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Original author(s)	Michael Donnelly[1]
Developer(s)	MDY Industries, LLC[1]
Initial release	June 2005[1]
Stable release	1.8.0[2] / January 21, 2009[3]
Operating system	Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista[4]
Platform	.NET 2.0[4]
Type	Internet bot[4]
License	Shareware (US$25)[5]
Website	mmoglider.com

Glider is a bot which interoperates with the World of Warcraft.^[6] As of 2008, it has sold approximately 100,000 copies.^[1]

MDY v. Blizzard

Glider is meant to automate and simplify actions by the user of the software within the World of Warcraft environment through the use of extensive scripting. While the makers of the software assert that the software is meant to overcome design flaws in the World of Warcraft environment, Blizzard contended in a 2006 United States federal lawsuit that the program's use violated their terms of service.^[7] In July 2008, the court entered summary judgment holding Glider's creators liable for tortious interference and copyright infringement, based, in part, upon the legal premise that users of the World of Warcraft client software are licensees rather than owners of their copy of software.^[1]

Public Knowledge, a public interest group which filed an amicus brief in the case,^[8] criticized the decision, saying it makes the loading into memory of legally obtained software an act of copyright infringement subject to high statutory penalties, if the user has violated the software's license agreement in any way.^[9][10] The court did not hold this view and found that Glider infringed upon Blizzard's intellectual property by making an illicit copy of the World of Warcraft client in order to avoid Blizzard's anti-cheating software, Warden, and ordered MMO Glider to pay Blizzard six million dollars.^[11] In finding this, the court agreed with Blizzard that World of Warcraft is licensed, not sold. ^[12]

Following the judgment, Blizzard petitioned to enjoin MDY from distributing Glider or releasing its source code.^[13] In March 2009, MDY suspended Glider sales and operations pursuant to an injunction.^[14] As of September 2009, MDY's appeal of the judgment is pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.^[15]

References