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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Hernandez v. IGE: Brock Pierce declaration and Hernandez compel developments]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/hernandez-v-ige-brock-pierce-declaration-and-hernandez-compel/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/hernandez-v-ige-brock-pierce-declaration-and-hernandez-compel/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/hernandez-v-ige-brock-pierce-declaration-and-hernandez-compel/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-real-world/" rel="tag">Events, real-world</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><div align="left"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/antonio-hernandez"><img hspace="4" border="1" align="right" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/07/legahernige.jpg" alt="" /></a>Antonio Hernandez filed a lawsuit in 2007 against IGE, the MMOG-currency for real dollars illicit emporium. Hernandez claims <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/ige">IGE</a> diminishes the overall playing experience for legitimate players and filed on the grounds that stem from farming gold, spamming chat, and camping spawns it allegedly prevented players from receiving full benefits Blizzard intended via <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml"><em>World of Warcraft's</em></a> End User License Agreement.<br /></div>
<br />Eight weeks remain in the fact discovery phase under the court's calendar and two recent developments have surfaced. First, a declaration on behalf of IGE's CEO Brock Pierce which states IGE merely holds stock in Affinity Media INC. and does not employ anyone nor have anything to do with the alleged activities in the Amended Complaint was filed. Second, Hernandez has moved to compel production of documents and asked the court to force IGE to respond fully to plaintiff's interrogatories.<br /><br /><a href="http://virtuallyblind.com/">Virtually Blind</a> has been<a href="http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/07/category/active-lawsuits/hernandez-v-ige/"> following the lawsuit closely</a> since the outset and has all legal documentation available for download.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/hernandez-v-ige-brock-pierce-declaration-and-hernandez-compel/">Hernandez v. IGE: Brock Pierce declaration and Hernandez compel developments</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/07/05/hernandez-motion-pierce-decl/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/hernandez-v-ige-brock-pierce-declaration-and-hernandez-compel/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1248101/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/07/hernandez-v-ige-brock-pierce-declaration-and-hernandez-compel/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>affinity-media</category><category>antonio-hernandez</category><category>blizzard-entertainment</category><category>brock-pierce</category><category>eula</category><category>hernandez</category><category>hernandez-vs-ige</category><category>ige</category><category>law</category><category>lawsuit</category><category>legal</category><category>real-money-trade</category><category>rmt</category><category>virtually-blind</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Matt Warner]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Hernandez v IGE battle continues]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/25/hernandez-v-ign-battle-continues/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/25/hernandez-v-ign-battle-continues/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/25/hernandez-v-ign-battle-continues/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-real-world/" rel="tag">Events, real-world</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a></p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/antonio-hernandez"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/05/goldfarmers-(225-x-220).jpg" alt="" />Antonio Hernandez</a> is a gamer with a mission. Since <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/10/class-action-versus-ige/">2007, Antonio's lawsuit</a> has been trying to put an end to <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/ige">gold sales from seller IGE</a> and his case has made more than a few headlines. Antonio was mad at IGE for ruining his game and for companies like it for ruining the experience of other players. He decided that it was time for someone to take a stand against gold farmers, gold sellers, and the people behind the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/26/a-snapshot-of-todays-gold-selling-power-leveling-market/">gold selling industry</a>. <br /><br />The battle is still raging and, just the other day, his attorney filed for his <a href="http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/05/20/class-certification-ige/">gold selling case to become a class action lawsuit</a>. A judge will review it, and if approved, millions of <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> players, and perhaps those in other MMOs, will have a chance to <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/11/the-daily-grind-whats-the-best-way-to-curtail-rmt-activity/">fight back against gold selling</a>. The lawsuit shows no sign of losing steam, so be sure to take a break in the inn and check back for updates.