Blizzard To Korean Video Game Sports Assocation: How Dare You Promote StarCraft Without Paying Us!
from the entitlement-culture dept
Once again, we get a story of entitlement culture, where a company gets pissed off that someone is promoting their products, without getting a direct cut (not realizing, of course, that they get payoffs in other ways). This one comes to us via Rob, who sends in the story about an ongoing battle in Korea over the broadcasting of professional StarCraft matches. StarCraft has been amazingly popular for quite a long time, and there are professional players in Korea. It's such a big deal that a ruling body called KeSPA was put together, and organized the broadcast of professional StarCraft games on two separate networks. This has, undoubtedly, driven massive sales of StarCraft for many years in Korea. However, with StarCraft II, Blizzard is upset that it doesn't get a cut of the TV revenue and is trying to route around KeSPA. Apparently, as the fight has escalated, KeSPA has asked the gov't for help, and apparently regulators are threatening to rule that StarCraft II is an "Adult" game, which would make it difficult to broadcast on TV in valuable time-slots. You shouldn't bite the hand that promotes you...Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: korea, promotion, starcraft, tv
Companies: blizzard
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yet....
Do you begin to see how blizzard is pretty much in the same boat as the RIAA/etc?
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Activision, not Blizzard
Blizzard is still good. but they need to rein in their corporate overlords at activision before they completely ruin the good name that is Blizzard.
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Re: Activision, not Blizzard
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Now we are geting 1 time purchases and locks on sales.
Activision was a bad idea.
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their game; their money
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Re: their game; their money
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Re: Re: their game; their money
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Re: Re: Re: their game; their money
Have any proof?
I could just as easily say that I'm pretty sure you were an accident.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: their game; their money
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Re: Re: Re: Re: their game; their money
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3698/piracy_in_korea_r4_triumphant.php
Without any studies on the subject, I'd say that the general apathy towards IP in S. Korea would translate to Starcraft, too. Bliz recently announced that LAN games will be disabled in SC2, meaning you must have a valid key and connect through Battle.net in order to participate in multiplayer games. Based on the evidence I've seen and the changes coming for SC2, I think it is safe to say that Bliz does not profit much from the religious devotion SC holds in S. Korea.
But again, that's without being able to get any specific numbers on the topic. Circumstantial evidence does seem to support the claim of rampant piracy in S. Korea, though.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: their game; their money
Most people don't use the pirate WOW server because its an MMO so you want a lot of people, however starcraft matches are at most 4v4 so this isn't going to stop anything. It'll piss off real people that buy the game or stop others, like me, from buying/playing the game, but others will get the cracked version when it comes out and connect to their own pirate battle.nets
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Re: their game; their money
Blizzard is trying to pull a music industry trick by demanding that they get paid revenue from those that advertise their stuff ON TOP OF what revenue they make in the way sales from that advertising. Who really needs who more? The Korean gaming scene can move on to another game to get their kicks (or hell some developer over there might make the next big hit) but how well would Blizzard hold up if the Korean gaming scene turned their back in Starcraft?
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Re: their game; their money
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Re: their game; their money
The fact that I used a tool you created and own the copyright to does not give you any rights to anything I created with that tool.
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Boo Blizzard
While I agree with their goal in some points and not some others, their methods and complete carp.
Merging with Activision was the worst thing ever ...
Activision and EA should go into a black hole together so they can stop ruining the gaming industry. Although, EA does seem to actually be opening their eyes recently. Starting to anyways. Still a ways to go. That still doesn't change the fact that they seem to ruin game series that they pick up. (Although that last point is pure opinion - mainly with regards to the C&C series)
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Re: Boo Blizzard
I have no idea why, but everytime I read that line I begin to giggle uncontrollably...
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Re: Re: Boo Blizzard
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I have no idea why, but everytime I read that line I begin to giggle uncontrollably..."
*insert IRC troutslap joke here* :P
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My hero is robbing a bank
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I hate to say this
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Re: I hate to say this
No one is disputing this fact. But people are gonna call shit when they see shit, and there's nothing wrong with that. If people didn't complain, then nothing ever changes.
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Re: I hate to say this
THINK on what you are saying. Blizzard goes, "We're going to do things our way and if you don't like it, piss off!" ... and then people piss off. What're they gonna do?
If you are selling something, yes, you ARE required to sell it in a form, way, and design that pleases the people you are selling to. Or they simply won't BUY it. If there is ANY company out there that is so large they can make things the way THEY want them, have no one buy any of those things, and still report profit, please inform me. I need to buy some stocks.
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battle.net
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Re: battle.net
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Re: Re: battle.net
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Broadcast Rights
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Re: Broadcast Rights
It would be difficult for Blizzard to make a similar argument, as the performers are clearly the game's players, and not Blizzard.
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Re: Re: Broadcast Rights
I'm not saying it's a *good* argument, but it could certainly be made by Blizz. I hope that wouldn't hold up in any court in any country, but that won't stop them from trying.
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bleh
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Blizzard need the Koreans. Korea could make their own version of StarCraft, probably even better, so tread very carefully Blizzard.
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/Waiting for the EULA's
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Blizzard...
And for the previous post, I agree completely. Thats like saying crayola gets $$ from successful child artists, doesnt make much sense.
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just a few facts
blizzard doesn't deserve a dime...this is intellectual property and digital video distribution. NOT VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT or in any ways in direct competition with blizzard's income base or corporate directives.
whoever decided to pursue this obviously doesn't understand contract law.
there is no disclaimer that says anything about reproduction for competition.
its a farce they are even entertaining a case.
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Re: just a few facts
"if anything blizzard should pay the league for the right to have their game be FEATURED"
Gotta ask you: How would the league run without the software? It would appear that the league are profiting greatly from all this (a fully functional business) playing on other people's brand name. Remove the brand name, remove the software, and they are playing what, tic-tac-toe?
Let's just say the league needs Blizzard way more than the other way around.
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Re: Re: just a few facts
...or a game that competes directly with Blizzard's product and suddenly has a lot of cheap advertising to millions of potential Korean customers...
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Re: Re: Re: just a few facts
You remove one thing, others will come in to pick up the slack.
Go ahead, removed Starcraft from them all.
They will find another game where the makers have not turned into arsehats.
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Re: Re: Re: just a few facts
I am sure if the league had come to Blizzard first, they probably would have gotten support. By trying to sneak in the back door, they get what they get.
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Blizzard > Kespa in any way, day or form.
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discourteous behavior.
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Smartphone app developers
best Smart phone applications
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