In Destiny 2 a ruling has now been made against a 17-year-old cheater. His penalty shows that age doesn’t matter when it comes to cheating. Even a high-profile lawyer, who argued aggressively that Bungie’s lawsuit was “hysterical”, that it was a “child’s joke” and “cheating is not illegal”, ultimately could not save him from the hefty fine and severe restrictions.
What lawsuit is this about? A year ago, Bungie initiated legal proceedings against a teen cheater, whose identity remains anonymous due to his age.
- He regularly played Destiny 2 and cheated multiple times.
- Additionally, he threatened and harassed Bungie employees.
In the eyes of the developer, this was not only a violation of the terms of service of Destiny 2, but also unacceptable behavior that violates all ethics in gaming and beyond. Something that is no longer being tolerated.
The teenager even tried to defend himself with an experienced top lawyer. This lawyer was able to push back Bungie in another case for the cheat provider “AimJunkies” on some charges. But in the end, it changed nothing.
The penalty and other severe restrictions against the youth were confirmed in favor of Bungie earlier this month. MeinMMO will tell you how harsh the ruling has been.
An unprecedented penalty of 427,500 euros
This is how harsh the ruling was: Bungie’s lawyers declared the violations against the circumvention provisions of the DMCA to be a “circumvention act” worth approximately 1,868.49 euros. Each unlicensed download of Destiny 2 was another violation of Bungie’s copyrights.
According to the court documents, it was agreed that the defendant had thus committed at least 100 such circumvention acts. In addition, Bungie claimed damages amounting to approximately 140,137 euros for each “violated work”.
The total amount to be paid thus amounts to approximately 427,500 euros.
But this unprecedented monetary fine was not the end, as Bungie also imposed a preliminary injunction that the now-convicted cheater must strictly adhere to forever.
- He is no longer allowed to use cheat software targeting Bungie property.
- Bungie imposes a permanent ban, so he is no longer allowed to use or interact with Bungie gameplay resources. This applies to all Bungie games – ever.
- Direct or indirect harassment of Bungie, its employees, or persons playing Bungie games is also prohibited.
- Furthermore, the defendant is prohibited from moving within a radius of 1,000 feet around Bungie’s offices or knowingly moving within a radius of 1,000 feet around a Bungie employee’s house. The only exception is if it is a random drive on public roads.
Bungie also demands the deletion of all accounts that were used to disseminate or promote illegal cheat content.
- The defendant must delete all social networks, video sharing or digital messaging accounts he controls, including, but not limited to Facebook, groups or chats on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, as well as TikTok, Discord, GBATemp, Reddit, Telegram, Skype, WeChat, WhatsApp, Signal or their equivalents.
Of course, this last conviction does not restrict the defendant’s further use of social media, provided it is not associated with the use and dissemination of cheating software.
The ruling is valid worldwide: This case is a reminder that online games are not lawless spaces, not even for underage players.
Bungie is more than determined to make clear that behavior in Destiny 2 can have real consequences, both legally and financially. Cheaters and harassers are thus warned and this penalty could just be the beginning – and worldwide.
It was stated in the ruling that …
… this permanent injunction is binding worldwide against the defendant, regardless of the territorial scope of the intellectual property rights asserted in the complaint of the aforementioned case and can be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction where the defendant or his assets are found.
Bungie noted in the ruling
What is your opinion on this drastic penalty? Do you think such measures are necessary to protect the integrity of the games and the well-being of the community as well as the developers and employees? Or do you think this won’t change anything anyway? Then feel free to share your views with our readers in the comments.
But Bungie is not only cracking down hard on players. Recently, a German streamer had to experience this, who was also banned permanently due to repeated violations of the code of conduct:
Destiny 2: German streamer accuses Bungie of conspiracy, is now permanently banned
