(WoW Logo, 2013)

Chad Tondut | NET 303 Policy Primer

World of Warcraft: Terms of Use

Are you one of the current 6.8 million subscribers to Blizzard’s MMORPG World of Warcraft? (Peckham, 2014)

Or a player looking to return next month in time for the new expansion Warlords of Draenor set to be released November the 13th ? (Blizzard Entertainment, 2014)

If so, there are some things worth knowing about your account.

Issues dealing with… Ownership, Privacy, Surveillance

and Account suspension or termination.

But first….

Did you know?

To simply play the game, you must accept the following:

• World of Warcraft End User License Agreement (EULA)

• World of Warcraft Terms of Use (ToU)

• Battle.net Terms of Use Agreement (BNET ToU)

All before you get to this login screen.

Login screen from (Wowpedia, 2014)

Even after you log in to your account, keep in mind that you’ve agreed:

“…you shall have no ownership or other property interest in any account stored or hosted on a Blizzard system, including without limitation any BNET account or World of Warcraft account…” (World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

Ownership

Section 5 of Terms of Use: No Ownership Rights in Account.

In other words, the account isn’t technically yours.

Meaning you are legally unable to:

Ownership

• Purchase, sell, gift or trade any WoW or BNET account

• Sell virtual items or in-game currency for ‘real’ money

• Exchange virtual items or in-game currency for ‘value’ outside of the ‘Game’

This means it is illegal to offer your services or items in-game for ANY ‘real’ world gain, monetary or otherwise!

Section 8 of Terms of Use: Ownership/Selling of the Account or Virtual Items

Breaking any of these rules will result in immediate account suspension or termination.

In fact, Blizzard reserves the right to:

“suspend, terminate, modify, or delete any BNET account or World of Warcraft account at any time for any reason or for no reason, with or without notice to you” (World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012).

Section 6 of Terms of Use: Account Suspension/Deletion.

Account suspension or termination

There is no mention of how to appeal any actions taken against your account.

Which is surprising because..

Account suspension or termination

Blizzard state “most account suspensions, terminations and/or deletions are the result of violations of this Terms of Use or the EULA.” (World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

Yet…

“…Blizzard reserves the right, at its sole and absolute discretion, to change, modify, add to, supplement or delete, at any time, any of the terms and conditions of this Agreement…” (World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

Section 9 of Terms of Use: Changes to the Terms of Use or the Game.

Account suspension or termination

with or without prior notice.

Which implies it is up to the user to stay informed.

On a document you only see once in-game upon logging in for the first time….

unless specifically searching for it on their website.

…seems unrealistic doesn’t it?

Well, “your continued use of the Game following any revision to this Agreement constitutes your complete and irrevocable acceptance of any and all such changes.” (World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

You may ask what happens if the Terms of Use agreement changes.

Section 9 of Terms of Use: Changes to the Terms of Use or the Game

Meaning you’ve probably accepted a new agreement without proper knowledge before.

You may also not know that Blizzard are actively monitoring you, obtaining such information as:

• Identification information about your computer, which includes:- Hard drives- CPUs- IP addresses- Operating systems

In efforts to “..improving the game and/or the service, and to police andenforce the provisions of any Blizzard agreement” (World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

Section 15 of Terms of Use: Acknowledgments.

Surveillance

Yet there is no information concerning:

• How long this information is stored

• How this information is used

• Whether or not your information is used for other means

• Who (if anyone) else has access to this information outside of

Blizzard

• What information Blizzard is actually receiving about its users

Surveillance

The Terms of Use Agreement does not answer any of these questions.

Users must also agree to this acknowledgement:

“….the game may monitor your computer’s random access

memory (RAM), and/or CPU process for unauthorized third party

programs running concurrently with World of Warcraft” (World of

Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

Surveillance

Section 15 of Terms of Use: Acknowledgments.

Which raises such questions as:

Surveillance

• What third party programs are considered unauthorized?

• What actions are taken if an unauthorized program is believed to be

running?

