Over the past several years, a wave of copyright infringement lawsuits has targeted alleged cheaters and cheat makers.

Game companies have emerged as relatively swift victors in cases that never went to trial, but that’s not a given.

The legal dispute between American video game developer Bungie and AimJunkies.com has been fiercely fought and next week heads to a jury trial.

Two years ago, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things. The same allegations were made against Phoenix Digital Group, the alleged creators of the Destiny 2 cheating software.

The case initially seemed set for a quick settlement, but the parties failed to reach an agreement. Instead, Bungie pressed on while AimJunkies went on the defensive, asking the court to dismiss several claims.

AimJunkies argued that cheating isn’t against the law and refuted the copyright infringement allegations; these lacked any substance and were ungrounded because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available, AimJunkies argued.

Dismissal, Hacking and Arbitration

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly largely sided with AimJunkies . The original complaint failed to provide sufficient evidence for a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed copyright.

This was bad news for Bungie but the court did offer the company the option to file a new complaint to address these shortcomings, which it did soon after .

Meanwhile, AimJunkies wasn’t sitting idly by. The cheat seller filed a countersuit , accusing Bungie of hacking when it allegedly accessed a defendant’s computer without permission. This hacking counterclaim was eventually dismissed .

Bungie scored its first major win earlier this year in an arbitration proceeding. Judge Ronald Cox concluded that the cheaters violated the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision and related trafficking restrictions, awarding $3.6 million in damages to the game company.

The arbitration ruling is still under appeal and with the battle being fought on multiple fronts, attention shifted back to the federal lawsuit once more, where Bungie continued its copyright and trademark claims this summer.

In July, the game company submitted motions for summary judgment to resolve the copyright infringement dispute before trial. However, the court denied these motions, as there is no hard evidence that any game code was copied. Instead, a jury would have to decide.

Jury Trial

After several years, the dispute is about to reach its climax in a District Court in Seattle, where a jury trial is expected to start next week. This is the first time that a case like this will go before a jury, making it a landmark event.

At the core of the dispute is whether AimJunkies engaged in direct, vicarious, or contributory copyright infringement. If that’s found to be the case, the next question is whether Bungie is entitled to an award for damages.

For AimJunkies, the upcoming trial also raises some concerns. Specifically, the defendant is worried about the negative connotation of the term “cheating”. This may signal to the jury that the activity is legally improper, contrary to the defendant’s legal position.

To prevent confusion, the cheat maker asked the court to ban any mentions of the word “cheat” or “cheat software”, but the request was denied.

Defenses & Counterclaim

At trial, AimJunkies hopes to convince the jury that the cheating software it sold wasn’t infringing any copyrights. In fact, the defendants will claim that they merely sold the software; it was created by an unnamed third party.

“The software at issue here was created by parties other than Defendants. Defendants did not have access to the software Bungie accuses them of copying,” defendants note in a pretrial statement.

“No software created, developed, marketed, advertised, sold or otherwise distributed by Defendants infringes any copyright of Bungie,” AimJunkies’ attorney adds.

The cheat sellers are not the only party on the defensive. Third-party developer James May filed a counterclaim accusing Bungie of circumventing the DMCA by accessing personal files on his computer. Bungie, however, argues that it did nothing wrong.

Bungie might have accessed the developer’s computer, but the company states that none of the files that were allegedly accessed are copyrighted.

“None of the works allegedly accessed by Bungie are works protected by copyright […]. Bungie did not circumvent any of May’s technological measures that protect any files on his computer,” the game company writes in its pretrial statement.

Overall, the arguments from both sides are a guarantee for an intriguing trial. And although AimJunkies is a relatively small player in the broader ‘cheating’ ecosystem, the jury verdict will likely resonate in many gaming communities.

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A copy of the pretrial order cited in this article, which includes additional argument from both sides, is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Two years ago, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies.com of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things.

The same accusations were also made against Phoenix Digital Group, the operating company behind the website, and third-party developer James May.

AimJunkies denied the claims and argued that cheating isn’t against the law . In addition, it refuted the copyright infringement allegations; these lacked substance because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available, AimJunkies said.

