Developer of video games Bungie has obtained a default judgment against Veterancheats, a Romanian who fled the scene after being served with a lawsuit two years ago. The multiple Destiny 2 hacks that were offered on the website were given roughly $12 million in DMCA and copyright infringement damages by a federal court in Washington.
veterancheatsA flurry of copyright infringement cases that have been filed in recent years have targeted alleged cheaters and cheat manufacturers.
Take-Two Interactive and Epic Games are two video game firms that have taken cheaters to court in the US. American video game company Bungie has also been quite active recently.
The Halo and Destiny series, which have millions of fans worldwide, are Bungie’s most well-known works. Bungie has filed a number of lawsuits in US federal courts in an effort to prohibit cheaters and cheat merchants who are drawn to these games by their popularity.
When Elite Boss Tech signed a consent judgment and accepted a defeat, agreeing to pay $13.5 million in copyright damages, this method had some success last year. AimJunkies is attempting to fight back in the lawsuit it is facing, so that is a different matter.
versus Veterancheats
Bungie’s argument against the vendor of cheats, Veterancheats, took a different turn. Little happened after the lawsuit was filed in 2021. Bungie was left to handle the situation on its own as the site’s purported operator, Mihai Claudiu-Florentin, a Romanian citizen, failed to respond to the complaint.
Bungie asked for a default judgment for copyright infringement and the circumvention of Bungie’s technological protection measures under the DMCA earlier this year as a result of inaction. The game company demanded more than $12 million in fines and damages to make up for this transgression.
Bungie claims that Veterancheats offered a number of Destiny 2 exploits, such as “Razor,” “HLBOT,” and “Render.” These bits of software effectively ruined the fun for everyone else by giving “unskilled” and “unethical” players an unfair advantage.
“Cheat software negatively impacts the gaming experience of Bungie’s community of honest players who enjoy playing and winning fairly using skill and developed through practice,” noted Bungie.
Court Determines Millions in Damages
United States District Judge Tana Lin made a decision on the motion this week, primarily supporting Bungie. Judge Lin found that the Romanian defendant is subject to the jurisdiction of the court and that the evidence supports a default judgment.
As a result of VeteranCheats’ willful DMCA infringement, the court finds that it is appropriate to award up to $2,500 per download of the VeteranCheats Hack. The damages request was accepted because Bungie really requested less money than that.
“The Court finds that Bungie’s request for merely $2,000 for each of the 5,848 downloads of the VeteranCheats Hack is reasonable. As a result, the judge adds, “The Court will enter default judgment in the amount of $11,696,000 for Claudiu-Florentin’s DMCA infringement.
Source: torrentfreak