• Are users informed of a potential breech to the Terms of Use Agreement?

• Can Blizzard monitor ALL processes running whilst in the game?

• Is the third party program remotely disabled or altered in any way?

• Is personal information at risk of becoming public at a later date?

Unfortunately the Terms of Use Agreement does not touch on these concerns at all.

In fact, the user is at the mercy of Blizzard to act in his or her best interest.

Questions can be raised whether this type of surveillance is for the benefit of improving the gaming experience or “a means of more effective social control where the state or the corporation is the ultimate beneficiary.” (Introna, 1997)

Surveillance

In cyberspace, monitoring is becoming the norm. (Lessig, 1998)

Yet a clearer understanding of what users are giving up to play World of Warcraft, would go a long way to allay fears when it comes to surveillance and privacy.

Concerns with privacy go deeper than just the monitoring of computer information.

Blizzard state that with or without notice to you, they may disclose information concerning:

• IP Addresses• Personal information• Chat logs• *Other information about you and your activities

Section 15 of Terms of Use: Acknowledgments.

What other information….?

Privacy

This information will be released under these circumstances:

“(a) In response to a request by law enforcement, a court order or other legal process; or (b) if Blizzard believes that doing so may protect your safety or the safety of others.”(World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

Section 15 of Terms of Use: Acknowledgments.

Privacy

How are Blizzard notified about an issue to one’s safety?

….is it at a user’s request and/or concern?

Section 15 of Terms of Use: Acknowledgments.

“(b) if Blizzard believes that doing so may protect your safety or the safety of others.”(World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

Are chat logs constantly reviewed and Blizzard determine what is ‘safe’ without user input?

Is ‘Safety’ open to interpretation?

Privacy

Privacy

Once you agree to the Terms of Use Agreement, you are also agreeing to Blizzard monitoring, recording, reviewing, modifying and/or disclosing your chat sessions (both text and voice) whilst playing World of Warcraft. (World of Warcraft Terms of Use, 2012)

So remember that those private conversations….are not so private.

Section 15 of Terms of Use: Acknowledgments.

“In the digital world, individual privacy is largely an illusion.” (Almeida, 2012)

Thanks for reading.

I hope this presentation has helped you better understand the World of Warcraft Terms of Use Agreement and also has allowed you to consider the issues surrounding Ownership, Privacy, and Surveillance whilst subscribing to this service.

Enjoy your time in Azeroth!

(Blizzard Press Center, 2014)

Reference List

Almeida, V. A. F. (2012). Privacy Problems in the Online World. IEEE Internet Computing, 16(2), 4-6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/docview/1001895149?accountid=10382

Blizzard Entertainment. (2014). Warlords of Draenor™ Launches 11/13—Watch the Cinematic & Lords of War: Part One Now. Retrieved from http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/15053029/warlords-of-draenor%E2%84%A2-launches-1113-watch-the-cinematic-lords-of-war-part-one-now-8-14-2014

Blizzard Press Center. (2014). WOW 6.0 Garrison Alliance AD 01 [Image]. Retrieved from http://blizzard.gamespress.com/en-AU/World-of-Warcraft

Introna, L. D. (1997). Privacy and the Computer: Why We Need Privacy in the Information Society. Metaphilosophy, 28: 259–275. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/doi/10.1111/1467-9973.00055/pdf

Lessig, L. (1998). The Laws of Cyberspace. Retrieved from https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/works/lessig/laws_cyberspace.pdf

Peckham, M. (2014). Blizzard Admits World of Warcraft Lost 800,000 Subscribers Since March. Retrieved from http://time.com/3086189/world-warcraft-subscribers/

WoW Logo. (2013). Blizzard Press Center [Image]. Retrieved from http://blizzard.gamespress.com/en-AU/World-of-Warcraft

Wowpedia. (2014). Warlords of Draenor Login screen [Image]. Retrieved from http://wowpedia.org/Loading_screen

World of Warcraft Terms of Use. (2012). Retrieved from http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/legal/wow_tou.html