
GTA ‘Cheat’ Developers Have Homes Searched and Assets Frozen - BLKNSLVR
https://torrentfreak.com/gta-cheat-developers-have-homes-searched-and-assets-frozen-181015/
======
BLKNSLVR
From the article: _This lawsuit is notable because the Federal Court of
Australia has signed off on several broad enforcement actions. Not only are
the defendants restrained from any cheating related activity, they are also
the subject of a search and assets freezing order._

This feels severely heavy-handed for computer game cheating. The escalating
aggression with which copyright infringement is being pursued is worrying in
the context of other trends towards increasing corporate power with decreasing
oversight.

I feel like saying 'aren't there other crimes the Australian Federal Police
should be prioritising about a thousand cases higher than this?', but then
that sounds like the whinging of someone pulled over for speeding. But a
country's Federal Police force cracking down on computer game cheating? Is it
not farcical?

~~~
anoncoward111
It is farcical. There are a few people who will defend this behavior publicly.

But nearly all of the power is in the hands of the corporations and lawmakers
and enforcement agents, and this is what they've decided to do. We don't have
a lot of options to counter their decision.

I think it will take a small, dedicated group of people who will fight through
legal channels and create technical/physical ways to avoid enforcement actions
at the same time.

The Pirate Bay and Piratbyrån were basically exactly what I've described. The
international police and corporations cracked down pretty hard and illegally
extradited Gottfrid Svartholm from Cambodia. Peter and Fredrik also went to
jail too and still have unpaid fines.

Disgustingly, society thanked Pirate Bay for their sacrifices by switching to
a closed, paid, corporatized service called Spotify.

Their sacrifice was in vain and we are all worse off 10 years later.

~~~
sfifs
> Disgustingly, society thanked Pirate Bay for their sacrifices by switching
> to a closed, paid, corporatized service called Spotify.

Or maybe what society actually values is different from what they believed it
values or should value. Maybe it's willing to pay the entertainment industry
for creating entertainment as long as it's available hassle free and so
relevance of Pirate Bay declined once an alternative became available.

~~~
folknor
I believe you are correct, that the overwhelming majority of the population
are willing and able to pay for entertainment if the delivery mechanism is
hassle free and fair.

Spotify and YouTube are both certainly good candidates (though nothing is
perfect, and they are far from it.)

What I'd like to shine a spotlight on, though, is how the operators of these
major international businesses operated for decades before they finally "gave
in" and started investing in streaming technologies.

Except, the 2nd part of the paragraph above isn't true - they haven't given
in.

In my small country, they've funded a law firm with 50 employees to the count
of dozens of millions of USD per year for 3 decades, to go after the little
guy, who simply wanted convenience, and to listen to their favorite artists
new shiny album, and was tired of paying outrageous prices for CD/DVDs that
were released months later here compared to other countries.

Instead of, you know, actually spending that money to come up with a solution,
funding developers, or whatever.

This is unacceptable.

In addition, they've spent untold millions in small countries (and large)
doing political maneuvers to prop up their failing business models. We _know_
they did - and do - this.

This is also unacceptable. It's not the peoples responsibility to extend the
life of failing businesses (possibly unless they perform some critical
function).

And they are still continuing these practices. The lawyers they used are still
100% employed, now to "catch internet sharing criminals" and to literally
_write laws and regulations_. This is not hyperbole, or slander, or rumors. It
is fact, common knowledge, and widely reported. Taking advantage of the
situation that most politicians throughout the 90s and early 2000s were
illiterate about "the interwebs".

These companies deserve to go bankrupt.

They can - quite frankly - get fucked. I have nothing but contempt in my heart
for them. It actually borders on hatred.

I could give sources, I could give links to the dozens of examples of these
bastards suing people for whistling songs in supermarkets (although that
particular example is unrelated to the topic, it speaks to my contempt). But
frankly it's such common knowledge that I can't be bothered.

Spotify is decent, but it was not made by these companies - it was made in
-spite- of these companies trying to actively stop and hinder development. And
now they own it.

I will never use it, and certainly will never pay for it.

------
hndamien
Is this ironic that it happened in a game that glorifies theft?

------
retox
I suspect this wouldn't have happened if you couldn't use the 'cheat' to give
yourself virtual currency, which Rockstar sell to fund continual development.

------
kruczek
I could understand involving police and courts when there's virtual currency
involved, if that currency is related to real money.

But seriously? Sending police after people who enable players to teleport,
have god mode and fly in a game???

That puts Rockstar and Take Two on my personal no buy list.

~~~
BLKNSLVR
Whilst that's one part of the problem, the other part is Australian Federal
Courts giving it airtime. I don't know the machinations of courts and how case
hearings are prioritised, but this really feels like getting a QC[0] to be an
umpire in a game of backyard cricket.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_Counsel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_Counsel)

