If you play "World of Warcraft" then you probably know that grinding out tens of hours in the game isn't the only way to find fame and fortune in Azeroth. There are shady entrepreneurs out there who will accept actual money from players in exchange for in-game gold. Not only is the practice illegal, it also leads to headaches for players when they find an inbox full of spam. Now Blizzard is striking back.
The Activision partner and "WoW" dev appealed to online fee service PayPal for help, based on the fact that the practice of gold selling qualifies as an Intellectual Properties violation. In response, PayPal issued letters to the identified offenders ordering them to remove all "World of Warcraft" goods from their storefronts. They have the opportunity to fight it of course -- "Should you choose not to object to the report, you will be required to remove all World of Warcraft Merchandise from the website in order to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy," the letter reads -- but they don't really have a legal leg to stand on here.
You can read the full text of the letter below, as reported by Curse:
You were reported to PayPal as an Intellectual Properties violation by Blizzard Entertainment Inc. for the sale of World of Warcraft Merchandise.
If you feel your sales do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of the Reporting Party, please complette the attached Objection to Infringement Report by January 21, 2011.
The completed form should be faxed to the attention of the Acceptable Use Policy Department at [number removed] or emailed to [email removed].
Should you choose not to object to the report, you will be required to remove all World of Warcraft Merchandise from the website [url removed] in order to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy.