Blizzard Response on World of StarCraft Mod

[hyde]

You know, Blizzard didn't have to contact the guy. They could've done a blanket cease and desist, and that would have been the end of it, period.

The fact that they came out and are saying this is directly because of the media taking note of this recent event, and everyone else in the community jumping to conclusions instead of looking for answers. Blizzard is now controlling the situation by explaining their actions and intentions. I don't see why this could ever be a bad thing. Would it have been better if they just shut the guy down with no explanation? Or said something like 'We can't comment at this time'?

Sure, they didn't have to take the video off Youtube; but they're pretty much doing it to protect their IP. The mod's name is World of Starcraft, and I'm pretty sure it has more to do with the name of the mod than the actual content being produced.

Infoceptor's 'Warcraft 3' mod for Starcraft was given a cease and desist. Project Revolution did the same thing for War3, adding SC units into War3, yet despite Blizzard acknowledging the mod's existence, did nothing to stop it. They have to protect their IP, and when the name of the game is being used directly for an unofficial product, it becomes a legal issue.

1) That's what they pretty much did with the youtube video. It's just a map editor mod. They can pull that too but then it's just going too far.
Stop being such a fanboy, you talk like Blizzard could have done so much worse and was giving this and the community "Grace". They're covering their FRAZZLEWAHes. Smell the coffee dude.
Do you know how bad they would look like in the eyes of the community if they "shut down" a (legit) SC2 editor created project? It's basically like saying "HEY COMMUNITY/MOD/MAPPERS, EAT FRAZZLEWAH!!! But please continue to make maps for us " and said nothing in the process? It would be enough for me to seriously rethink buying a Blizzard product without waiting for reviews.

2) Yeah they are controlling the situation, with poorly written PR statements to cover up their "bright" legal team who pulled the video for no reason.
3) Of course they have to comment, it's common business practice. It would be worse if they didn't comment, at least they are faking an apology/being Mr.Nice Company
4) Infoceptor's mod did not require a copy of WarCraft 2. It had proprietary models copy/pasted from WC2 into SC. Theft.

The WC3 SC Revolution mod had all their models created from scratch and required both CD keys to play it. This created legal protection as nothing was being "Stolen" and to play it, you had to own both games.
Get your damn facts straight.


Back to topic: This has been blown out of proportion. Basically (in my opinion) the Youtube/ActivisionBlizz Auto filter removed the video...or some "Genius" on their legal online team.
Then people who actually have a clue, working at Blizzard, realized this and forced a PR Statement. Or possibly their story is true, and they pulled it down and then wanted to talk to them.
The later sounds like a lie though, merely a ways to cover the corporate "blindness" of their legal team. This is to be expected of a publicly traded company.

[Gifted]

Hyde,

While you bring an interesting opinion to the table, it's important to note that every single part of your argument is utter speculation without proof, source or even basis in many cases. I don't mean to shut you down... but insulting others for possibly being wrong won't make your point any more valid. It's still just as much speculation/opinion than the poster you replied to.

In fact, unfortunately, the only source that supports to disputes the point you bring up is simply a post from the company trying to explain their actions. If it's a coverup of some mistake, then it's nothing to get upset over. If it's honest from them, which I speculate is highly probable as it's pretty much a mirror of the "Left 2 Die" situation a while back, then it's still nothing to get upset about.

[Triceron]

'Starcraft' is a trademarked name, and it was being used directly to promote something that was not an official Starcraft product. Blizzard has every right and reason to act upon it. It's not a mistake. They have done this in the past. These are facts, not my opinions of the matter.

I can see that you might think I'm being a fanboy for simply defending Blizzard on this situation, but I can tell you I remain fairly neutral to the matter. I just don't see the point in villainizing a company that is doing what they're supposed to be doing. The matter is that this wouldn't have gained as much attention as it did if the media was not focused on it. It's as simple as that. You would probably never have heard of this or cared otherwise.

The creator of Sentry Scramble was banned for hacking, despite never having played a ranked ladder match, or running any malicious programs in the background. Did you even know about this? Or cared that he got banned? Again, this sort of stuff happens.

Blizzard is a company, first and foremost. They don't owe us any favours, nor do they answer to the consumers. They don't HAVE to say or do anything.

[hyde]

Hyde,

While you bring an interesting opinion to the table, it's important to note that every single part of your argument is utter speculation without proof, source or even basis in many cases. I don't mean to shut you down... but insulting others for possibly being wrong won't make your point any more valid. It's still just as much speculation/opinion than the poster you replied to.

