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View Full Version : Blacksnow sues Mythic


madborg
02-10-2002, 07:25 PM
Here is the second shot fired at the topic of virtual object ownership in MMORPGs. The first one was an attempt that never got very far when Verant made the move to get EQ items off of Ebay.

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http://www.camelotexchange.com/PressRelease.asp

BLACKSNOW INTERACTIVE SUES MYTHIC (DAOC) IN FEDERAL COURT FOR MMORPG
PLAYER'S RIGHTS

Mythic Entertainment is named as the defendant in this case filed on Febuary 5th 11:50AM involving various anti-trust, copyright, and anti-competitive issues. BlackSnow Interactive (BSI) is a group of individuals that play, buy, and sell in various Massively
Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG).

Growing from onlyone person nearly two years ago, to seven full-time people, thisgroup has successfully developed a market in which they are able tosupply players with gaming currency, items, or characters atcompetitive prices.

Mythic wants BSI to cease all sales immediately. After entering the DAoC market, shortly after itsrelease, BSI created a website and began listing their sales on various auction sites, such as Ebay. BSI's Director of Sales, Lee Caldwell, was quoted as saying, "What it comes down to is, does a MMORPG player have rights to his time, or does Mythic own that player's time? It is unfair of Mythic to stop those who wish to sell their items, currency or even their own accounts, which were createdwith their own time. Mythic, in my opinion, and hopefully thecourt's, does not have the copyright ownership to regulate what aplayer does with his or her own time or to determine how much thattime is worth on the free market."

Caldwell goes on to say, "Mythic's attempt to stifle competition in
their own game makes it possible for only full-time gamers to
succeed in the game and most MMORPG players can't compete on that level. The person that plays just a few hours a week, can't put in the time required to build their character or collect the items
needed to join others in the online battles. No one has stood up to any of these software giants, until now." If you would like to take a look at the actual court document, please visit
www.camelotexchange.com