Category: News

How To Avoid A Lawsuit #1: Fortnite Cheater Edition


Good afternoon, internet.

In honor of my upcoming completely fictional cookbook “A Million Ways To Roast Twitter Users,” I have decided to put out a new column series expanding on the In Plain English brand. The series is titled “How To Avoid a Lawsuit” which you would know if you read the title of this piece. Every so often I am going to talk about ways you, the user, can avoid being hauled into court and be forced to hire me once I graduate from law school. I don’t offer family discounts.

Before we begin, I’d like to insert some disclaimers; (1) I am not yet a lawyer and as such none of this should be taken as legal advice, (2) this column is meant for edutainment purposes only and while it will lower your chances of being hauled into court, it cannot guarantee a 100% success rate. Check your local laws before applying, (3) some of the steps are based on an assumption that you have done something bad. MMO Fallout does not condone whatever these actions are, the suggestions are merely in response to you actually doing them, and (4) most of your problems can be solved by simply following step one.

For the first HTAL, I’m going to discuss Epic Games, Fortnite, and people cheating in Fortnite. Those of you who read MMO Fallout or at least keep up with our In Plain English articles will be aware that Epic has presently hauled at least a dozen Fortnite cheaters into court. None of the cases have actually gone to trial with the rest being voluntarily dismissed with the plaintiffs agreeing to permanent injunctions against the defendant and the threat of deep fines should they violate the terms of the settlement. Still, it provides an answer to every Fortnite cheater who has asked “what’s Epic going to do? Sue me?” Possibly!

So let’s go down the list of how to not get hauled into court, Fortnite Edition.

1. Don’t Cheat At Fortnite

This one is the easiest and essentially acts as patient zero for the rest of the list. You shouldn’t be cheating at competitive multiplayer games anyway because it makes you look like a pathetic rat creature, but given the history and details surrounding Epic’s Scared Straight program with cheaters, you really don’t want to cheat in Fortnite. It’s not good.

Like I said, this is basically patient zero. Epic to my knowledge has never sued anyone for not cheating at Fortnite, but they have for cheating at Fortnite. So if you don’t want to be hauled into court by a company with the kind of money to bribe just about every developer on the planet Earth, don’t cheat at Fortnite.

2. If You Get Banned, Stay Banned

One big connecting trait of Epic’s lawsuit defendants are that they kept returning to the game after being banned for cheating. It’s like insanity but for stupid people. I’m not aware of any Fortnite-related lawsuits where a person was banned once and then Epic immediately launched into court, and of the numerous dockets I have read the defendants in question were banned 20+ times and in one or two cases might have been using automated software to create a new account.

If you for one reason or another decide to cheat at Fortnite and you get caught and Epic bans your account, just take the L. Accept your ban, maybe work on being a better person, and go do something else with your time. You’ll thank me a whole lot more when you are not hauled into court.

3. Do Not Upload Your Cheat Videos To YouTube

This is another major connecting trait between Fortnite lawsuit defendants. If there is one thing that Epic hates more than people cheating in Fortnite, it’s people putting videos on Youtube of themselves cheating at Fortnite, and absolutely people using those videos to advertise where you can get those cheats. The more subscribers and views you have, the more likely these videos will show up on Epic’s radar, the more likely they will haul you into court, and odds are the more they will demand from you in damages.

See this one is actually really important because if you do get sued, this is going to affect what Epic wants out of you. Normally Epic does not actually ask for money with their lawsuits against cheaters. Instead they basically push the lawsuit into a settlement with the defendant agreeing on injunctions. Don’t use Epic products, don’t cheat at Epic products, don’t create or distribute cheats for Epic products. On the other hand, Epic has a habit of assuming that anyone advertising Fortnite cheats has a monetary investment in those Fortnite cheats, and that’s when they start making demands for monetary damages. Trust me, Epic has the resources to wring you dry if they want to, and you are not in the right.

