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[Modoru]

I would have asked for 100 grand otherwise to the internet it goes.

You would've gotten a grand lawsuit within the hour, don't you worry.

I'm not particularly interested in Starcraft personally, but that's a pretty dumb thing to not just let it out into the wild first chance you get. Why even make a bunch of dumb reddit posts first? Karma? It's not like the guy obtained it via nefarious means. How much trouble could he have gotten into? All the legal threats are just scare tactics and they worked.

Distribution of copyrighted material is a very real threat. You can't pretend ignorance because you "found it". You knew what it was, ripped it, and (without authorization) uploaded it to the internet for anyone to copy.

You wouldn't be exempt from the law.

 

[Dosia]

You would've gotten a grand lawsuit within the hour, don't you worry.

I wouldnt worry

 

[spiderman123]

Glad he returned it.

 

[Lightning_Roller]

Fair play for him.

The only fault I can see is him posting about it on reddit. The gaming community is vile. Just reading some of those comments alone. Hopefully he didn't make himself a target for some assholes that will try to fuck with his life.

If there is anything I learned about the internet, is that there are those petty enough to ruin someone's life over shit like this.

 

[Oozer3993]

Even as a artifact for preservation, it might not be worth much. For one, the game is already out there through millions of disks and the ability to download and play it on modern computers. For free to boot. And two, Blizzard may have used some custom build tools that could be difficult or even impossible to recreate. Or proprietary ones that they licensed from some one else. At the very least, it would need a build environment from 1998. I'm not sure many people have that anymore. People almost assuredly would find a way to build it using modern tools, but the resulting files might be ever so slightly different. At that point you're not really preserving anything. You've created something new.

The source code is interesting historically, to see not just how any game was programmed back then, but one of the most beloved of all time. As much as I'd like to see the source code released for just such a purpose, it's better for everyone if Blizzard makes that decision. I don't want an important historical artifact like this to be stuck in an uncomfortable legal and moral area.

 

[HappehLemons]

So with this source code anyone could literally just edit any part of it and change the game as they wish, whereas normally this wouldn't really be possible? Damn that really is a big deal then.

Exactly, it's a big deal for modders. I don't play starcraft, so I don't really feel the loss on this, but if this were a game that I really cared about I can understand why I would be really disappointed with this result. It basically extends the life of a game forever as long as people are willing to continue to mod it.

 

[Peltz]

I'm not even sure I would do differently from him, to be honest. I'd be just as stressed in that scenario, and sending it back to Blizzard is the easy way out (especially given the legal situation). I just wouldn't expect anyone to pat me on the back like it was the obvious right choice, is all.

Fuck, I'd love to go to Blizzcon for free.

Blizzard's lawyers said "boo" and this dude got scared. I would not have done the same thing if I were him.

You guys acting like you would have blackmailed blizzard into giving you money are kidding yourselves. There are criminal statutes for trade secret theft. Not to mention the lawsuits blizzard would hit you with would bankrupt you.

This wasn't "theft" (aka misappropriation) of trade secrets. The guy did nothing wrong. He didn't publish the materials and merely came across them incidentally. He had no obligation to return them.

 

[Zakalwe]

Exactly, it's a big deal for modders. I don't play starcraft, so I don't really feel the loss on this, but if this were a game that I really cared about I can understand why I would be really disappointed with this result. It basically extends the life of a game forever as long as people are willing to continue to mod it.

And were the game in limbo it would have more merit.

It's still being supported, and even remastered, the preservation argument doesn't go as far is it might here.

 

[AaronMT86]

Reading a few Reddit comments made me lose brain cells. Do people not know what ethics are?

 

[AlexFlame116]

Reading a few Reddit comments made me lose brain cells. Do people not know what ethics are?

Well if you take a look at this thread a lot of posters here are showing the same lack of ethics and morals.

I'm glad he gave it to Blizzard. In my opinion it was the right thing to do.

 

[Peltz]

Reading a few Reddit comments made me lose brain cells. Do people not know what ethics are?

Ethics are not so black and white. Finders-keepers-losers-weepers can be a legitimate ethical argument under the right circumstances.

 

[SwipeLeftHoney]

Why are people overlooking all the /extra stuff this guy's now got like industry contacts? Depending on his choices from this point on, he couldleverage this thing hugely in favour of his future.

He's going to meet tonnes of people at Blizzcon, the chances of something positive coming out of this beyond what's already happened is pretty big.

Then when you consider it's an active IP, that he could have easily ended up in a really bad position via the courts, etc... the guy did the right thing.

Totally agree. The kid did the right thing..

 

[LightningXCE]

READ 👏 THE 👏 ARTICLE 👏


Props on him for doing what he did, I'm slightly jealous of that trip.

 

[LiQuid!]

