Company Behind Online Shooter Game 'Guns of Boom' Sues Cheat Coders
According to the complaint filed by Perkins Coie lawyers Wednesday in the Northern District of California, the software cheats infringe on the game developer's intellectual property rights.
September 05, 2019 at 04:57 PM
3 minute read
A Lithuanian mobile and social gaming company is suing seven unidentified gamers for writing and posting software cheats that modify the gameplay of its Guns of Boom multiplayer first-person-shooter game.
Perkins Coie attorneys are representing Vilnius, Lithuania-based UAB Game Insight in its suit over the John Does' cheats, which thousands of players have downloaded.
"Defendants develop, publish, and distribute cheat software that undermines this level playing field, threatens the integrity of the Guns of Boom player experience, and infringes on Game Insight's valuable intellectual property rights," wrote the Perkins Coie lawyers in a complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
The software codes allow the mobile game users to shoot and move faster than other players, see through objects, steady their aim and buffer recoil on their guns. These cheats offer an unfair advantage not only to recreational gamers, but also for competitive players who participate in tournaments with prize pools totaling up to $500,000, according to the complaint.
Game Insight asserts that the users have downloaded the various cheats between 300 and 62,000 times by distributing the software to websites such as GameGuardian and AutoSkillz.net. To access the cheat, users download the file from the sites to their phones and "operate the GameGuardian app and Guns of Boom in a parallel space" on the phone, which then runs a script for the cheat.
The company is suing the gamers for copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, trademark infringement, false designation of origin and California unfair competition.
"Defendants' cheats infringe Game Insight's copyrights in Guns of Boom by copying, reproducing, preparing derivative works from, and/or displaying Guns of Boom publicly without Game Insight's permission," the company's lawyers write in the complaint.
Game Insight is seeking an order enjoining the defendants from continuing to produce the cheats and demanding that they destroy any copies of the game.
Despite the company's international location and the unknown origin of the Does, the Perkins Coie attorneys argue that the Northern District of California is the proper venue, because the game is available via the Apple App store and Google Play, which are operated by Apple Inc. and Google LLC, both headquartered in the district.
Britt Anderson and Andrew Klein of Perkins Coie's Palo Alto office, as well as William Rava and Jacob Dini in Seattle, are representing the gaming company. The attorneys were conferring with their client about commenting on the lawsuit at the time of publication.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'A Never-Ending Nightmare': Apple Sued for Alleged Failure to Protect Child Sexual Abuse Survivors
'The Hubris of Big Tech': Apple Hit With California Labor Lawsuit for Alleged Free Speech, Privacy Violations
Jury Says $118M: Netlist Wins Another Patent Verdict Against Samsung
4 minute readMusic Streaming App Platform Musi Sues Apple on Breach-of-Contract Claims
Trending Stories
- 1Trailblazing Broward Judge Retires; Legacy Includes Bush v. Gore
- 2Federal Judge Named in Lawsuit Over Underage Drinking Party at His California Home
- 3'Almost an Arms Race': California Law Firms Scooped Up Lateral Talent by the Handful in 2024
- 4Pittsburgh Judge Rules Loan Company's Online Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable
- 5As a New Year Dawns, the Value of Florida’s Revised Mediation Laws Comes Into Greater Focus
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250