$8M is such bullshit for this. The guy screwed up and deserves to be punished, but Bungie is trying to pin the fact that people were willing to believe that they had done this on Minor.
Let's be perfectly clear: the reason people believed Bungie did this is because companies like Bungie _have actually done this before_ (and I think Bungie actually has specifically, but could be misremembering).
To my view, Bungie and the gaming industry at large, has harmed their own reputation with gamers by viciously pursuing DMCA complaints against their communities.
If they had never done stuff like this before, we'd have all cocked an eyebrow and said "that doesn't seem like Bungie, what's going on?". Instead, we all said "yep, sounds like Bungie". There was no reputation harm.
I thought they were pieces of shit who would file illegitimate DMCA complaints if it served their needs before any of this. I'd say the same thing about any AAA game studio or record label.
For them to have suffered harm, I would have had to believe there is some line of IP offense/defense they wouldn't engage in. I do not, I think they'd sue a toddler for trying to draw Master Chief if they thought they could make a buck.
Yeah, there is a particularly sour taste to this case, even if it is legally sound - given how utterly broken and opaque Youtube's DMCA takedown process is, and how Bungie have themselves taken advantage of it.
It feels a lot like Bungie understands how vulnerable their reputation is already on this point, and is acting a bit out of desperation to try and scare anyone off of any further acts of protest, rather than a more legitimate defense of their IP.
Let's be perfectly clear: the reason people believed Bungie did this is because companies like Bungie _have actually done this before_ (and I think Bungie actually has specifically, but could be misremembering).
To my view, Bungie and the gaming industry at large, has harmed their own reputation with gamers by viciously pursuing DMCA complaints against their communities.
If they had never done stuff like this before, we'd have all cocked an eyebrow and said "that doesn't seem like Bungie, what's going on?". Instead, we all said "yep, sounds like Bungie". There was no reputation harm.
I thought they were pieces of shit who would file illegitimate DMCA complaints if it served their needs before any of this. I'd say the same thing about any AAA game studio or record label.
For them to have suffered harm, I would have had to believe there is some line of IP offense/defense they wouldn't engage in. I do not, I think they'd sue a toddler for trying to draw Master Chief if they thought they could make a buck.