Distribution of copyrighted material is a very real threat. You can't pretend ignorance because you "found it". You knew what it was, ripped it, and (without authorization) uploaded it to the internet for anyone to copy.

You wouldn't be exempt from the law.

How would they even find out where it originated? People distribute copyrighted material on the internet literally every second and most of them are instantly whisked away to pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Well if you take a look at this thread a lot of posters here are showing the same lack of ethics and morals.

I'm glad he gave it to Blizzard. In my opinion it was the right thing to do.

Of course it's the right thing to do, and 99% of the people crying in this thread would have done the same thing when getting letters and communications from Blizzard/Activation lawyers.

It wasn't his, it was source code to a product he had zero rights over.

Could he have played hard ball? Sure, but who knows when it goes from settlement negotiations to accidental extortion in the eyes of the law? He would have needed to hire lawyers to deal with Blizzard's legal, which means money that he may not get after the negotiations are finished.

It's a lot of risk and hassle for other peoples gain and 15 minutes of internet fame. But of course he's bad guy for not wanting to deal with all of this possible fallout for listening to a bunch of random people on the internet who have everything to gain and nothing to lose from his actions.

 

[Modoru]

How would they even find out where it originated? People distribute copyrighted material on the internet literally every second and most of them are instantly whisked away to pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

Considering blizzard contacted him, highly likely?

After days of deliberation, Khemist49 said he heard from Blizzard directly. He said the publisher’s legal team had asked him to return the disc because it contained “intellectual property and trade secrets.”

 

[Gentleman Jack]

All of that garbage swag VS a legendary piece of gaming history...

I mean, it's a disc, containing information he had no right to distribute. Unless he could cobble together the required tools and assets to modify/compile the code it's a useless disc vs several hundred dollars worth of gear and a free vacation to one of the most sought-after tickets in gaming conventions.

 

[Fred-87]

Ethics are not so black and white. Finders-keepers-losers-weepers can be a legitimate ethical argument under the right circumstances.

No it isnt. Feels like im in kindergarten haha.

 

[LiQuid!]

Considering blizzard contacted him, highly likely?

They contacted him because he turned it into a public spectacle on Reddit in the first place... If he had just ripped and uploaded the thing anonymously rather than making a scene on Reddit over it, the data would have just been out in the wild and no one would be the wiser.

 

[Armaros]

This thread and that reddit one showcase why you contact lawyers and not the internet for legal advice.

SMH.

 

[LiQuid!]

This thread and that reddit one showcase why you contact lawyers and not the internet for legal advice.

SMH.

A lot of the people in favor of it being released aren't giving legal advice. I'm not anyways.
Only an idiot would argue that its legally right to release it. I'm saying that it's a more or less victimless crime to do so, and it would lead to something super rare and interesting being out in the world.

 

[Angelus Errare]

Dying at all the entitlement.

Personally I would have made a copy but not to distribute to a bunch of people on the internet but to look at the code base and take notes on their coding practices.

Personally couldn't care less about the millions of mods that could be made and whatever.

 

[Peltz]

No it isnt. Feels like im in kindergarten haha.

So, let's say I own Coca Cola and I accidentally email the secret recipe for Coke to my friends at a rival soft-drink company. Should they be obligated to not use that information? I'm the idiot who didn't secure the trade secret formula. If they read the ingredients out of curiosity, do they have to pretend they don't have that knowledge when attending company meetings on coming up with the recipe for a new product or improving an old product?

In the end, there is some responsibility on my part not to lose the trade secret in the first place. I cannot do a poor job of protecting my trade secret then cry "theft" when it ends up in the wrong hands.

They did not steal the information from me. I simply failed to protect it.

 

[prag16]

You're telling me he doesn't have an ISO sitting on a backup drive somewhere now? C'mon, who wouldn't make a copy.

Oh yeah. He absolutely has an iso sitting around somewhere. He may never look at it or do anything with it. But he has it.

 

[tsab]

Kudos to the kid and a nice thank you from Blizzard. I am certain that his has a backup and better keep it secret for himself and his future kids.

If this disc was in the hands of someone like me, who doesn't care about Starcraft, I would have gift it to friends or thrown it.

Note to myself: If you find a source code disc sent it back to the IP owner

 

[Ash735]

It's a difficult case, but I would be on the side of uploading the disc for preservation sake, I've spoken with a lot of coders over the years both on official and fan projects and the amount of times the source code was unavailable was at a crazy level, people don't know how much having the original code would help with all sorts of projects and especially for a community.

It's a miracle when this stuff gets out in the first place, so when it does it feels like it should be expanded out rather than going back to being locked up and never seen again, if it helps the developers now, cool, but then again if the source was out there it would have helped the developers too.