AimJunkies Strikes First

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly handed an early and partial win to AimJunkies . The original complaint didn’t provide sufficient evidence for a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed any copyrights, the Judge concluded.

This was a setback for Bungie, but the court allowed the game developer to amend its complaint, which it promptly did. As a result, the copyright infringement dispute is currently ongoing and progressing to trial.

During 2022, Judge Zilly also referred several of the non-copyright-related complaints to arbitration, including allegations that AimJunkies’ cheats violated the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision and were illegally sold to third parties.

Bungie Wins Arbitration ‘Battle’

The arbitration process was conducted behind the scenes and resulted in a resounding win for the game developer; Bungie was awarded a total of nearly $4.4 million in damages and fees .

The bulk of the award was DMCA-related damages. According to arbitration Judge Ronald Cox, the evidence made it clear that AimJunkies and third-party developer James May bypassed Bungie’s technical protection measures in violation of the DMCA.

In addition to breaching the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, the defendants were also found liable for trafficking in circumvention devices. Or, put differently, selling and shipping the cheats.

AimJunkies Files ‘Arbitration’ Appeal

The AimJunkies defendants were disappointed in the arbitration outcome and decided to challenge it at the Court of Appeals. In an opening brief, filed this week, they maintain that no law forbids cheating in computer games.

Bungie has repeatedly stressed that cheaters are not tolerated as they ruin the pleasure of honest players, which ultimately hurts sales of games such as Destiny 2. However, AimJunkies sees things differently.

“[I]n order for companies such as Bungie to obtain legal relief for any such ‘cheating,’ they, as with any litigant, need to demonstrate violation of an actual law or statute, such as patent or copyright laws, rather than simply shout, ‘Cheaters’ and hope the pejorative alone will be sufficient to establish liability,” the brief reads.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Over the past several years, a wave of copyright infringement lawsuits has targeted alleged cheaters and cheat makers.

Game companies have emerged as relatively swift victors in most of these cases, but that’s not a given.

The legal dispute between American video game developer Bungie and AimJunkies.com has turned into a drawn-out battle.

Two years ago, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things. The same allegations were made against Phoenix Digital Group, the alleged creators of the Destiny 2 cheating software.

The case initially seemed set for a quick settlement, but the parties failed to reach an agreement. Instead, Bungie pressed on while AimJunkies went on the defensive, asking the court to dismiss several claims.

AimJunkies argued that cheating isn’t against the law . In addition, it refuted the copyright infringement allegations; these lacked any substance and were ungrounded because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available, AimJunkies argued.

Dismissal, Hacking and Arbitration

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly largely sided with AimJunkies . The original complaint failed to provide sufficient evidence for a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed any copyrights.

This was bad news for Bungie but the court did offer the company the option to file a new complaint to address these shortcomings, which it did soon after .

Meanwhile, AimJunkies wasn’t sitting idly by. The cheat seller filed a countersuit , accusing Bungie of hacking when it allegedly accessed a defendant’s computer without permission. This hacking counterclaim was eventually dismissed .

Bungie scored its first major win earlier this year in an arbitration proceeding. Judge Ronald Cox concluded that the cheaters violated the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision and related trafficking restrictions, awarding $3.6 million in damages to the game company.

This arbitration ruling is still under appeal and with the battle being fought on multiple fronts, attention shifted back to the federal lawsuit once more, where Bungie continued its copyright and trademark claims this summer.

Bungie’s Sealed Motions for Summary Judgment

In July, the game company submitted motions for summary judgment, which remain sealed and hidden from the broader public to this day. The sealed nature of this request makes it hard to report on but a minute order issued by District Court Judge Thomas S. Zilly last week fills in some of the blanks.

Bungie hoped to resolve the dispute without a trial, arguing that it’s clear that AimJunkies infringed its copyright. The cheat seller had to copy portions of the Destiny 2 game code to create its cheat, Bungie theorized.

In an order released late last week, District Court Judge Thomas Zilly is not convinced of this logic, as there is no hard evidence that any game code was copied. And without that, there’s no ground for a plausible copyright infringement claim.

