Convicted Wacko Sues Blizzard

Notorious inmate Jonathan Lee Riches, currently serving time in South Carolina for wire fraud, has filed a third-party motion in the Blizzard vs. MDY Glider bot case, claiming World of Warcraft caused him to lose touch with reality which ultimately resulted in his crimes.

The handwritten motion was filed with the Arizona Federal Court on Monday. In it, Riches wrote, "World of Warcraft caused Riches mind to live in a virtual universe, where Riches explored the landscape committing identity theft and fighting cybermonster rival hacker gangs. Riches was addicted to videogames and lost touch with reality because of defendants. This caused Riches to commit fraud to buy defendants' videogames. Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job, Riches' mind became a living videogame."

The Blizzard vs. MDY case centers around MDY's Glider bot, which automates many of the tasks in World of Warcraft. The bot's maker claims "It grinds, it loots, it skins, it heals, it even farms soul shard... without you." Blizzard, on the other hand, claims the bot violates the game's EULA, and so far the courts have agreed: In October, U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell ruled the software violated the game's license, and awarded the company $6 million in damages.

Blizzard's legal team likely isn't losing much sleep over this, however; Riches has a history of filing random lawsuits against random people and things, including President George W. Bush, Jeff Gordon, Benazir Bhutto, the 13 tribes of Israel, Plato, Jimmy Hoffa, the Eiffel Tower, Mein Kampf, the Roman Empire, Three Mile Island... I could go on, but you probably get the idea. I can't tell if this guy is crazy as hell or just really, really bored, but either way I can't help but feel a little warmly toward someone who names Slobodan Milosevic, Wu Tang Clan and the pantheon of Nordic gods all in the same suit.

Virtually Blind says the suit will likely be dismissed on procedural grounds without consideration of its merits. You can see the whole thing for yourself here. (PDF format)

via: Slashdot