In fact, unfortunately, the only source that supports to disputes the point you bring up is simply a post from the company trying to explain their actions. If it's a coverup of some mistake, then it's nothing to get upset over. If it's honest from them, which I speculate is highly probable as it's pretty much a mirror of the "Left 2 Die" situation a while back, then it's still nothing to get upset about.

Yes all of my stuff is speculation, I realize that. But this is Activision Blizzard being headed by Bobby Kotick and Mike Morhaim. People really don't see the extent that most of the "evil stuff" Blizzard has been doing, as been A-OK'd by Mike (They are autonmous but Mike , like any CEO - wants to drive share prices UP. 25$ WoW mounts is one way)
Given Activision Blizzard's recent track record, I wouldn't expect them to be nice.

http://kotaku.com/5740389/starcraft-...ook-conclusion

This guy was not the only SC2 "WoW" modder, actually there are a few projects that are much more ahead of his project. Although his was the only one that had a video (and removed), thus the high profile.
He was then invited on an all expenses paid trip to Blizzard California.
Why weren't the other modders invited? Public Relations cover up no doubt.
Someone at Activision Blizzard screwed up, so then Blizzard has to have a tea party.

'Starcraft' is a trademarked name, and it was being used directly to promote something that was not an official Starcraft product. Blizzard has every right and reason to act upon it. It's not a mistake. They have done this in the past. These are facts, not my opinions of the matter.

I can see that you might think I'm being a fanboy for simply defending Blizzard on this situation, but I can tell you I remain fairly neutral to the matter. I just don't see the point in villainizing a company that is doing what they're supposed to be doing. The matter is that this wouldn't have gained as much attention as it did if the media was not focused on it. It's as simple as that. You would probably never have heard of this or cared otherwise.

The creator of Sentry Scramble was banned for hacking, despite never having played a ranked ladder match, or running any malicious programs in the background. Did you even know about this? Or cared that he got banned? Again, this sort of stuff happens.

Blizzard is a company, first and foremost. They don't owe us any favours, nor do they answer to the consumers. They don't HAVE to say or do anything.

Yes Starcraft is a trademarked name but it was being strictly used within the map editor. The article in Kotaku I linked above explicitly says the legal team was afraid he was creating something out of StarCraft 2.
Knee jerk reaction much on their legal team? The new name is StarCraft Universe.

Do you see VALVE Corporation sending "Cease and desist" orders to the DOTA team or to Blizzard to filter out the "DOTA" trademark? No, because that would make them look like assholes and would prove nothing.
(VALVE owns copyright to "DOTA" and IceFrog is now a VALVE employee for the record)
People knew from the start the mod was a mod, it's just their knee jerk legal team that pulled it without thinking - causing all this in the first place. An email or a letter to the guy asking to put in explicit notes saying "THIS IS A MOD, AND IS STRICTLY CONFINED WITHIN SC2" would have worked MUCH better. None of this media fiasco would have occurred.

No they don't owe us any favors, nor do they owe any answers to the consumers. But this is suicide as a Business. And this is not how Blizzard has been operating since their creation. They have always catered to their community and clientale. Changing from this would mean changing from Blizzard.

No, the matter of fact is that it would have not exploded if their legal team took some care in their work instead of blindly shooting. It's also what the mod maker says too.
I apologize for the insult of calling you a fanboy, but I am sick and tired of hearing this same defense for Blizzard over and over again
"They are Blizzard, they don't owe you anything or any favors"

Give me a break guys, they are not the government. They sure as hell damn owe us something, we're paying customers and community. Do you think WC3 would have lasted so long if not for the modders/DOTA? Why else did they pour in so much work into the map editor. If you think their best interest in managing the community is a "Cut throat" attitude...then please by all means believe in that.

[GnaReffotsirk]

Wow. <-- hope this post doesn't get removed by Blizzivision.

Scurred of modding now.

[Triceron]

I find it amusing that you bring up points that are completely refuted by that very article you linked. You're too caught up in your conspiracy theories. This is not a David vs Goliath scenario that you believe it to be, it's something far simpler and basic.

What it boils down to is simple trademark infringement. The reason it's blown out of proportion is because people don't understand why things happened in the order that they did.

Did Blizzard make a huge mistake and get forced to fix it by giving the guy a tour of their offices? This is all a matter of opinion, one that I am remaining neutral on. I don't care to argue on speculation.


