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As of mid-2009, the creators of World of Warcraft were retaining the IP histories of its users indefinitely and was drawing the lines about what information about its players that it would—or could—reveal to law enforcement personnel, according to a document released on Friday.
The ins and outs of how Blizzard Entertainment would respond to requests about its players from the authorities is broken down in an 18-page PDF included in a document dump leaked online on Friday by the activisits/rabble-rousers AntiSec. The documents were obtained from the computer of a cybercrime expert in the California Department of Justice, according to Antisec, as "part of our ongoing effort to expose and humiliate our white hat enemies."
The WoW law enforcement guide is detailed enough that appears to be the real thing, though we've reached out to Blizzard to confirm. The guidelines it stipulates may be active now, though it is impossible to say, given that the file is two years old.
The supposed Blizzard document is formally titled "Law Enforcement Guide to Requests for Information" and was last updated on July 9, 2009. It introduces law enforcement personnel to what World of Warcraft is and acknowledges that "Although the ability to communicate in-game makes Blizzard's games more enjoyable, Blizzard recognizes that some users may abuse this functionality to engage in unlawful activity."
Blizzard never details which types of crimes law enforcement people might think are happening among WoW players, but they acknowledge that they get more law enforcement requests for that game than their others (bear in mind, of course, that this guide was from 2009, before StarCraft II was released).
There isn't much game jargon in the guide. The authors don't delve deeply into WoW lore for the cops, but one element of the game is relevant, according to page 5:
more here
I don't want to play a game that could give info on me to the cops.
The ins and outs of how Blizzard Entertainment would respond to requests about its players from the authorities is broken down in an 18-page PDF included in a document dump leaked online on Friday by the activisits/rabble-rousers AntiSec. The documents were obtained from the computer of a cybercrime expert in the California Department of Justice, according to Antisec, as "part of our ongoing effort to expose and humiliate our white hat enemies."
The WoW law enforcement guide is detailed enough that appears to be the real thing, though we've reached out to Blizzard to confirm. The guidelines it stipulates may be active now, though it is impossible to say, given that the file is two years old.
The supposed Blizzard document is formally titled "Law Enforcement Guide to Requests for Information" and was last updated on July 9, 2009. It introduces law enforcement personnel to what World of Warcraft is and acknowledges that "Although the ability to communicate in-game makes Blizzard's games more enjoyable, Blizzard recognizes that some users may abuse this functionality to engage in unlawful activity."
Blizzard never details which types of crimes law enforcement people might think are happening among WoW players, but they acknowledge that they get more law enforcement requests for that game than their others (bear in mind, of course, that this guide was from 2009, before StarCraft II was released).
There isn't much game jargon in the guide. The authors don't delve deeply into WoW lore for the cops, but one element of the game is relevant, according to page 5:
more here
I don't want to play a game that could give info on me to the cops.