Copyright Infringement Claim

In his order, Judge Zilly cites testimony from Bungie Engineering Lead, Edward Kaiser, who stated that cheating software couldn’t function without copying portions of the Destiny 2 code. However, that argument was little more than a well-informed theory; there is no proof.

“Notably, Dr. Kaiser is not certain that Defendants copied portions of Destiny 2’s copyrighted software code to create the Aimjunkies cheat software, and he explained during his deposition that, based on the available evidence, his opinion is merely ‘the most likely conclusion’,” Judge Zilly writes.

“Defendants deny that they copied any portions of Destiny 2’s software code, and contend that a non-party developer created the Aimjunkies cheat software,” the Judge adds, concluding that the motion for summary judgment on the copyright claims is denied.

Trademark Infringement Claim

In addition to the copyright claim, Bungie also argued that AimJunkies infringed its trademark. The cheat seller did indeed use Destiny 2’s trademark to promote its cheat. However, in order to show that this use is infringing, this use has to cause “consumer confusion”.

According to Judge Zilly, AimJunkies’ use is different than that of a typical counterfeiter, who uses trademarked logos to make a product look identical the original. After all, most cheaters are well aware of the fact that cheats are not sold by the game’s makers.

In fact, Judge Zilly notes that, Bungie’s license agreement -which all legitimate players agree to- explicitly prohibits the use of cheats.

“Unlike the case Bungie cites, involving a handbag, coin purse, and wallet bearing counterfeit reproductions of an accessory designer’s registered marks, in this matter, the mark at issue was used on a product that was different in kind from the one associated with the genuine mark and that Bungie’s online and multiplayer customers had contractually agreed not to use,” Judge Zilly writes.

Based on this reasoning, Bungie’s motion for summary judgment on the trademark infringement claim is denied as well. Instead, the copyright and trademark claims will have to be presented to a jury, at trial.

‘The Day of Reckoning’

Bungie also asked the court to dismiss Aimjunkies’ sealed counterclaims. The court didn’t deny this request outright but deferred it instead.

TorrentFreak reached out to Bungie for a comment on the order but the videogame company didn’t immediately reply.

Behind the scenes, the parties participated in mediation last month, but that was unsuccessful. The trial is currently scheduled to start in December but Bungie informed the court that it would like to extend this date by 120 days.

AimJunkies’ attorney Phil Mann is pleased with Judge Zilly’s decision to deny the motions for summary judgment. Instead of simply accepting Bungie’s theory, the decision is based on actual evidence, which stands in sharp contrast to the arbitration finding, Mann says.

“Unlike Arbitrator Cox, Judge Zilly is a real judge who does not simply accept whatever nonsense a large company and connected law firm puts before him,” Mann tells us.

AimJunkies believes that it has momentum now and the defendants oppose Bungie’s request to delay the trial. According to Mann, Bungie’s case is about to fall apart.

“From day one, we have known that Bungie’s case is a house of cards lacking any legal merit, and have looked forward to getting the truth before a jury. Tellingly, Bungie is now asking to delay the very trial it asked for. Take a guess as to why.

“The day of reckoning is near,” Mann concludes.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Two years ago, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies.com of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things.

The same accusations were also made against Phoenix Digital Group, the alleged creators of the ‘Destiny 2’ cheating software.

AimJunkies denied the claims and argued that cheating isn’t against the law . In addition, it refuted the copyright infringement allegations; these lacked substance because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available, AimJunkies said.

AimJunkies Won Fist Battle

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly handed an early and partial win to AimJunkies . The original complaint didn’t provide sufficient evidence for a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed any copyrights, the Judge concluded.

This was a setback for Bungie, but the court allowed the game developer to amend its complaint, which it promptly did. As a result, the copyright infringement dispute is currently ongoing and progressing through the legal process.

During 2022, Judge Zilly referred several of the non-copyright-related complaints to arbitration, including allegations that AimJunkies’ cheats violated the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision and were illegally sold to third parties.

