RMT, ICANN and XIN NET TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

[kyuven]

No there still isn't any RMT chat spam to this day, but there's no need because cash shop items can already be traded for in-game currency. There's no profit to be made by RMT companies, since players wouldn't bother to risk going to third-party sites.

This. Games that employ systems that allow you to buy monthly subscriptions with in-game currency or trade cash shop items for currency have little to deal with in the way of RMT because there's literally no market for them. Why risk your account when you can do it legitimately with no risk?
It does carry with it some pluses and minuses, of course. Personally I don't care either way, but the option of being able to earn your monthly subscription through in-game means would certainly be an attractive prospect to many people, and the added benefit of being a means to get rid of RMTers once and for all would be nice.

[Miitan]

That's because their free trial accounts were blocked from sending messages of any kind. Once they went F2P, the RMT came back.

If we treated RMT like we treated Childporn, we'd see it disappear pretty darn quick. RMT might actually be more dangerous since it could be laundering funds for crime or terrorism. We, as the player of the game, don't know what RMT is doing, but the fact that they continue to operate suggests that it's organized crime in China and not just a bunch of nerds in china doing it to make a few bucks.

After invoking "Think of the children!" and "Terrorism!", I'm quite surprised you didn't reference Hitler and the Nazis.

[wicked-one]

The ICANN has absolutely no powers in taking down Websites due to reasons like selling virtual currency with absolutely no worth to the real world.

As well as the ICANN spread and delegated their duties to lower-tier Organisations...

It´s like going upto the whitehouse to make the secret service handle your fake-jewelry dealer in your neighborhood...

Yet, RMT neither broke any real world law, nor are taken any legal actions against them, so no real world reason is here to take down a legitimate website.

Try a law-suit and accuse them maybe for the suspicion of child labor (read slavery) and see how far you get. (Terrorism? really? shove of your paranoia, all they want is your money for some ivory backscratchers)...

Really, amusing which ideas many people get...

[tocsin]

The moment I saw someone equate kiddie porn as less harmful than their RMT spam, I stopped reading.

Seriously. Get some perspective. RMT, in the real world of crime, isn't even a crime.

[Ooshima]

When I see ICANN, I chuckled.

My first job (quite a few years back, though) was to work for an international domain name registrar and at the same time, the company deals with litigation (we have an in house counsel for that) for things like intellectual property, brand name management, trademark infringement yada yada.

ICANN, really? They aren't as powerful as it seems. And registrars don't feel obligated to move unless you provide them tons of substantial documentary proofs and proof the damage and harm blah blah before they make contact with their client about it. Because such claims can also be a potential form of attack from competitors to try to shut your client's website down, registrars are usually skeptical about it at first. Afterall, registrars work for their own client's interests. What's you to them?

It might have been better if SE themselves issues these registrars a cease and desist letter, but based on what? These people aren't infringing their trademarks or whatever to the point that the act is as good as me sending a lawyer's letter to spammers to tell them to stop spamming my e-mail account. It is not as simple as it seems.

Plus, these people are paying customers to the registrar. Unless a court order comes from their own jurisdiction, don't expect much to be done.

[Darra]

If we treated RMT like we treated Childporn, we'd see it disappear pretty darn quick. RMT might actually be more dangerous since it could be laundering funds for crime or terrorism. We, as the player of the game, don't know what RMT is doing, but the fact that they continue to operate suggests that it's organized crime in China and not just a bunch of nerds in china doing it to make a few bucks.

Ugh, this person clearly listens to too many moronic arguments from politicians. "Could be funding terrorism", it could also be funding someone's college tuition fees, or you know, their shopping bill each week. Are you that desperate to get your twisted sense of morality shoved down other people's throats that you're going to start implying a perfectly legal and legitimate business could be something that funds terrorism? Or saying it should be treated like child porn? RMT is at its core a CIVIL issue, it's a contract dispute, stop trying to convince others that it's destroying society and should be an actual crime.

Oh, and for the record, just because a company is legitimate, like SE for example, doesn't mean they themselves aren't funding terrorism or criminal gangs, how naive of you.

[SarcasmMisser]

It might have been better if SE themselves issues these registrars a cease and desist letter, but based on what? These people aren't infringing their trademarks or whatever to the point that the act is as good as me sending a lawyer's letter to spammers to tell them to stop spamming my e-mail account. It is not as simple as it seems.

A relevant precedent is the case of Michael Donnelly, see MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDY_Ind...rtainment,_Inc.

What's to note that what stuck in terms of precedent was on circumvention of copyright technologies (ie. warden, client side detection that SE doesn't have) as far as the DMCA violation goes. The other side was tortious violation of the EULA, which is more relevant to RMT as a whole, and after the appeal there was not a judgment on that issue and there remains no precedent.

And if you have taken law 101, you would know what a tort is; it is not a criminal offense. Given there's no precedent for even a successful civil lawsuit on this issue what legal basis do they have to shut down sites?

Now carry on people suggesting solutions that have no grounding in reality. You can be recommending total rubbish but the real menace are people being negative right? Registers are slow to move on literal cyber criminals who engage in all sorts of truly criminal activity, even with encouragement from international law enforcement. But ignoring that, ignoring the comical ignorance in the OP on the authority of ICANN that suggests he just did a quick google search and has no idea what he is talking about, despite the jurisdiction issues, they will be right onto the issue of people getting bothered by tells in an online game. Because a mmo forum is angry and can't accept that their anger doesn't accomplish much.

[wicked-one]

A relevant precedent is the case of Michael Donnelly, see MDY Industries, LLC v. Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
-snip-

Nailed it, thanks for this excellent wording, couldn´t say better

[tocsin]

Well thought out snip.

Very, very well said, +1 brownie points, or your preferred form of gratitude.

[Alistaire]

That's because their free trial accounts were blocked from sending messages of any kind. Once they went F2P, the RMT came back.

If we treated RMT like we treated Childporn, we'd see it disappear pretty darn quick. RMT might actually be more dangerous since it could be laundering funds for crime or terrorism. We, as the player of the game, don't know what RMT is doing, but the fact that they continue to operate suggests that it's organized crime in China and not just a bunch of nerds in china doing it to make a few bucks.

This has to be the best troll ever; my faith in humanity can't go low enough otherwise.