Hey everyone, I'm the owner of Hugepackage.net, which is a greyhat game hacking website with an active community. The thing is, game hacking (not true 'hacking') itself is not illegal, but only violates the company's EULA. One company in particular (I won't give any name) is furious with my site and contacts every web host we use demanding that the site be shutdown under 'grey' circumstances. We have since removed our coding section and public downloads section which was the main cause of this issue, yet they continue to harass my web hosts. I am on my 5th one, going on 6th in the last month. So I ask you, Is my website illegal in some form? We only have a 'cheating' community. We no longer supply any kind of game hacking material including tutorials, coding discussion, downloads...etc. And what should I do about the host? I think I should fight and convince them that I am not doing anything wrong.
Hello I'm not an expert in this issue, but to me it seems that they really are stalking and harming your business Sir. I suggest it's time to take matters one step further, i see nothing illegal about your site concerning the facts you have provided to me Sir. Step 1. Next time your host will contact you about this matter, you will tell them that there is nothing illegal about your site and tell them that you are going to sue the company that is harrasing you (EA). Tell them that there is no evidence or supporting facts that would break any laws. Step 2. After this send letter to Electronic Arts and tell them that you are going to sue them for damages to your business and giving you a bad name, if they continue. Or what ever you come up with! Trust me you are not alone, they are trying to strongarm you, just turn the heat up and don't give up! If they would have any legal case, you would be sitting in court already. Good Luck Sir. Uuno Turhapuro (How did i know that it was EA, well i know everything)
Thanks for the comment. I plan to contact my host to reinstate my account, then contact the company and try to settle this. Well your somewhat correct. It's Novalogic Inc, which is owned by EA.
look for the hosting company outside the US, probably in Australia or in Europe. Asian companies don't take much legal actions, look around for some asian datacenters like singapore's singtel etc
I personally would take a different approach. I would contact the company that has issues with your site and ask them what is they are objecting to and see if you can come to some sort of resolution. You are talking about a large company which likely has an in-house legal team and its doubtful they are going to do something which is going to put them at risk. Unless you have received legal advice from an attorney who knows all the details of your situation, I would be very cautious. Are you sure the "materials" you took down didn't legally expose you? Just because you removed them, you can still be sued if you did something wrong. Threating a large company doesn't work in most cases and can lead to an escalation which can wind up in court. Legal fees can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars and even if you win, you aren't likely to recover your legal costs. It's a lot easier for a hosting company to just terminate your account in these situations. They aren't going to spend any legal fees for something that probably means a few dollars a month to them, so the first thing I would do is try to find out what is the exact issue this gaming company has with your site. If it isn't something you can work out with them, then you are going to need to decide if you want to spend some money for legal advice and your options. These sort of disputes usually involve more issues that can be put into a post, and it's quite possible some important piece is being overlooked.
I totally agree with mjewel. I suggested a workaround way but mjewel advice is most suitable in your situation.
It would be strange that they went straight to the hosting company, and not to you directly. I imagine you already have contact information for the company that is harassing you. Contact them directly to resolve the problem. If there is a legitimate dispute as to the legality of your content, then either attack them in small claims to get a legal resolution to the dispute or barring that remove the content. Making a civil action out of it would be exponentially more costly than small claims, and could drag on indefinitely through various delays and appeals. Small claims usually results in resolution pretty quickly and easily, and even if all you win is a dollar, you can refer your hosting provider to a court document that establishes the legality and legitimacy of your content. That and a small claims victory would probably turn into pretty decent link bait for your site.
What exactly would he file a suit for? It doesn't sound like the company has done anything wrong. They are trying to protect their product. In many cases, game companies encourage cheats, modifications, additions, etc.. But in the case of online games, where your actions effect other users as well as the game economy, etc, it seems logical that a company would have every right to go after people who are damaging their product. Introducing a hack into a MMORPG for example, can upset the balance of the game completely and potentially damage the quality of the overall game. Just because you aren't necessarily agreeing to their TOS, doesn't give you full reign to create something that damages their game.
That's absolutely correct. How can those of you, who have suggested attempting legal action against EA be serious? You're attempting to fight a multi-million dollar cooperation, probably with an in house legal team, who deal with these issues all the time. I'd suggest you follow mjewel's advice, and attempt to reach a comprise/solution with the company, rather than barraging it with threats.
It seems they got no solid case aginst you, Glowfood. All they can do is harass the hosters (otherwise they would contact you already, threatening with a lawsuit). If accorind to your country laws you`re doing nothing wrong and you want to keep the site online just try some russian/ukrainian hosters. Works like a charm.
I don't know that I could actually answer your question without details, but there are a lot of possibilities - anything from fraud to defamation to harrassment to libel and anywhere in between. It would depend on local laws. The goal of the case would be to have the court stipulate to a decision on disputed facts. Small claims court is a great place for individuals and small businesses to obtain these resolutions. There are three potential solutions - 1) give up, 2) resolve the situation directly, or 3) legal battle. If you have to opt for 3, then small claims is the least costly option that results in the fastest decision and also retains the lowest financial risk.
The problem with small claims court is awards are limited to small amounts - nothing that is going to cause a multi-million company to think twice. You also can't file against someone who doesn't live within close proximity of the court unless you had entered into some sort of contract with them. Small claims court also don't issue written rulings or decisions. Even if you win, the losing party has automatic rights to take the case to municipal court and the first decision is basically thrown out.... and of course, it wouldn't prevent the company from filing a lawsuit against you which would require hiring an attorney.
Get a hosting provider in Honk Kong, China or Russia.. You then can do virtually anything you want.. Peace,
F the company. Put the downloads back up, if you are not doing anything illegal then don't worry about it.
That's simply not true. The point of my statement was not to make a ton of money off of the company, but to gain leverage that could be used to halt their harrassment. You can file suit against anybody. The point of small claims is to make the hand of justice available to the little guy. If the company is doing business in your state, they are subject to the state's laws. The caveat would be if the harrassment took place out of state, which is possible - but still the jurisdiction of the court is certainly arguable since the victim is in state. The response to a small claims loss is (almost) never another law suit. People don't sit in board rooms and say "hey, we lost that case, let's go get that guy! I bet he doesn't have the money to defend himself." The desired result is the end of harrassment. None of us really knows what the harrassment is, whether the company or the original poster has a leg to stand on. Moving to an out of country hosting provider is just bad advice. Better to confront and reason with these people than to try to avoid them. Remember that the original site, and most likely the business associated with that site, is in the U.S., and IF the company really does see this as a threat to their business model, they will be left with no choice but to attack the owner and his business.
Wrong. If you bring a suit against someone in small claims court and the defendant loses, the judgment can be appealed, which means it is automatically heard in municipal court. If the plaintiff loses, the decision is final. I have had this happen more than once and the case is reheard as if the first case never happened. This company is a UK based company, but appears to be doing business in California. A Pennsylvania person can't file against someone in another state and have them go across the country. The suit would be thrown out for being filed in the wrong venue.