Bungie's relentless hunt for cheat developers, vendors, and resellers was likely designed to send a deterrent message.
After another trial and multi-million dollar damages were awarded this week, any cheat developer still operating may find other companies' games less risky. For those who are still not convinced, a ruling issued Tuesday may be persuasive.
the domino effect
bungie archived a copyright infringement lawsuit against defendants allegedly involved in the development and supply of the Destiny 2 'Wallhax' hack in August 2021.
In June 2022, Bungie was awarded $13.5 million in damages for copyright infringement against Elite Boss Tech, Inc., 11020781 Canada Inc., and owner Robert James Duthie Nelson. The defendants admitted that Wallhax injected new code into Bungie's code, thus creating an unlicensed derivative work. They also admitted that Wallhax circumvented Bungie's technological measures in violation of the DMCA.
With a seemingly obedient defendant at their disposal, Bungie was able to identify two other key defendants. One of them decided to help Bungiebut the other, Denmark-based developer Daniel Larsen, proved less cooperative.
Bungie's response it included calling in technical experts to paint Larsen's contribution to Wallhax in an extremely negative light, and him personally as an uncooperative witness. Some may have been tempted to visit the United States to patch things up, but according to court documents, Larsen resisted the temptation.
No Defendant Present, No Defense
On Monday, with Larsen thousands of miles away, Bungie filed a motion for default judgment in a Washington court and didn't hold back. From a technical perspective, the move was not entirely successful, but that certainly didn't stop it from being a hit.
Bungie filed a total of eight claims against Larsen: copyright infringement, RICO violations, DMCA violations, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) violations, violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act (CPA), and civil conspiracy.
Seeking default judgment on all claims, Bungie sought more than $17.27 million in damages, including nearly $268,000 in attorneys' fees and $80,200 in costs. The company also sought a permanent injunction against Larsen, barring him from similar conduct in the future.
Successful copyright claims
District Judge Tana Lin ruled in favor of Bungie in its copyright infringement lawsuit. Larsen's conduct was in fact willful, a major factor in support of Bungie's claim for greater damages.
Regarding Bungie's RICO claim, the court found sufficient evidence to show that Larsen knowingly used Bungie's Destiny 2 software to develop the Wallhax hack and that Larsen directly infringed Bungie's copyrights for his own personal gain.
Since Larsen profited financially from criminal copyright infringement through the sale of 6000 gimmicks, and the illegal profits were also reinvested in the business, the court was satisfied with Bungie's RICO claim.
Bungie's claim alleging violations of the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision was equally successful.
"Bungie has provided allegations and evidence that Larsen developed and designed the Wallhax hack to circumvent Bungie's technological measures to protect its copyrighted works in violation of ยง1201(a)โ, says the order.
โAnd Bungie has shown that Wallhax's hack evaded those controls and that Larson himself evaded those controls by opening new accounts after being banned. In addition, Bungie has shown that Larsen violated ยง 1201(b)(1) by creating an infringing derivative work. The Court finds that the entry of the default judgment in these claims is appropriate.โ
Computer Fraud, Civil Conspiracy
The court also found that when Larsen intentionally accessed the Destiny 2 servers to obtain Destiny 2 software to create the Wallhax cheat, that amounted to a violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).
When Larsen created multiple accounts after being banned from Destiny 2, he violated the terms of Bungie's Limited Software License Agreement. LSLA, found the court. No evidence supported Bungie's claim that Larsen violated the Consumer Protection Act, but the video game company's Civil Conspiracy claim was successful, with the court finding that Bungie's evidence was sufficient to show that Larsen colluded with the other defendants.
Default failure and quantity
Bungie asked the court for damages in the amount of $13,530,000 for DMCA violations. The court has the discretion to award not less than $200 and not more than $2,500 per circumvention act, device, or service provision. Bungie requested $2,000 for each cheat downloaded, and the court found the amount to be adequate. Damages award awarded: $13,530,000.
For its claim under Copyright Law, Bungie asked the court for $466,718.90 in actual and statutory damages and asked that the amount be tripled due to Larsen's willful conduct. The court said Bungie failed to provide admissible evidence of actual damages, but its claim of willful infringement of two copyrighted works was accepted. Damages award awarded: $300,000.
With respect to Larsen's alleged breach of contract, RICO, and CFAA violations, the court awarded damages in the amount of $1,999,998. The court granted Bungie's request for awards of $267,887.10 in attorneys' fees and $80,263.92 in costs.
In total, the court awarded Bungie $16,178,149.02 in damages, in addition to a broad injunction to bar Larsen from any future activities similar to those at issue in this case.
Whether Bungie will be able to collect anything from Larsen is unknown, but the above seems to provide an aggressive framework for dealing with any developers targeting Bungie games in the future.
The order granting the default judgment and the judgment itself can be found here (1,2pdf)
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