Informaion on Why Private Servers are NOT Illegal

[mafiaboy]

This has been going on for ages in the World of Warcraft emulation society. So what is the answer?

NO.....NO.......NO....AND NO! THEY ARE NOT ILLEGAL!

I have seen many people just post " you wow servers are copyright and their illegal no dought about it", those people are wrong.

Why this isn't copyright:

The way we emulate WoW is why we making this legal. EVERY bug you see has to do with attacks,commands,quests and anything in that category that isn't actually an object in the game. I can guarantee that you have never had a bug in a private server where something LOOKED different that regular wow. WoW servers don't copy their wow folder, upload to their server and then let people play, that would be copyright. Emulators use your own wow mpq files to see what you see in the server, mysql scripts is to get all the actions and commands going in the game.

I don't care what you say, you will get sued one day because servers ARE illegal!

Whoever thinks like this isn't very smart. Before finishing reading this paragraph, go search on google " wow servers or " wow private servers ", go to the first sites that you see and look at all the wow servers. WoWScape and AniWoW have over 4000 players online on average so why isn't Blizzard suing them if it's illegal? In 10 minutes you could find thousands of these servers, so not finding the servers is absolutely NOT an issue for Blizzard. Is it because there are too many servers that Blizzard just gave up? I dought that. If WoWScape and AniWoW got sued that would be enough to get all the servers to stop making themselves public.

Why doesn't Blizzard just hire a SUPER DUPER good copyright lawyer then?

Because the copyright lawyer probably doesn't know how we are emulating this and if he/she does then they will know they have a losing case. This is why you don't download any files when you have to join a server. This is why you CONNECT to a server, not DOWNLOAD a server.

The WoW forums is full of people that say its illegal

Well duh. These are all 12 year old kids playing WoW and just say it's illegal when in fact these kids probably had trouble frkn downloading World of Warcraft. Most of these have never even connected to a private server. Most people say it's illegal because they refuse to accept that we are able to get away with this.
Quote from The World of Warcraft forum from a level 61 character:

dude theres this website called wowscape.net. they hacked blizzard, took WoW and changed it so you could get to 255 lvl and every monster drops rare, it is so gay.

If you want to find the original post go to post 191:
WoW Forums -> Who are YOU? WoW popularity - Need advice.

Doesn't this guide sound like the biggest idiot? HACKED? !HACKED?!!HACKED?!!!!!I think we all agree that us emulators have done no hacking or even took WoW, this comes to show how stupid and misinformed the people playing regular WoW are.


WoWScape and AniWoW have over 108 000 hits in 13 days, WoWScape has been up since 2006, plenty of time for Blizzard to get prepared for court and get evidence. So far not even an email from Blizzard. The most that will happen is get your regular WoW account banned.

[Added]So Private Servers aren't AT ALL illegal?

Wrong. The DBC and maps folder are taken from World of Warcraft which we use to host the servers. Those are taken from the game themselves. Although you can easily save yourself by making people sign Terms&Agreements when they enter your site which you could just copy and paste off any major wow server listed on xtremetop100.com, if you also purchased the game and the expansion, that is the main thing you should concentrate on when trying to stay legal. Emulate the game with a legal copy.

Even if it is illegal, I dont care , Blizzard cant find me

Wrong. When you connect to a server, you connect to an ip, using that ip they can find you in a matter of minutes. This could be easily done by many people here on moowned.com, go to run > cmd, and type:
net stat
this will show you all the ips that you have a connection with. Or even just by typing
ping your_dns_adress
will show you the ip of the dns that you connect to, this is what you have to set your realmlist to when you connect to a server.

For example we want to find AniWoWs ip adress, their realmlist is aniwow.servegame.com:

start > run and type :
cmd

in the black box type:
ping aniwow.servegame.com

[Illidan1]

You should already no this if you are smart . lol but thanks mafiaboy
for the post
A LOT don't know this thanks mate

[Le Froid]

The only illegal part,though, is that they own the copyright to the client which is being emulated.
Blizzard doesn't care about emu servers though as they are happy with the billions per year they are making now and that it would just be too hard to find everybody and sue them.

[The Kingofbeast]

Mmhm, good job Mafiaboy =D

[mafiaboy]

cool i thought i was gonna get flammed on this thread

[The Kingofbeast]

Why? This is a lesson for people that believe private servers are illegal.

+Rep to you! =D

[iccy]

Well.. Thanks mafiaboy.. I wasnt sure on it entirely. But I did know the facts that you said. It seems blizzard would have banned WoWscape by now. I just heard from someone that wowscape went to court and won, but that might just be a rumor. Anyways +Rep

[latruwski]

Part of blizz rules:

Limitations on Your Use of the Service.

 
Only Blizzard or its licensees have the right to host the Game. You may not  host or provide matchmaking services for the Game, or intercept, emulate or  redirect the proprietary communication protocols used by Blizzard in connection  with the Program, regardless of the method used to do so. Such prohibited  methods may include, but are not limited to, protocol emulation, reverse  engineering, modifying the Program, adding unauthorized components to the  Program, or using a packet sniffer while the Program is running.
You agree that you will not (i) modify or cause to be modified any files  that are a part of the Program or the Service; (ii) create or use cheats, bots,  "mods", and/or hacks, or any other third-party software designed to modify the  World of Warcraft experience; or (iii) use any third-party software that  intercepts, "mines", or otherwise collects information from or through the  Program or the Service. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may update the  Program with authorized patches and updates distributed by Blizzard, and  Blizzard may, at its sole and absolute discretion, allow the use of certain  third party user interfaces.
You may not disrupt or assist in the disruption of (i) any computer used to  support the Service (each a "Server"); or (ii) any other player's Game  experience. ANY ATTEMPT BY YOU TO DISRUPT THE SERVICE OR UNDERMINE THE  LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL  LAWS. You agree that you will not violate any applicable law or regulation in  connection with your use of the Program or the Service.
Blizzard reserves the exclusive right to create derivative works based on  the Program. You may not create derivative works based on the Program without  Blizzard’s prior written consent.

from: WoW -> Legal -> Terms of Use
red part is most important...public private servers are against the rules, but they are not doing much about it... developing is legal cuz it is build from scratch.... that is what i heard from hell lot of devs

grtz

grtz

[Arthas117]

will show my dad this next time he says:"dont host your damn server, go play retrail for your money you gain every week, i get jailed if you host that SHIT"

[Arthas117]

The WoW forums is full of people that say its illegal

Well duh. These are all 12 year old kids playing WoW and just say it's illegal when in fact these kids probably had trouble frkn downloading World of Warcraft.

I'm actually 12 years old, and I can download World of WarCraft (did it when I was like 9 yrs old), I can create a ascent, antrix, mangos and all that sh*t servers (helping adults with it actually), etc.

[Illidan1]

Im only 14, and im helping a lot

[Viter]

Im only 14, and im helping a lot

and im only 12 and im helping alot

[T1B]

Private servers are illegal cuz you needed to reverse engineer their work in order to develop em >.>

[latruwski]

Private servers are illegal cuz you needed to reverse engineer their work in order to develop em >.>

that is what i said above ^^ and i agree with you
private servers are illegal.

grtz

[Zokmag]

I DONT CARE WHAT YOU SAY!! PRIVATE SERVER ARE ILLEGAL!! DU'H!!
JK :P Yeah thanks for posting this! Really good for people who accualy dont know it's legal! +Rep !