Arbitration Judge Sides with Bungie

The arbitration process was conducted behind the scenes and resulted in a resounding win for the game developer; Bungie was awarded a total of nearly $4.4 million in damages and fees .

The bulk of the award was DMCA-related damages. According to arbitration Judge Ronald Cox, the evidence made it clear that AimJunkies and third-party developer James May bypassed Bungie’s technical protection measures in violation of the DMCA.

In addition to breaching the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, the defendants were also found liable for trafficking in circumvention devices. Or, put differently, selling and shipping the cheats.

The DMCA circumvention and trafficking violations total nearly $3.6 million in damages with the remainder of the $4.4 million consisting of fees and costs.

Aimjunkies Files Appeal

AimJunkies opposed the arbitration outcome but U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly ultimately denied these objections and confirmed the arbitration order last month.

That could have been the end of the road for this part of the lawsuit, but the cheat seller is not quick to concede. It recently filed an appeal at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, hoping for a better outcome.

“Defendants Aimjunkies.com, Phoenix Digital Group LLC, Jeffrey Conway, David Schaefer, Jordan Green and James May hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,” attorney Philip Mann writes.

In addition to the confirmation of the arbitration order, the defendants also appeal the associated permanent injunction that prevents them from creating and selling similar hacks and cheats in the future.

Battles on Multiple Fronts

AimJunkies has yet to file its opening brief at the Court of Appeal. The deadline to do so is in October, so the matter won’t be resolved anytime soon. Meanwhile, there are other battles to fight as well.

Bungie’s copyright and trademark infringement claims remain pending and the countersuit, where third-party cheat developer James May accuses Bungie of ‘hacking,’ theft, and DMCA violations , also remains outstanding.

These issues are expected to be resolved during a multi-day trial, currently expected to take place later this year.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Two years ago, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies.com of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things.

The same accusations were also made against Phoenix Digital Group, the alleged creators of the ‘Destiny 2’ cheating software.

AimJunkies denied the claims and argued that cheating isn’t against the law . In addition, it refuted the copyright infringement allegations; these lacked substance because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available, AimJunkies said.

Early Win for AimJunkies

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly handed an early and partial win to AimJunkies . The original complaint didn’t provide sufficient evidence for a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed any copyrights, the Judge concluded.

This was a setback for Bungie, but the court allowed the game developer to amend its complaint, which it promptly did. As a result, the copyright infringement dispute is currently ongoing and progressing through the legal process.

During 2022, Judge Zilly referred several of the non-copyright-related complaints to arbitration, including allegations that AimJunkies’ cheats violated the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision and were illegally sold to third parties.

Arbitration Judge Sides with Bungie

The arbitration process was conducted behind the scenes and resulted in a resounding win for the game developer; Bungie was awarded a total of nearly $4.4 million in damages and fees .

The bulk of the award was DMCA-related damages. According to arbitration Judge Ronald Cox, the evidence makes it clear that AimJunkies and third-party developer James May bypassed Bungie’s technical protection measures in violation of the DMCA.

In addition to breaching the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, the defendants were also found liable for trafficking in circumvention devices. Or, put differently, selling and shipping the cheats.

The DMCA circumvention and trafficking violations total nearly $3.6 million in damages with the remainder of the $4.4 million consisting of fees and costs.

Court Denies Objections, Confirms Damages Award

Shortly after the arbitration result, Bungie asked the federal court to have it confirmed. This was met with protests from the cheat seller, which asked the court to vacate the damages award.

According to AimJunkies, the arbitrator denied them a fair hearing by sustaining an objection. This prevented AimJunkies to use a prior deposition of Bungie’s witness for impeachment purposes. On top of that, they argue that the arbitrator was evidentially partial toward Bungie.

After reviewing the relevant submissions, District Court Judge Thomas Zilly denied AimJunkies’ objections and confirmed the arbitration order.

According to the court, AimJunkies could have tried other ways to bring up the impeachment. In addition, there’s no evidence that the arbitrator was evidentially partial to Bungie.

The final award totals $4,396,222 and consists of $3,657,500 in damages, $598,641 in attorneys’ fees, $101,800 in expert witness fees, and $38,281 in other expenses.

