Blizzard has triumphed in the German courts against Bossland GmbH, creators of the World of Warcraft bot Honorbuddy.
As a result of the ruling. Bossland will now have to cease selling Honorbuddy in Germany and there will be a settlement which has not been revealed. Bossland GmbH will be moving their offices outside of Germany, as well as discontinuing work on any German versions of their products.
Bossland has been struggling to fight the legal actions from Blizzard and at the start of this year they highlighted the problem posting:
“Costs are increasing, development is expensive and was made more expensive since the 12 lawsuits in Germany, where Blizzard tries to abuse anything they can get hands on, by starting multiple lawsuits on yearly basis.”
This German Honorbuddy case brought by Blizzard is only one case, last year Blizzard also filed a case against Bossland for their Overwatch cheat called Watchover Tyrant. Bossland is also facing court action in UK. Overall, the future doesn’t look too bright for the company, as they will likely suffer a worse fate due to the legal precedents these court cases will set.
This isn’t the first time a major player in the botting scene has suffered a major legal defeat. Over a legal battle lasting between 2008 to 2011, MDY Industries, makers of the popular Glider bot were beaten after a lengthy appeals process. The ultimate ruling against Glider ruled that the bot violated the DMCA and the associated protections of Blizzard IP. MDY was ordered to pay a massive $6 million in damages and fines.