4. Do Not Counterclaim A Copyright Strike

In order to dive into this tip, we must take a moment to talk about fair use. Fair Use allows for the use of copyrighted material in certain purposes such as education, parody, or criticism. Despite what the internet has told you, the Fair Use doctrine is not a “you can’t sue me” button. Think of Fair Use as more akin to a trap card in Yu-Gi-Oh! You have to wait for the opponent to make a move before you can use it. Fair Use comes up at the lawsuit and is actually an admission of copyright infringement. What you are saying is that while you did infringe on the entity’s copyright, the extent is legal. There are no definite measures on what is fair use, just past rulings that can be used as a metric, that is up to the court to decide on a case by case basis.

This takes us back to our discussion. With people who post Fortnite cheat videos to Youtube, Epic has predicated lawsuits by issuing copyright strikes taking down the person’s cheating videos. When the person files a counterclaim, that is when Epic sues. When you counterclaim a copyright strike, what you are essentially saying is “I am in the right, and I will see you in court.” After that, the copyright holder’s only option to further their claim is to file a lawsuit. Which is exactly what Epic has been doing.

5. Don’t Cheat At Fortnite

Don’t cheat at Fortnite. Do all of these things and you are probably guaranteed to not get hauled into court by Epic Games for cheating at Fortnite.

Jagex Bought By US Platinum Fortune


Update 4/28/20: Yes they have.

(Update: 7/11: No they haven’t)

Jagex is no longer Chinese owned. This news was first revealed back in the old era of January 2019, but this week China’s Fukong Interactive Entertainment announced that they will sell Jagex which it described as their major source of revenue. The goal of the sale is not to offload bad assets, but to pay off heavy debts that Fukong has incurred from nearly 60 lawsuits and arbitration cases filed against the company (Fukong, not Jagex).

As part of the sale, Jagex has been valued at approximately $530 million USD. Jagex’s revenues topped over $100 million USD last year which comprised 99.5% of Fukong’s revenue. Fukong’s plans post-Jagex involve developing mobile video games.

Source: Yicai Global

IPE Update: Epic Games Brings Financial Suplex On Counterfeiters


It may not surprise you, the enlightened MMO Fallout reader, to hear that none of Epic’s roughly one thousand (Chinese and otherwise) defendants showed up or even answered the summons to appear in court regarding a lawsuit for Fortnite counterfeit merchandise. I talked about this briefly at the end of April and haven’t issued much in the way of updates because there hasn’t been anything substantial to talk about.

By the way, I’m not joking that this lawsuit started with roughly a thousand defendants. 923 in fact of which nearly 200 are included in this judgment. Over the course of the last two months, Epic has been slowly dropping defendants from the list, presumably the random accounts that could never be tied to an actual person. They were successful in forcibly transferring domains, freezing assets, and more.

The good news for Epic is that none of the thousand defendants bothered to answer the summons or show up, making it a whole lot easier to get the judge to sign an order of default judgment which Judge Guzman did on June 27. Far from simply imposing a permanent enjoinder on defendants from counterfeiting more of Epic’s products, and good luck enforcing that on some pop tent company in Shenzhen, the order goes quite a bit further. Judge Guzman awarded Epic Games $1 million in damages from each defendant.

He also ordered that Western Union must within two days permanently block all money transfers to the defendants. Ebay, Paypal, ContextLogic, and AliPay (and all of its related entities) have been ordered to permanently restrain all accounts associated with the defendants from transferring any money within two days. All monies within the accounts connected to the defendants has been seized and will be paid out to Epic and until the judgment amount is fully paid all new accounts created by the defendants will be seized and funds transferred to Epic as well. Epic also has the authority to serve any financial institution that is identified to have been accessed by the defendants, with the financial institute required to freeze their assets, remove their ability to transfer funds, and release all monies held on the accounts to Epic to ensure full payment.

As always, the legal documents have been uploaded to the MMO Fallout Google Drive, at our expense, for your perusal.

IPE Update: Paid Account Boosting Now Illegal In South Korea


A South Korean law passed last year has gone into effect, and it threatens to throw paid account boosters in prison.