Legal Battle Continues

The court’s approval of the judgment is good news for Bungie. In addition to the financial aspect, it also comes with a permanent injunction that prevents the defendants from creating and selling similar hacks and cheats in the future.

That said, the legal battle is far from over. Bungie’s copyright and trademark infringement claims remain pending and both sides are expending significant legal resources to make their case.

In addition to Bungie’s claims, the countersuit in which third-party cheat developer James May accuses Bungie of ‘hacking,’ theft, and DMCA violations , has yet to be decided as well.

These remaining issues are expected to be resolved at a multi-day trial, which is scheduled to take place later this year.

—

A copy of U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly’s order confirming the arbitration judgment is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In 2021, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies.com of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things.

The same accusations were also made against Phoenix Digital Group, the alleged creators of the software.

AimJunkies denied the claims and argued that cheating isn’t against the law . In addition, it argued that the copyright infringement allegations were ungrounded because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available.

Court Dismissed Bungie’s Copyright Claims

Last May, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly largely sided with AimJunkies . The original complaint didn’t provide sufficient evidence for a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed any copyrights, the judge concluded.

This was bad news for Bungie, but the court allowed the game developer to amend its complaint, which it did. That copyright infringement dispute is still ongoing and on its way to a trial that’s expected to take place later this year.

In 2022, Judge Zilly referred several of the non-copyright-related complaints to arbitration, including allegations that AimJunkies’ cheats violated the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision and were illegally sold to third parties.

Arbitration Judge Sides with Bungie

The arbitration process was conducted behind the scenes, but Bungie shared the outcome with the Washington federal court a few days ago. In a resounding win for the developer, Bungie walked away with an award of $4.3 million in damages and fees.

The bulk of the award relates to DMCA-related damages. According to arbitration Judge Ronald Cox, the evidence makes it clear that AimJunkies and third-party developer James May bypassed Bungie’s technical protection measures in violation of the DMCA.

“May testified that on many occasions, he connected reverse engineering tools to the Destiny 2 process in order to reverse engineer it and develop a cheat for the game,” Judge Cox writes.

“He also testified that after being caught and banned by Bungie several times for doing so, he attempted various ways to bypass the bans and circumvent the protections Bungie had in place to prevent reverse engineering.”

All Liable for Circumvention

May is not an employee of AimJunkies or its parent company Phoenix Digital. However, the latter can be held liable; the reverse engineering was carried out to develop the cheating software, which was sold and profited from.

“Thus, the remaining respondents are liable for May’s violations. They are likewise liable for the circumvention by the many users of the cheats sold by Phoenix on the website,” Judge Cox writes.

The arbitrator concludes that the circumvention was malicious, which entitles Bungie to $2,500 per offense. Based on 102 violations, total damages amounted to $255,000.

In reaching this conclusion, the testimony of AimJunkies owner David Shaefer was disregarded. Judge Cox found his testimony non-credible, partly due to Shaefer substantially understating revenue from the sale of the cheats.

Trafficking

In addition to violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, the defendants were also found liable for trafficking in circumvention devices. Or put differently, selling and shipping the cheats.

Sales of the cheats and loader, which effectively bypassed Bungie’s copyright protections, amount to 1,361 copies in total.

“The evidence shows that Phoenix sold more than one thousand copies of the cheats. They also distributed more than one thousand copies of the cheat loader that was used to inject the cheats into the Destiny 2 process.

“Given respondents’ egregious and willful conduct, including their ongoing concealment of sales, Bungie is entitled to the full statutory damages available,” Judge Cox adds.

Trafficking violations resulted in a $3,402,500 award, and when added to damages for circumvention violations, an award of $3,657,500 covered all DMCA violations.

$4,396,222 and Forward

The arbitrator also sided with Bungie’s claims regarding breach of contract, tortious interference, consumer protection, and spoilation. As such, the game developer is entitled to attorneys’ fees and other awards.

In total, an award of $4,396,222 was handed to the game developer.

Last week, Bungie asked the federal court to accept this final award and approve an associated injunction, which prevents the AimJunkies defendants from engaging in any similar activities going forward.