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/25/hernandez-v-ign-battle-continues/">Hernandez v IGE battle continues</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Sun, 25 May 2008 13:30:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://virtuallyblind.com/2008/05/20/class-certification-ige/>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/25/hernandez-v-ign-battle-continues/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1205202/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/25/hernandez-v-ign-battle-continues/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>antonio-hernandez</category><category>gold-farming</category><category>gold-selling</category><category>hernandez</category><category>hernandez-vs-ige</category><category>ige</category><category>lawsuit</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><category>wow</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Russo]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sun, 25 May 2008 13:30:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lawsuit claims IGE dug too greedily and too deep]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/lawsuit-claims-ige-dug-too-greedily-and-too-deep/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/lawsuit-claims-ige-dug-too-greedily-and-too-deep/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/lawsuit-claims-ige-dug-too-greedily-and-too-deep/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft/" rel="tag">World of Warcraft</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-real-world/" rel="tag">Events, real-world</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/exploits/" rel="tag">Exploits</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/mmo-industry/" rel="tag">MMO industry</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/legal/" rel="tag">Legal</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/academic/" rel="tag">Academic</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/virtual-worlds/" rel="tag">Virtual worlds</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/hernandez-vs-ige"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/04/vernwowobjection.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<div align="left">Out of sunny Florida comes a storm ready to rain on the parade of gold sellers everywhere. <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/01/30/ige-founders-in-legal-battle/">Gold seller IGE</a> has found itself sinking deeper into a stack of complaints thanks to one concerned gamer. Antonio Hernandez is fed up with the spam, inflation, and annoyance that stems from gold selling and has decided to do something about it. He has filed for a class action lawsuit that claims inflation in the virtual economy, thanks to gold sellers, forces players to spend more time behind their keyboard in an attempt to makes virtual ends meet, thus costing them more money. "This loss of time, conservatively, amounts to hundreds of thousands of hours of subscriber time and causes the irreparable harm of driving subscribers away from <em><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/world-of-warcraft">World of Warcraft</a></em>."<br /></div>
</div>
<br />Since the announcement was made, Antonio has already been flooded with letters of support from the <em>WoW</em> community. The reason for the support is not only because Antonio is trying to end gold selling, but because he is an active member of the virtual community he feels has been wronged. "The lawsuit," says case consultant and professor <a href="http://www.chaihana.com/pers.html">Greg Lastowka</a>, "has more of a feel of a community trying to enforce its rules rather than a game company trying to enforce its power over the participants." The community is a strong one, and to add to the power players wield, the game companies are taking a stand with them. <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/blizzard">Blizzard</a> has announced that they support the lawsuit and stated that gold selling is a very serious concern of theirs.<br /><br />The case dives headfirst into a world with no clearly defined boundaries. The Florida justice system, having issued a subpoena to IGE demanding their transaction details, accepts that the subject of virtual law is real enough for concern. This is a good sign for players since their rights are also what are at stake. As Hernandez's lawyer, C. Richard Newsome, asks, "what are the rights of the [virtual world] community members when they go online?" The community members supporting Antonio have made one thing crystal clear concerning that question. They desire a <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/30/gliding-through-a-nasty-blizzard/">fair game</a> and hope to collapse IGE's <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/26/a-snapshot-of-todays-gold-selling-power-leveling-market/">virtual gold mine</a> right on top of IGE's head.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/lawsuit-claims-ige-dug-too-greedily-and-too-deep/">Lawsuit claims IGE dug too greedily and too deep</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbwarcraft0406sbapr06,0,6090572.story?page=1>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/lawsuit-claims-ige-dug-too-greedily-and-too-deep/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1159836/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/08/lawsuit-claims-ige-dug-too-greedily-and-too-deep/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>antonio-hernandez</category><category>blizzard</category><category>gold-farming</category><category>gold-selling</category><category>greg-lastowka</category><category>hernandez-vs-ige</category><category>ige</category><category>ige-lawsuit</category><category>legal</category><category>virtual-economy</category><category>virtual-world</category><category>world-of-warcraft</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Russo]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