Last year the Korean government passed a new law banning the use and advertising of powerleveling services. The provisions of the law, below in their original Korean, were translated by Reddit user Evenstar6132 and notes that prosecution is based on whether or not the developer allows such practice, whether there was payment, and the frequency of the act. The law is not retroactive and of course people who don’t live in South Korea are not under its jurisdiction.

It is worth noting that the prison sentence is apparently a “suspended sentence” of two years and a fine of up to $18,000. A suspended prison sentence for those unaware would not actually put the defendant in jail but acts as a type of probation. If the person does not commit a crime during that period, the jail sentence is dismissed.

Source: Reddit

MapleStory Adds Pathfinder Class Today


The Pathfinder is here! Nexon has announced the release of the much anticipated bowman class to Maplestory and now you too can finally log in create one of your own. The Pathfinder joins the ongoing fire leveling event offering 3x leveling speed for new characters, as well as the Adventure Island activities.

More information is available at the official website and in the preview trailer above.

Source:

[Video] Shai Character Class Comes To Black Desert


Pearl Abyss today announced that the latest character class Shai is now available in Black Desert on the Xbox One. Shai wields a florang (boomerang) and a Vitclari, a powerful ornament that heals and protects her allies. Shai is an expert in gathering and alchemy and is the first class to be able to create a bonfire to heal allies, as well as the first class to be able to tame and ride donkeys.

Notable Shai skills include:

  • One-Two-Three — Shai throws the Florang up to three times, knocking back all enemies that are hit.
  • Eat This! — Shai powerfully throws her Florang in a long-range attack.
  • Over Here! — Shai creates a shielded area that can protect her allies from enemy attacks.
  • Come Out, Come Out! — Shai reveals hidden enemies using her Vitclari.
  • Play Dead —  Shai can ‘play dead’ and trick other players, but it may not work against monsters…

Pearl Abyss also noted in today’s update that the Shai pre-creation event was a massive success with 80% of players participating. Players with the Game Pass can give the standard Black Desert edition a go with no additional purchase necessary.

Source: Pearl Abyss Press Release

The Division 2 Joins Twitch Rewards Starting Now


The Division 2 is the latest game to join the Twitch Prime reward factory, and you can get your hands on the first round of goodies starting as early as now.

Over the course of the next few months, Twitch Prime members will be able to redeem a series of four apparel sets and a mask. You will of course need a copy of The Division 2 and Twitch Prime. The first outfit up for grabs is the Spears Sports Team Fan & Baseball mask. All you need to do is link your Ubisoft and Twitch accounts and you are ready to go.

The outfit won’t be around forever, so make sure to get in and pick it up ASAP.

Source: Twitch.tv

Entropia Universe Brings In Summer With New Event


Summer is the warmest season of the year, and why not spend the warmest season beating monsters to death?

Starting now and running until July 1, Summer Mayhem 2019 tasks players with stopping the evil Mulmun ritual, gaining points, and scoring some sweet loot. Upon entering the ritual area, players will be timed with the best scores earning some of Entropia’s most coveted prizes. A full list of events can be found at the official website.

Source: MindArk Press Release

EA’s Loot Boxes Are ‘Quite Ethical,” Says EA


If there’s a company at the forefront of predatory and unethical business conduct in the gaming industry, it has to be Electronic Arts. From the company that brought about the high profile disasters of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem to the wholly panned monetization schemes originally present in Battlefront II, Electronic Arts has become the poster child for various governments looking to put an end to what they perceive as video game publishers coercing children into gambling habits.

But Electronic Arts doesn’t consider what they are selling to be loot boxes, as noted by the VP of legal and government affairs at EA Kerry Hopkins. Speaking to the UK Digital, Culture, Media, and Sports Committee, Hopkins referred to loot boxes as “surprise mechanics” and stated that they are indeed quite ethical. It’s hard not to see this as a company desperately defending its questionable and highly lucrative business practices in the face of increasing threat of government regulation around the world.

Then again, perhaps we don’t need to hear about ethics from the company who patented a method to make subtle adjustments to a game’s difficulty in order to encourage more microtransaction purchases.

Source: PCGamesN