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[PcMag] South Korea Makes Game Hacking Illegal

6K views 192 replies 58 participants last post by  TheReciever 
#1 ·
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Professional electronic sports, better known as eSports, have seen huge growth in recent years, but this pro category of gaming really got off the ground in South Korea. Competitions have been held there for almost 17 years, and they have become extremely competitive to the point where some players will take any advantage they can get, including cheating using scripts.

Scripts allow a player to gain an advantage in their competitive game of choice without having to put in the required time and effort to become a great player. For example, scripts can allow a player to aim perfectly every time, carry out repetitive tasks automatically and/or faster, or actually hack a game system to gain an advantage, e.g. more loot drops. It can also be a very profitable business for those producing the scripts and programs to run them. They can earn thousands of dollars selling them.

LoL Helper earned its developers $350,000 before they were shut down, but the problem of scripting has now resulted in the South Korean government taking a much more drastic step. According to PVPLive, a law amendment means that the creation and distribution of programs meant to hack or modify a game are now illegal.

This is no idle threat by the government. Anyone caught distributing such programs will face a fine of up to $43,000 or jail time of up to 5 years. That's surely going to make people think twice about pursuing game hacking as a career path.

Game publishers will be very keen to put this law into action if they can trace game hacks created for their titles back to South Korea. And who's to say such a law won't be considered by other

source
 
#2 ·
Well, I'm sure we can add this to the list of exceptions to freedom of speech. I know that they do not have the Constitution there, but freedom of speech is a human right. The writing of a program to do whatever should not be illegal. Fining someone, or worse, caging them is not to be taken lightly. If you're going to do that over something so simple as this, you have to rethink a lot of values.
 
#3 ·
This is awesome. Hackers must go take a jump....
madsmiley.png

They ruin games for the rest of us, or show how bad they really are when a hacker cant win against a non-hacker
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But overall, i wish something like this was implemented globally. Its the same as doping in sports.
 
#4 ·
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Originally Posted by assaulth3ro911 View Post

Well, I'm sure we can add this to the list of exceptions to freedom of speech. I know that they do not have the Constitution there, but freedom of speech is a human right. The writing of a program to do whatever should not be illegal. Fining someone, or worse, caging them is not to be taken lightly. If you're going to do that over something so simple as this, you have to rethink a lot of values.
Not seeing the link between this and "freedom of speech" but I do agree that one should not be jailed for this type of offense. Unfortunately, we already live in a world where fining someone or locking them up for a simple offense is already taking place and it happens every day. Something like this should only be objective to a fine and shut down of operation.
 
#5 ·
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Originally Posted by drazah View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by assaulth3ro911 View Post

Well, I'm sure we can add this to the list of exceptions to freedom of speech. I know that they do not have the Constitution there, but freedom of speech is a human right. The writing of a program to do whatever should not be illegal. Fining someone, or worse, caging them is not to be taken lightly. If you're going to do that over something so simple as this, you have to rethink a lot of values.
Not seeing the link between this and "freedom of speech" but I do agree that one should not be jailed for this type of offense. Unfortunately, we already live in a world where fining someone or locking them up for a simple offense is already taking place and it happens every day. Something like this should only be objective to a fine and shut down of operation.
You're talking about it like it's something people can't help. Writing code for hacking a game is a very specific action to carry out. There's no margin of error. It's not something you can do unintentionally. If your country is jailing people for that, the solution is very simple: don't do it.
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by assaulth3ro911 View Post

Well, I'm sure we can add this to the list of exceptions to freedom of speech. I know that they do not have the Constitution there, but freedom of speech is a human right. The writing of a program to do whatever should not be illegal. Fining someone, or worse, caging them is not to be taken lightly. If you're going to do that over something so simple as this, you have to rethink a lot of values.
This has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Go ahead and lock them up if the situation is serious. If a distributor is making a bunch of money or someone cheats for large financial gain in a competition, absolutely cage 'em up. What good is a $500 fine if someone has $100,000 to gain? The objective is to make someone not want to do it. Don't wanna go to jail? Don't be a turd. Simple.
 
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#7 ·
lol at South Korea treating game cheating like a national security threat. Add this on top of the 'guilty until proven innocent' reasoning employed by most anticheat methods. Cheaters will almost always get away, and that leaves innocents to fall victim to this law.

"Yay, went 40-5 that round! I'm getting better at this!"

*Police show up at the door*
 
#8 ·
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Originally Posted by lombardsoup View Post

lol at South Korea treating game cheating like a national security threat. Add this on top of the 'guilty until proven innocent' reasoning employed by most anticheat methods. Cheaters will almost always get away, and that leaves innocents to fall victim to this law.