In addition, Bungie is using its arbitration successes to defend against AimJunkies’s counterclaims in the ongoing copyright battle.

AimJunkies argued that by decompiling and reverse-engineering its cheat software, Bungie violated AimJunkies’ terms of service and breached the terms of its contract. Bungie says that the arbitration result counters AimJunkies’ claims since it found the software itself illegal.

“Phoenix Digital’s Terms of Service, which apply to the sale/license of Defendants’ Destiny 2 cheat software, are void because they are in violation of public policy and/or illegal,” Bungie countered in a filing last Friday.

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A copy of the arbitration Judge’s conclusions is available here (pdf) . Bungie asked the federal court to confirm this (pdf) and enter a judgment accordingly

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In 2021, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies.com of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things.

The same accusations were also made against Phoenix Digital Group, the alleged creators of the Destiny 2 cheating software at the center of the complaint.

AimJunkies denied the claims and argued that cheating isn’t against the law . In addition, it refuted the copyright infringement allegations; these lacked substance and were ungrounded because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available.

Court Dismissed Bungie’s Copyright Claims

In May 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly largely sided with AimJunkies . The original complaint lacked sufficient evidence to support a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed any copyrights, the Judge concluded.

While this was a setback for Bungie, the court gave the company an opportunity to file a new complaint to address these shortcomings, which it did soon after.

In its amended complaint, the game developer added more copyright infringement details and shared more information on the roles of several key people that are also allegedly involved. They include James May, who Bungie describes as a third-party cheat developer.

Cheaters Countersue Bungie

In response, the AimJunkies defendants went on the offensive. They didn’t deny that the AimJunkies site offered ‘Destiny 2’ cheats in the past but rejected allegations that copyright law had been violated.

Instead, James May and the three managing members of Phoenix Digital turned the tables. Their countersuit against Bungie contains several hacking allegations and claims that the game company violated the DMCA by circumventing the cheat’s technological protection measures.

These initial counterclaims were dismissed after Bungie pointed out several flaws to the court. However, AimJunkies was allowed to amend its allegations to add missing details. This attempt was more successful.

‘Hacking’ and Theft Claims Can Proceed

Late last week, United States District Judge Thomas S. Zilly ruled that the hacking, theft, and contract breach allegations survive Bungie’s motion to dismiss so can proceed.

“May and Phoenix Digital have cured deficiencies the Court previously identified in its earlier Order […] and many of the arguments Bungie raises in its motion to dismiss would be more appropriately presented in a motion for summary judgment or at trial,” Judge Zilly writes.

The hacking and theft claims only apply to James May, who’s described as a third-party cheat developer. These allegations are grounded in a spreadsheet obtained during discovery and suggest that Bungie breached his computer without permission.

Bungie’s own privacy policy didn’t allow the company to access files on Mr. May’s personal computer surreptitiously, let alone download any of its contents. However, May believes this is what happened.

“On several occasions between October 2, 2019 and May 25, 2021 Bungie, Inc […] obtained information from personal files contained on Mr. Mays’ personal computer. Bungie did so by exceeding the authorization provided to it by the Bungie Privacy Policy.

“In particular, the reference in Exhibit D to the file path “g:\work files\”, directs to Mr. May’s external drive which contains proprietary technology and trade secrets known only to Mr. May. Mr. May holds copyrights in these materials…,” the counterclaim added.

By accessing the drive, the game company allegedly violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which can be seen as hacking. In addition to accessing the files, May also accuses Bungie of downloading them, which is seen as theft.

The alleged hacking and theft caused damage to May, as he spent dozens of hours reviewing potentially compromised files. May also had to purchase a new computer.

Points for AimJunkies

There is also positive news for AimJunkies’ parent company Phoenix Digital. Judge Zilly concludes that its contract breach claim can continue. AimJunkies argued that Bungie violated its terms of service by decompiling and reverse-engineering its cheat software.

Since these activities are expressly prohibited by AimJunkies’ terms of service, the cheat developers argue that amounts to a breach of contract.