 

[Majukun]

on one side of things,nobody really gains anything from his decision...blizzard is not going to do anything with it..on the other hand it was technically their property to begin with, so it's usually the "right thing" to just give it back

all in all i'm not affected at all by this news,i only wander how the hell that thing went from the blizzard offices to an ebay sale..and how the hell the guy who sold it didn't even understood what he got..

 

[MikeyB]

So, let's say I own Coca Cola and I accidentally email the secret recipe for Coke to my friends at a rival soft-drink company. Should they be obligated to not use that information? I'm the idiot who didn't secure the trade secret formula. L

Source code is copyright, not a trade secrets, right? Possibly a bit of both.

Regardless, IANAL, but a very quick google search shows that misappropriation of trade secrets includes disclosing a trade secret without consent if you know it is a trade secret acquired by accident or mistake.

So in your example, they are obligated not to use the information.

 

[Mohasus]

I'm more surprised that someone sold it like it was nothing in the first place.

 

[Kaleinc]

First of all if you don't have source code for software several hundred people worked on for years then you most likely don't care.
If they offered him lifetime blizzcon pass that would be something.

 

[hanspampel]

what a scam

no wonder people don't do this stuff in general.
but yeah does not surprise me blizzard is that cheap. one of the worst gaming companies (i do not talk about the quality of the games here)

 

[AlexFlame116]

what a scam

no wonder people don't do this stuff in general.
but yeah does not surprise me blizzard is that cheap. one of the worst gaming companies (i do not talk about the quality of the games here)

...what?

 

[hanspampel]

...what?

what exactly is your question?

Overwatch and $250 in Blizzard store credit

is a scam if you return something like an original source code CD to a multi billion dollar company


and why blizzard is one of the worst gaming companies?
consumer rights. and their company policies in europe.
they don't comply with the law when you want to delete you account or want to restore it
they coerce you to break the privacy guidelines of your very own country

 

[Lucario]

There's no way he didn't clone the disk before sending it back.

 

[Rorschach]

READ 👏 THE 👏 ARTICLE 👏

Or at least some of the posts on the first page... lol

 

[Tecnniqe]

what exactly is your question?



is a scam if you return something like an original source code CD to a multi billion dollar company


and why blizzard is one of the worst gaming companies?
consumer rights. and their company policies in europe.
they don't comply with the law when you want to delete you account or want to restore it
they coerce you to break the privacy guidelines of your very own country

How about instead of screaming SCAM at the top of your lungs you take a minute to skim the post, or the last part of it and actually read what he got, cause you didn't even read all of it.


Oh and in case it proves impossible;

Spoiler

-Copy of Overwatch
-$250 in Blizzard store credit
-Invite to BlizzCon, all expenses paid, and "we would love to take you out for drinks".
-Giant box full of Overwatch and Diablo PC peripherals and paraphernalia

 

[QuantumZebra]

Good on him.

I probably would have just thrown it away because it wasn't Warcraft 3.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

Good trade for the expense paid trip to Blizzcon alone.

 

[wenis]

I woulda shadowbox framed that thing and kept it as a personal treasure.

 

[Futaleufu]

That disc was worth thousands of dollars. If some shitty Stadium Events NES cart is worth $40,000, the source code of one of the best games ever made must be worth a lot more than that.

The guy wanted his 15 minutes of glory badly and he got them. But he will regret it in the future.

 

[MrCunningham]

I would have kept it and dropped the entire source code on Git hub.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

That's pretty crazy, and pretty awesome! I'm glad it worked out well for both sides!!! The guy did the right thing! =)

 

[Conciliator]

I would have returned it.

Buuuuut not before checking it out.

 

[Cleve]

The guy wanted his 15 minutes of glory badly and he got them. But he will regret it in the future.

Nah, he returned something that wasn't meant to be his after sharing his cool find. Why would he regret it? Not mooching it for more money?

 

[Tecnniqe]

Nah, he returned something that wasn't meant to be his after sharing his cool find. Why would he regret it? Not mooching it for more money?

Experience of Blizz paying all expenses Con for you and getting a bunch of stuff and them even talking to you like that is more than good enough, and I'm jealous of him. Who wouldn't be!?

Fuck the money, this experience and drinks with the team, once in a lifetime.

 

[I am Error]

I wonder if this has something to do with Blizzard giving away Starcraft for free.

 

[K.Jack]

Dude let Blizzard lowball the living fuck out of him. Sheesh.

 

[R_thanatos]

I'm on the camp that he should have kept a copy of the disc.

If he got that disc with legal means , then i honnestly don't think there is anything wrong with a copy on the side.

Now the trip was good stuff, great for him

 

[rrs]

even if the source code was released it would only wind up like the windows 2000 and NT 4 partial leak where nothing would ever come out of it except exploits and maybe a few "it works" compile proof of concepts

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Dude let Blizzard lowball the living fuck out of him. Sheesh.

You're suggesting he should have negotiated?

What is even happening in this thread.