"Yay, went 40-5 that round! I'm getting better at this!"

*Police show up at the door*
I would imagine their focus would remain on the most serious offenders. Someone that is essentially stealing a large sum of money by cheating in a high value competition or the producers and distributors of these scripts. I doubt they are sending a task force around door to door scanning all computers in the nation.
 
#9 ·
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Originally Posted by thebski View Post

I would imagine their focus would remain on the most serious offenders. Someone that is essentially stealing a large sum of money by cheating in a high value competition or the producers and distributors of these scripts. I doubt they are sending a task force around door to door scanning all computers in the nation.
Its cheating in video games. I'm struggling trying to rationalize and justify 5 years in prison for something like that. But hey, this law opens the door to all sorts of police action. Enjoy!
 
#10 ·
as long as that non-sense law doesn't come into effect in North America, then we'll continue to have fun.

The most fun of playing a game, is when you can hack it, if you just play the game out of the box, it gets boring fast, when you can mod it, hack it, change its values, and make things crazy those are the most enjoyable moments in any game.

besides... who the hell cares if you are hacking / modding a single player game.

multiplayer games there are already anti-cheat systems running on most of those servers, like WOW, or MMORPGs, or those eSports, etc., so this stupid new law it's just over the top, it's unnecessary
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToTheSun! View Post

You're talking about it like it's something people can't help. Writing code for hacking a game is a very specific action to carry out. There's no margin of error. It's not something you can do unintentionally. If your country is jailing people for that, the solution is very simple: don't do it.
Or... don't throw people in a cage for writing code. Seriously, I don't agree with caging people for such simple things but if you must, you must prosecute the person who actually DID something. Freedom of speech is also freedom of expression, typing and creating things on the computer is included.
 
#14 ·
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Originally Posted by AllGamer View Post

as long as that non-sense law doesn't come into effect in North America, then we'll continue to have fun.

The most fun of playing a game, is when you can hack it, if you just play the game out of the box, it gets boring fast, when you can mod it, hack it, change its values, and make things crazy those are the most enjoyable moments in any game.

besides... who the hell cares if you are hacking / modding a single player game.

multiplayer games there are already anti-cheat systems running on most of those servers, like WOW, or MMORPGs, or those eSports, etc., so this stupid new law it's just over the top, it's unnecessary
I've done both. I've played legitimately, I've hacked, and gone back to playing like a pro legitimately. This is a free world, if you don't want your stuff scripted then build a better game. NO ONE should be thrown in a cage over this. Does anyone understand the level of violation for human rights that is?
 
#17 ·
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Originally Posted by assaulth3ro911 View Post

I've done both. I've played legitimately, I've hacked, and gone back to playing like a pro legitimately. This is a free world, if you don't want your stuff scripted then build a better game. NO ONE should be thrown in a cage over this. Does anyone understand the level of violation for human rights that is?
But saying this is a free world, we still have laws...

It's like me saying "If you don't want people to print fake money and use it, make a new system" and that you shouldn't get punished for creating fake money.

This law is targeting those who create the programs, not the people who use them, so stay calm.

Those who create them, are making money by giving people unfair advantage over others and ruining the experiences of many. I have no sympathy for those who do this, I am not sure why you do?
 
#18 ·
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Originally Posted by lombardsoup View Post

Its cheating in video games. I'm struggling trying to rationalize and justify 5 years in prison for something like that. But hey, this law opens the door to all sorts of police action. Enjoy!
You can attempt to make it sound as innocent as you want. The reality is that video games are massive industry with huge money on the line. I primarily play Battlefield games. They have been my go to games since BF3. And cheaters really suck. I spend many thousands on computer hardware and my time off work to enjoy it with some gaming is very valuable to me. It really pisses me off when some little turd comes in and ruins a good competitive round because it can take a decent amount of time to find a good server and a good squad to run with. That has very real and tangible negative impact on me that I spent real money to enjoy that is blocked by someone doing something they shouldn't be doing.

But I'm not even complaining about that. What I'm talking about is the thousands and thousands of people that won't play PC games out there because of the stigma around cheating and PC gaming. That costs gaming companies and computer hardware companies hundreds of thousands of dollars. That is real money my friend. The other obvious example out there is someone just straight up cheating in a tournament to win big money. If that isn't jail worthy then I don't know what is. I might as well walk in and take $100,000 from a bank, no big deal right?

