parts of it are construed as valve being the defendant, but the points are more of "How can users be negligent, How is grade school name calling a civil rights violation?" kinda argument.
Yet Digital Homicide's suit claims harassment, alongside -- swear to god -- disorderly conduct, stalking, criminal impersonation, tortious interference, libel, unjust enrichment, restitution, negligence, damages, and conspiracy to commit civil rights violations. In its response to being dropped from Steam, the developer goes on to claim that Valve's siding with its customers is an indication that Steam is not a "safe environment", before suggesting that some form of legislation is needed.
/armchair lawyering it up here, but lets take a look shall we?
Disorderly conduct.... on the internet... let that sink in. That would include ALL of (number)chans, no less than 9/10's of reddit, among others.
Stalking - *possible* but... gonna be kinda harder to prove if it was just on steam.
Criminal Impersonation - Of who exactly, and in what capacity, if comments were made by devs whose assets DH "appropriated"....
Tortious Interference - Steam isn't exactly like that, good games sell well, while bad games are... well they kinda get buried. Even games that are decent or even good gets buried after a while, it's called consumer demands.
Libel - holy hell where can i go with this, well, lets go with asset forfeiture, From what I watched and read thus far, this isn't gonna stick because.. well, it's truth.
Negligence - How can Steam be negligent in this case, the very fact that they dropped DH like dropping the mic should be proof that Steam isn't negligent.
Conspiracy to commit Civil Rights Violations - Seriously? They are trying to compare Steam with Hitler, Stalin, Mao? If anything, it is DH trying to commit civil rights violations by shutting down speech that they don't like (Read: The Truth and Facts). And also, if you are making such shitty games, then being called "The Jewish offspring of a slutty whore" should be the least of your worries.
of course any actual lawyers can weigh in with thoughts and actual experience :)
one minor, yet important aspect of "piracy" that you overlooked
Rom/Rom-hacking/Emulators
Before there was physical media (cartridges, CDs, DVDs) then the popularity of ROMs and ROM-hacking became prevalent, mostly due to hard to find games, or outdated systems (NES, SNES, PSX, PS2, etc)
This would fall under the same vein as music and really, early game copying. It also proved that older games are still popular, and many systems now incorporate an e-shop of sorts, think, PlayStation network, or Nintendo's eShop, which are essentially, emulators built into the systems (or at the very least ports of games).
There is a much, much, MUCH bigger question to be asked.
What *EXACTLY* constitutes hacking? Is it breaching a secured network, or is it the USGovt's version in that it violates the CFAA, even tenuously. THEN you have to contend with the Posse Comititus Act if it happens inside the US.
1 a : the act of stealing; specifically : the felonious taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it b : an unlawful taking (as by embezzlement or burglary) of property
- Merriam-Webster
in English law, now defined in statutory terms as the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. The law has, however, been complicated by semantic arguments, leading the Court of Appeal to say that the law is in urgent need of reform to make cases understandable to juries. Wheel-clamping is not theft in England (contrary to the position in Scotland) because there is not the intention to permanently deprive. - Collins Dictionary of Law, 2006
I have to agree with the courts on this one. ESPN could have gone with a more ... broad report without going into super specific details. They could even go into semi-specific details and cite "Sources" as such that Journalism (actual journalism) entails.
I believe the court's thinking is that ESPN disclosed it without proper authorization. Yes, they did obtain it, but again, they didn't have to DISCLOSE it. Yes the person that gave it to ESPN in the first place is also breaking the law, but ESPN is also not without fault In this one case.
On the post: Digital Homicide Sues Steam Reviewers, Steam Drops It Like It's Hot
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On the post: Digital Homicide Sues Steam Reviewers, Steam Drops It Like It's Hot
/armchair lawyering it up here, but lets take a look shall we?
Disorderly conduct.... on the internet... let that sink in. That would include ALL of (number)chans, no less than 9/10's of reddit, among others.
Stalking - *possible* but... gonna be kinda harder to prove if it was just on steam.
Criminal Impersonation - Of who exactly, and in what capacity, if comments were made by devs whose assets DH "appropriated"....
Tortious Interference - Steam isn't exactly like that, good games sell well, while bad games are... well they kinda get buried. Even games that are decent or even good gets buried after a while, it's called consumer demands.
