failing to "supervise and control" the hacks and their distribution. For trafficking in circumvention devices, breaching the ToS and EULA contracts and intentionally interfering with those contractual relations, Blizzard is asking the court to require the defendants to shut down the hacks and associated domains, deliver copies of the software and all accounts of sales to Blizzard and provide monetary compensation. 

Blizzard is also demanding a jury trial. 

Last October, Blizzard prevailed in a two-year legal battle with Ceiling Fan Software, which created bots that automated aspects in World of Warcraft. Blizzard argued in a California court that the software violated its software's terms of use.