I'm not a lawyer and I'm not sure how Korea has written the law, but obviously there would have to be distinctions as to what is cheating and what is not. Modding in single player environment or a private server where it is expected is different than using scripts in a multiplayer server that is expected by everyone else to be unmodified. You know what cheating is and when it is applicable and when it isn't. Obviously a law would have to define it, but I don't need to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AllGamer View Post

as long as that non-sense law doesn't come into effect in North America, then we'll continue to have fun.

The most fun of playing a game, is when you can hack it, if you just play the game out of the box, it gets boring fast, when you can mod it, hack it, change its values, and make things crazy those are the most enjoyable moments in any game.

besides... who the hell cares if you are hacking / modding a single player game.

multiplayer games there are already anti-cheat systems running on most of those servers, like WOW, or MMORPGs, or those eSports, etc., so this stupid new law it's just over the top, it's unnecessary
I don't imagine this has anything to do with single player gaming or even private servers among friends.

Multiplayer games have anti cheats that are only as good as yesterdays hacks. As always, the scripts are one step ahead of the game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lombardsoup View Post

"What're you in for?"

"Car theft. Stealing a $10,000 car. You?"

".Aimboting in a multiplayer shooter Stealing $100,000 in a video game tournament"

"..."
Man, wording goes a long ways, huh?
 
#19 ·
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Originally Posted by lombardsoup View Post

Good point.

I can't even wrap my head around this law. Do gaming keyboards get banned next over macro functionality?
It isn't a good point, the law is targeting those who create and distribute these script/programs(a lot of them who do it for a profit at that), not individual users. People in this thread are making very rash claims that people might accidentally be fined or jailed over being labelled a hacker
rolleyes.gif
...
 
#20 ·
i think the target is people who make the hacks and the ones that sell them, not ones that use it.
Quote:
the creation and distribution of programs meant to hack or modify a game are now illegal
but this is still too ambiguous. single player games should not be a part of this. if the game connects to a server to interact with other players, it should be free of hacks.

and if you think multiplayer games with anti cheat servers block all hacks and scripts....

the reality is that most devs would rather wait and let the hackers run free until they figure out what they are doing and patch it, rather than compensate the ones who find exploits. which is completely understandable. Although I believe there are places where you can report exploits and get paid for it, i don't think many of them are video game related.
 
#21 ·
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Originally Posted by IMI4tth3w View Post

i think the target is people who make the hacks and the ones that sell them, not ones that use it.
but this is still too ambiguous. single player games should not be a part of this. if the game connects to a server to interact with other players, it should be free of hacks.

and if you think multiplayer games with anti cheat servers block all hacks and scripts....

the reality is that most devs would rather wait and let the hackers run free until they figure out what they are doing and patch it, rather than compensate the ones who find exploits. which is completely understandable. Although I believe there are places where you can report exploits and get paid for it, i don't think many of them are video game related.
Read what you just wrote. Compensating people to find exploits, will also incentivise the production of them in the first place.
 
#22 ·
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Originally Posted by ma2k5 View Post

It isn't a good point, the law is targeting those who create and distribute these script/programs(a lot of them who do it for a profit at that), not individual users. People in this thread are making very rash claims that people might accidentally be fined or jailed over being labelled a hacker
rolleyes.gif
...
You can't argue with them. They are just whining for the sake of whining. It's an obvious law that should be in place. There really isn't much question about that. It also obviously isn't going to have a stranglehold over every piece of computer hardware you own and how you use it.

But if they didn't continue down that narrative, what would they whine about? Whining is what people do today, so even if it takes a ridiculous narrative for an avenue to whine, that will be the path taken.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by assaulth3ro911 View Post

I've done both. I've played legitimately, I've hacked, and gone back to playing like a pro legitimately. This is a free world, if you don't want your stuff scripted then build a better game. NO ONE should be thrown in a cage over this. Does anyone understand the level of violation for human rights that is?
There are people profiting from this so called "free speech". Deliberately providing game-breaking software that undermines everyone else's experience as well as what the original developers intended. Don't cheat in multiplayer games, Don't write code that allows people to cheat. Easy.

But i guess rigging pro sports is no big deal right? Like purposely throwing games in any pro sports league to win bets... that's just free speech or something right? Or like, insider trading... All you are doing is just talking to people right? It's just information being produced and distributed right?
 
#25 ·
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Originally Posted by assaulth3ro911 View Post

Does anyone understand the level of violation for human rights that is?
You mean like ruining the experience for hundreds or thousands of other people as you script your way through online matches? It's ok for you to do that for your own petty enjoyment at the expense of every player your play against?

Garbage.
 
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