AimJunkies previously filed hacking-related claims against Bungie, but since the company didn’t file an amended hacking-related counterclaim, that is no longer an issue.

DMCA Circumvention Counterclaims

Not all counterclaims survived Bungie’s motion to dismiss. Alleged violations of the DMCA due to circumvention of technological protection measures can’t continue.

According to Judge Zilly, there is no evidence that AimJunkies’ software had any technical copyright protection measures. As such, there is nothing to circumvent.

That said, the circumvention claims of third-party developer James May can continue. He accused Bungie of bypassing password and firewall technology to access his personal files, which means that there was something to circumvent.

Everything considered, plotting the future course of the case is difficult. A myriad of claims filed by both sides have rendered the case unpredictable, and with the parties apparently determined to keep fighting, further unexpected twists can’t be ruled out.

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The amended counterclaims and Bungie’s motion to dismiss can be found here (pdf) and here (pdf) . Judge Zilly’s order granting/dismissing various claims is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Last year, Bungie filed a complaint at a federal court in Seattle, accusing AimJunkies.com of copyright and trademark infringement, among other things.

The same accusations were also made against Phoenix Digital Group, the alleged creators of the ‘Destiny 2’ cheating software.

AimJunkies denied the claims and argued that cheating isn’t against the law . In addition, it refuted the copyright infringement allegations; these lacked substance because some of the referenced copyrights were registered well after the cheats were first made available, AimJunkies said.

Court Dismissed Bungie’s Copyright Claims

In May, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly largely sided with AimJunkies . The original complaint didn’t provide sufficient evidence for a plausible claim that the ‘Destiny 2 Hacks’ infringed any copyrights, the Judge concluded.

This was bad news for Bungie but the court did offer the company an opportunity to file a new complaint to address these shortcomings, which it did soon after.

In an amended complaint the game developer added more copyright infringement details and more information on the roles of several key people that are also allegedly involved. That includes James May, who Bungie describes as a third-party cheat developer.

Hacking Counterclaim

AimJunkies responded to the updated complaint and denied that it broke the law. Instead, it turned the table on Bungie, accusing the game developer of hacking when it allegedly accessed May’s computer without permission. In addition, the cheaters argued that Bungie violated the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision.

Bungie described these claims as false. There is no evidence that it downloaded anything from May’s computer, the company said. And even if it had accessed his computer without permission, AimJunkies failed to argue that any hacking damage exceeded at least $5,000.

Similarly, Bungie also asked the court to dismiss the DMCA circumvention claims as AimJunkies failed to show that the allegedly breached content was copyrighted and that the files were protected by a technological measure.

Claims Dismissed

After weighing the evidence from both sides, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly sides with Bungie, dismissing the counterclaims.

AimJunkies failed to successfully plead a hacking case as it didn’t provide evidence for any losses suffered. There’s also no proof that Bungie accessed May’s computer without permission.

“May has failed to sufficiently allege that Bungie accessed his personal computer and files without authorization. To support his allegation that Bungie accessed his personal computer, May relies on a document that Bungie purportedly produced during discovery in this matter.”

“May, however, does not explain what this document is or how it evidences instances in which Bungie allegedly accessed his computer without authorization and downloaded his personal information,” Judge Zilly adds.

The anti-circumvention claims of May and Phoenix both fail as well. AimJunkies didn’t show that the allegedly accessed files were copyrighted or protected by technological measures, as is required.

“Importantly, neither May nor Phoenix Digital allege that Bungie accessed any copyrighted work,” Judge Zilly notes. “Further, Phoenix Digital has not pleaded any facts to support that its ‘loader software’ was protected by a technological measure.”

Game Over?

The dismissal is a major setback for AimJunkies but the matter is not completely over just yet. Judge Zilly agrees with Bungie that there is sufficient ground to dismiss the counterclaims with prejudice, meaning that AimJunkies won’t have a chance to repair the shortcomings.

The pleading for amended deadlines expires later this month, so AimJunkies has an opportunity to amend its counterclaims and take another shot at Bungie.

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A copy of Judge Zilly’s order to dismiss the counterclaims without prejudice is available here (pdf)

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.