From Azeroth to Canada: Tracking down a fugitive in World of Warcraft

Not even Horde shammy's can escape the law.

Owned.

Hopefully this doesnt create a movement for government online intrusion into virtual communities. (Consistently I mean)

It all may have been nice and legal, but I find it disturbing on Blizzard's part. That said, just like any corporation, they have very little to lose and everything to gain by cooperating with whatever authorities knock on their door.

Many here are holding up "the law is the law, and should be obeyed" as some sort of ideal, but law is nothing more than some peoples' opinion written down on a piece of paper, that some people think is gospel because those people are "legislators". There's no indication that this guy was wanted for harming another person, violating their property, or violating their rights. In my mind, that makes whatever "law" he broke just a load of crap. He sold a substance that someone wanted, at a price they were willing to pay, no matter what some knuckleheads calling themselves the "Indiana State Legislature" have to say about it.

And for those who say "if you don't like the law, you should change it!", I have this to say: Try it sometime. Tell me how well that works for you.

@djellerman

Dude, seriously?

Back on topic:

I think the guys at Blizzard probably took as long as they did because of the large influx of mail they probably get, also with the internal horsecrap of "who can authorize this, who does this go to" crap, and finally got back to them. They probably did a small bit of research there as well, in that time.

I think its great. Any company that will extend a "professional courtesy" like they did and help these guys out, is pretty awesome in my book. I have just a small little tiny scrap of respect for Blizzard atm.

Also, if you REALLY think Blizzard just blindly sent the info back to the "return address on the letterhead" without following any due dilligence and verifying this, You are absolutely an idiot. Shoot yourself.

Blizzard, I'm sure has a whole freaking platoon of lawyers on the payroll, and not a single one of them would have let this happen without some verification. Seriously, Get over it.

I don't think it's such a great thing. I mean, sure, this particular individual probably got what he deserved but there have been several instances in the past when similar methods have been used against otherwise-law abiding citizens who were activists or protesters of some sort. Sure, the search list google hands over might not have anything outright illegal on it, but perhaps you have a fetish or are having an affair that would be embarrassing to you either personally or professionally.

Suppose all they had to go on was a friend of his, maybe his girlfriend's account, and Blizzard somehow inadvertently damaged her reputation, or that of anyone else's, by handing information over in an attempt to find this guy. Would common courtesy be so valued by so many of you then?

I'm not saying it shouldn't be, or that catching a fugitive is a bad thing, just that the precedent it sets should scare people a little more than it does. Certainly, if you are pro-patriot act, stop looking at that furry porn, you sick fuck :)

Technology is changing law enforcement. Technology is a two-way street. Just as county government can use legal process to access electronic records against an adversary like Hightower, the county's legal adversaries can demand from the county extensive records about activities like police investigations. Experience shows that if the county does a poor job retaining its records, the county can suffer in court. See for example http://legal-beagle.typepad.com/wrights_legal_beagle/2009/11/records-policy.html

One of my favorite things about Blizzard was when browsing through the "Thanks to" area of the back of the Starcraft manual when they thanked "420". I understand the position they were in and what they were legally obliged to do, but that's really weak. tsk tsk Blizzard.

OMG! Typical, pot heads crying foul over their inability to respect the Law of the land. Listen, you gave up your right to privacy in this game the minute you agreed to the ToS. Please do /quitWoW4life as people like you do not really contribute anything to 'it' and or life in general. Its not about the laughably innocent pot dealers or users. Its about where the revenue from said sales goes. Lets see pot has been and is traded for firearms, currency, explosives, kevlar , and a myriad of other items that I assure you have not stopped in the american 'dealers' house. And really who said this guy was a pot dealer only? Frankly there is no such thing. People screaming 'Big Brother' and such are in fact between the ages of 13-18, and or failures who at over 20 are still living with mommy and daddy cause they spend their money on bud and 24/7 playing WoW.

Seriously mr 'there is nothing wrong with bud'... the next time you bong. Remember this you might have bought that gun for someone that killed your neighbour. You might have paid for a little more TnT and or C4 for a IeD somewhere. You might be buying some TP for that camp training people somewhere to hack your head off in your sleep or worse yet the head of a innocent person somewhere who's only crime is the desire to be free. The 'innocent' 'victimless' rug my butt there is no such thing. Kudo's to Blizz! Get more of these self serving pot heads out of your game pls and thanks.

Blizzards easy co-operation with this subpoena is a very bad sign for online privacy. They were not helping capture a convicted felon, in which case I would be a little more understanding. ISP's have been fighting subpoena's for this type of information for years, and it troubles me that Blizzard didn't even try to put up a fight.

With this type of acquiescence it won't be long before there are services popping up helping people create completely Anonymous Online Entities to ensure their privacy cannot be breached by a quickly thrown together Subpoena for a Warrant issued in error.

Ok add the stupidity of the drug war to the long list of things massively.com posters are ignorant ranting jackasses about.