Libel - holy hell where can i go with this, well, lets go with asset forfeiture, From what I watched and read thus far, this isn't gonna stick because.. well, it's truth.
Unjust Enrichment - (See: Tortious Interference)
Restitution/Damages - (See: Tortious Interference)
Negligence - How can Steam be negligent in this case, the very fact that they dropped DH like dropping the mic should be proof that Steam isn't negligent.
Conspiracy to commit Civil Rights Violations - Seriously? They are trying to compare Steam with Hitler, Stalin, Mao? If anything, it is DH trying to commit civil rights violations by shutting down speech that they don't like (Read: The Truth and Facts). And also, if you are making such shitty games, then being called "The Jewish offspring of a slutty whore" should be the least of your worries.
of course any actual lawyers can weigh in with thoughts and actual experience :)
On the post: Digital Homicide Sues Steam Reviewers, Steam Drops It Like It's Hot
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On the post: Will The Washington Post Give Back Its Pulitzer And Stand Trial With Snowden?
Ancient alien scientists says no.
On the post: How Pirates Shaped The Internet As We Know It
one minor, yet important aspect of "piracy" that you overlooked
Before there was physical media (cartridges, CDs, DVDs) then the popularity of ROMs and ROM-hacking became prevalent, mostly due to hard to find games, or outdated systems (NES, SNES, PSX, PS2, etc)
This would fall under the same vein as music and really, early game copying. It also proved that older games are still popular, and many systems now incorporate an e-shop of sorts, think, PlayStation network, or Nintendo's eShop, which are essentially, emulators built into the systems (or at the very least ports of games).
On the post: Senator John McCain Uses Cybersecurity Hearing To Try To Shame Twitter For Not Selling Data To The CIA
Re:
On the post: AP, USA Today, Vice Sue FBI Over Refusal To Release Information About Contractor Who Cracked iPhone For It
On the post: Boise State Somehow Got A Trademark On Non-Green Athletic Fields
On the post: Prenda's Paul Hansmeier Loses His Law License; Won't Be Filing Bogus ADA Lawsuits For Now
well....
1 down...
1,284,305 to go (Source)
On the post: Hollywood Keeps Insisting Tech Is Easy, Yet Can't Secure Its Own Screeners
On the post: Univision Execs Have No Backbone: Pull A Bunch Of Gawker Stories Over Legal Disputes
What's the difference between reporting on shenanigans by Hulk Hogan, and shenanigans by Bill Clinton?
On the post: MPAA Freaks Out In Response To FCC's Revised Set Top Box Plan
Re: Nothing to see here
On the post: Nintendo DMCAs Fan-Game 'No Mario's Sky', Devs Rename It 'DMCA Sky'
On the post: Hillary Clinton Thinks Real-World Military Responses To Hacking Attacks Are A Nifty Idea
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On the post: Hillary Clinton Thinks Real-World Military Responses To Hacking Attacks Are A Nifty Idea
What *EXACTLY* constitutes hacking? Is it breaching a secured network, or is it the USGovt's version in that it violates the CFAA, even tenuously. THEN you have to contend with the Posse Comititus Act if it happens inside the US.
On the post: Do Apple Trademarks Reveal What It's About To Launch?
On the post: Our 'Copying Is Not Theft' T-Shirt Seems To REALLY Upset Some People
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you have not inherently deprived someone of their identity, you are merely representing someone who you are not. That is Fraud, not theft.
On the post: Our 'Copying Is Not Theft' T-Shirt Seems To REALLY Upset Some People
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On the post: Our 'Copying Is Not Theft' T-Shirt Seems To REALLY Upset Some People
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b : an unlawful taking (as by embezzlement or burglary) of property
- Merriam-Webster
in English law, now defined in statutory terms as the dishonest appropriation of property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. The law has, however, been complicated by semantic arguments, leading the Court of Appeal to say that the law is in urgent need of reform to make cases understandable to juries. Wheel-clamping is not theft in England (contrary to the position in Scotland) because there is not the intention to permanently deprive. - Collins Dictionary of Law, 2006
On the post: Court: Okay For Trial To Move Forward Against ESPN For Tweeting JPP's Medical Chart
I believe the court's thinking is that ESPN disclosed it without proper authorization. Yes, they did obtain it, but again, they didn't have to DISCLOSE it. Yes the person that gave it to ESPN in the first place is also breaking the law, but ESPN is also not without fault In this one case.
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