Bungie, the company that makes games, wants to win its legal battle with AimJunkies.com, which sells cheats. The company sent a court order to PayPal to get information about key figures and transactions related to cheating. However, AimJunkies says the request is too extreme. The person selling cheats thinks Bungie is trying to find out who is buying cheats.
In the past few years, a wave of lawsuits hitting people involved in cheating or making cheat.
In the US, companies like Take-Two Interactive and Epic Games are taking cheaters to the court . American video game maker Bungie has also been very busy as of late.
Bungie is popular for the Halo and Destiny game series, which have millions of fans worldwide. Because these games are so popular, cheaters and sites that sell cheats like “Elite Boss Tech” and “AimJunkies.com” are more likely to steal from them.
How these sellers have managed to deal with the pressure from the law is very different. This year, Elite Boss Tech took a loss and agreed to pay $13.5 million in copyright damages by signing a consent judgment. On the other hand, AimJunkies does everything it can to fight back.
Bungie vs. Aimjunkies
Last summer, Bungie sued Aimjunkies for stealing its ideas and trademark, among other things. The person who sold cheats fought back with a strong defense. It said that cheating isn’t against the law and that the software itself doesn’t violate anyone’s intellectual property rights.
The federal court in Seattle mostly agreed with AimJunkies and threw out Bungie’s claims of copyright infringement. But Bungie got an opportunity to file a new complaint with more information about what it said was wrong, which it did soon after.
As the case goes on, both sides are also making discoveries, which means they are looking for more information to back up their positions. As a part of this process, Bungie asked PayPal for copies of the cheat seller’s account information and other documents.
The court order has a phone number, several names, and email addresses that PayPal should look for. Also, Bungie wants to see all documents related to accounts or transactions with NETNOOBS, where the cheats were likely sold.
‘Bungie Targets Family Members’
This information might help Bungie’s case, but AimJunkies and the other defendants say it goes way too far.
This week, the person who sold cheats went to court and asked for a protective order to limit the subpoena. According to the defendants, most of the information court asked for is confidential. It also includes records about the defendants’ wives and children.
The defense says sharing this information has nothing to do with the cheating at the heart of the lawsuit.
“This is particularly true in the case of family members who were not involved in any of Defendants’ activities but are, nonetheless identified in the subpoena and whose personal information would be released.”
Exposing Cheat Buyers?
AimJunkies also thinks that the subpoena might be a way to learn more about its customers, who are the real cheaters. This information also has nothing to do with the lawsuit but might come in handy later.
“[I]t appears the goal of the subpoena is to identify Defendants’ customers as well. The identities of these customers has nothing to do with any legitimate issue in this case,” the defense writes.
“Seeking the names and identities of Defendants’ customers is not only highly irrelevant, it appears intended to enable Bungie to harass Defendants’ customers by dragging them into this matter with ostensible ‘third party’ discovery.”
Lastly, AimJunkies says its motion to get the case against some of the defendants thrown out is still being considered. If the request is granted, some of the people on the subpoena will not be part of the case. Since this is the case, it might be best to at least wait to reveal anything until this motion is decided.
The defendants don’t want to stop PayPal from sharing any information. Instead, they asked the court to limit the subpoena to show how many “Destiny 2” cheats were sold and if any money was made from them.
The court hasn’t answered Aimjunkies’s request yet, but it’s clear that both sides will fight this case to the death.
