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The necessary relationship between Blizzard and law enforcement
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Mathew McCurley takes you through the world running parallel to the games we love and enjoy, full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. Back in 2009, a man named Alfred Hightower escaped to Canada from the United States after a warrant was issued for his arrest in Indiana for drug dealing and other charges. The Howard County Sheriff's Department had no idea where Hightower ran off to until a deputy figured out that Alfred Hightower was a World of Warcraft player. After a politely worded request for information about the guy to Blizzard, the detectives had everything they needed to find, alert the proper authorities in Canada, and arrest Alfred Hightower. Blizzard didn't really have to easily comply with the information request by the Howard County Sheriffs Department but did so in a smooth and cooperative way. Sure, there are scenarios where some information would be compulsory and downright necessary (in the case of national emergency or someone in mortal danger), but this was just some dealer who ran to Canada. There's usually a longer process. Antisec, the hacker anti-security movement, released a document back in November that allegedly discusses how Blizzard will respond to law enforcement information requests and provide law enforcement with a sort of a primer on World of Warcraft and what to expect from Blizzard's cooperation. What's interesting is that this primer and information packet had to have been created to streamline the process of helping out law enforcement. Someone made this packet to save time, which means there have been plenty of requests for people's information.
World of Warcraft 'law enforcement guide' leaked, new commercial released
Have you ever wondered what kind of dirt law enforcement officers would be able to dig up on you if they went to World of Warcraft developer Blizzard for information? Well, wonder no more. An 18-page document has been leaked to the internet thanks to the notorious organization known as AntiSec. The document is two years old, but it outlines what information Blizzard will disclose to law enforcement officers under given stipulations. And in completely and utterly unrelated news (well, Chuck Norris played a Texas ranger, so I guess there's some kind of connection), the game has revived its celebrity-laden advertisement series with a new commercial featuring none other than the hero of Barrens chat himself, mister Chuck Norris. As expected, the short clip is full of WoW-modified Chuck Norris jokes because apparently that horse hasn't been sufficiently flogged yet. To see the ad for yourself, just click on past the cut.