On the topic of believing what their best interest is- If I were to believe they are willing to bend over backwards to serve the community, we would already be playing on LAN and talking through Chat Channels 10 years ago when people first started asking for Starcraft 2. I don't believe that they work to our whims, nor are they a faceless corporation. They are both and neither of these. There is no black and white answer to this, and I'm not playing your game of picking a side.

What I'm saying is they were acting perfectly normally for the circumstances at hand. It's like hearing about a story of a cop using a tazer and jumping to conclusions that it's obviously police brutality. I'm simply saying that using a tazer is standard procedure. There is no opinion behind that. Everything I've stated was to back up the fact that there is no reason to jump to conclusions.

I'm not attacking your personal opinion. Frankly, I don't care about your opinion, I'm not looking to argue it. I pretty much said what I said because of the overly negative tone present in the first page.

[mr. peasant]

Do you see VALVE Corporation sending "Cease and desist" orders to the DOTA team or to Blizzard to filter out the "DOTA" trademark? No, because that would make them look like assholes and would prove nothing.
(VALVE owns copyright to "DOTA" and IceFrog is now a VALVE employee for the record)

Actually, Valve doesn't own the DotA trademark. More information on it can be found here. And if you want proof, look here. Go to the Tademark Electronic Search System, use Basic Word Mark Search and type 'dota'. Note, there are multiple registrants and Valve's doesn't have a registration number. Meaning, Valve can't send out cease and desist letters to anyone. At least, not yet.

What's interesting is that Blizzard themselves aren't filing for trademark; especially since they're the ones who technically own the map (if I'm not mistaken, since that would be what allows Blizzard to take down user-created maps containing inappropriate content).

People knew from the start the mod was a mod, it's just their knee jerk legal team that pulled it without thinking - causing all this in the first place. An email or a letter to the guy asking to put in explicit notes saying "THIS IS A MOD, AND IS STRICTLY CONFINED WITHIN SC2" would have worked MUCH better. None of this media fiasco would have occurred.

Thing is, that was not an option. The people who requested Youtube to take it down was not the owner of Blizzard but an employee of the legal team. Therefore, they are not in a position to use their own discretion and must instead follow company guidelines and protocols if s/he values his/her job. As to why go straight to Youtube? Because Youtube was the one hosting the infringing video; and thus the one who is ultimately responsible.

[Hav0x]

It wasn't even a member of the Blizzard legal team that had the video pulled. Someone in the Activision legal team had it pulled. Then Blizzard were the ones who had to do damage control because of an idiot at Activision.

I would assume nothing like this is ever passed by Mike Morhaime or senior management before they pull a video.

[hyde]

I find it amusing that you bring up points that are completely refuted by that very article you linked. You're too caught up in your conspiracy theories. This is not a David vs Goliath scenario that you believe it to be, it's something far simpler and basic.

What it boils down to is simple trademark infringement. The reason it's blown out of proportion is because people don't understand why things happened in the order that they did.

Did Blizzard make a huge mistake and get forced to fix it by giving the guy a tour of their offices? This is all a matter of opinion, one that I am remaining neutral on. I don't care to argue on speculation.


On the topic of believing what their best interest is- If I were to believe they are willing to bend over backwards to serve the community, we would already be playing on LAN and talking through Chat Channels 10 years ago when people first started asking for Starcraft 2. I don't believe that they work to our whims, nor are they a faceless corporation. They are both and neither of these. There is no black and white answer to this, and I'm not playing your game of picking a side.

What I'm saying is they were acting perfectly normally for the circumstances at hand. It's like hearing about a story of a cop using a tazer and jumping to conclusions that it's obviously police brutality. I'm simply saying that using a tazer is standard procedure. There is no opinion behind that. Everything I've stated was to back up the fact that there is no reason to jump to conclusions.

I'm not attacking your personal opinion. Frankly, I don't care about your opinion, I'm not looking to argue it. I pretty much said what I said because of the overly negative tone present in the first page.

I never said this was a david and goliath situation. If I described out to be, then my communication skills suck.

To put it in plain english.
The Activision Blizzard Legal team pulled his video down and he was wondering why. Acti-Blizz Legal team made mistake on not actually seeing what this was. They pulled it down and they looked like bad guys. Obviously "Blizzard" has nothing to do with it. It was just some fool on their legal team.

but they made a mistake and all I am saying is that they had to play PR and release some "bull poop" laced PR statement - all due to Activision Blizzard's top notch legal team But now everybody loves Blizzard from reading the Kotaku statements . Effective PR is effective. That's fine, but people should recognize (Like you said; it's both a friendly company and a faceless corporation) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD's mistake.

Yes this is a "huge" conspiracy theory I've caught up in
Companies, organizations, and people do this all the time. A mistake is made, and a cheesy PR statement is made to cover their butts. In this case, a free tip was included.
I really don't think this is speculation. Can you give me one definitive reason why this particular man was given a free trip to Cali, all expenses paid - when there are several other "SC2 Editor MMO" projects out there, well advanced in progress than his?
But I find it disturbing that you would think this is a "Conspiracy" when all it is is basic Business Public Relations. But ok, you win. I'll admit defeat. I'm a crazed conspiracy theorist and I'll stop replying to this thread now because I'm just being deconstructive .

Actually, Valve doesn't own the DotA trademark. More information on it can be found here. And if you want proof, look here. Go to the Tademark Electronic Search System, use Basic Word Mark Search and type 'dota'. Note, there are multiple registrants and Valve's doesn't have a registration number. Meaning, Valve can't send out cease and desist letters to anyone. At least, not yet.

What's interesting is that Blizzard themselves aren't filing for trademark; especially since they're the ones who technically own the map (if I'm not mistaken, since that would be what allows Blizzard to take down user-created maps containing inappropriate content).


Thing is, that was not an option. The people who requested Youtube to take it down was not the owner of Blizzard but an employee of the legal team. Therefore, they are not in a position to use their own discretion and must instead follow company guidelines and protocols if s/he values his/her job. As to why go straight to Youtube? Because Youtube was the one hosting the infringing video; and thus the one who is ultimately responsible.

Yes but it has been filed. Even Rob Pardo commented on it and said he was surprised they would file it.
You never read my post did you? I said Activision Blizzard Legal team made a mistake; therefore Blizzard had to make a PR stunt and fly this kid over.

It wasn't even a member of the Blizzard legal team that had the video pulled. Someone in the Activision legal team had it pulled. Then Blizzard were the ones who had to do damage control because of an idiot at Activision.

I would assume nothing like this is ever passed by Mike Morhaime or senior management before they pull a video.

It's Activision Blizzard.



Now this thread is going no where and I won't bother replying anymore because I don't think I've added much to it.
But I'll add this last piece. Since many of you wish to drill me with "legal" facts and what not.
Take a look at this. There's not a single Native Blizzard employee on the Board of directors or in any Chief officer position
http://www.activisionblizzard.com/co...Directors.html
More than half the board of directors is from Vivendi Universal Games, with an Activision crook as CEO.
Legally, Activision Blizzard is represented and corporately governed by Ex-Vivendi Universal Game executives and the old Activision CEO.

Sure Blizzard is "Friendly" but when monetary or legal matters come into hand. Blizzard takes a step back and lets their "Big Brother" do the talking.
This is the same company that ruined Infinity Ward. It's confirmed that now three studios are working on Modern Warfare 3 due to the loss of staff at Infinity Ward.
Blizzard is just a tentacle or claw of this giant corporate beast now. People never thought of it as, because they were typically owned by larger corporations that didn't meddle with it's affairs. But now their legal team = Activision Blizzard legal team. Simple as that.
Maybe I did come off as a crazed lunatic ranting about "BIG BROTHER" and "CORPORATION THIS AND THAT" but I worked for one of the largest oil/energy companies (no not BP). I smelled and breathed delicious corporate culture everyday. This is how they run things, they make mistakes and try to fix it up. First thing first is a nice PR statement and a guided tour of the facilities.

[mr. peasant]

Yes but it has been filed. Even Rob Pardo commented on it and said he was surprised they would file it. You never read my post did you? I said Activision Blizzard Legal team made a mistake; therefore Blizzard had to make a PR stunt and fly this kid over.

Anyone can file a trademark application for anything. It doesn't mean it gets approved. And even if it did, it doesn't give the person the power to prevent others from using the name until it is actually approved. As I already mentioned in the post you quoted, there are multiple parties actively registering for the DotA name - specifically Valve and Dota-Allstars (who are owned by people in Riot). If anyone's not been reading before replying, I think it's you.

On a side note, it doesn't matter which level's legal team of the overall Activision-Blizzard corporate structure requested Blizzard to remove it. There was no mistake in the action and any PR smooth-overs (if this is at all what it is) is in response to the media backlash rather than any wrongdoing on the company's part (or even the original poster's).