The EULA states that it is binding as long as the servers are running. The servers are not running, so the EULA is not binding. Now, there's an argument that this means we no longr have a license to use the software in any form. In the case of a big lawsuit, I don't know how that would go down, or even which jurisdiction it'd be tried in. But I think that, barring a full-scale reverse engineering of the server software, it's unlikely that NCSoft wants more bad publicity over a game that's not making money. If we're not making front pages ourselves, the execs probably don't want to push us there by attempting to find the precise limit of a EULA.
Technically it's not an EULA, we call it that but it's a terms of service contract. it is very clear which portions of it apply to our access to the game and which portions establish their rights indefinitely.
if the ToS was invalid the moment they shut down the servers then the little part that says they own the characters and code would also be void allowing us to just up and claim it with no hassle.
But , that is not the case. that part of the ToS which gives them claims to the client software, it's content, the official game characters, story-lines and any code associated there with. Yeah, that's still very much in effect. They made it, they legally bound it to their company, they denied us ownership of it at any time, they 'leased/licensed' us the ability to use it during the time that the servers were running, they own it.
they can do what they want with their property regardless where it is. even without the launcher they have legal precedence if they want to be (but most likely wont go that far) a stiff corporate puckered opening on the reverse side of the average body between two possibly dirty cheeks, then they could walk into their law office and put forth an immediate request for all players to cough up the client/uninstall it from their system. after that time it would be illegal to own an installed copy of the client.
again, they probably wont go that far, but they could and have every right to. yeah it would definitely P-off a lot of gamers if that got in the news "Former COH player arrested for having client installed after recent legal uninstall deadline"
heck there'd be riots, and NCSoft knows that, which is probably our reassurance that they will never do that. just saying they technically have that legal ability.
if we push Rev eng stuff too far they will defend their IPs, typically C&D is what they do, but if for example someone made a P2P CoH server which runs from the client side of every player, a C&D would not be effective enough cause they'd have to do one per player. It's in those circumstances where they might pull the above irregardless the consequences.
The only legal way I can see to make a CoX server that we can use, is to make an entirely new and different MMO but keep the stat system and game play and deflection geometry the same, obviously names and text would have to differ, but players could install a contextual interpreter which intercepts the text and replaces it with CoX text from the mission text archives (which everyone would need a copy of) then sends that to the client. In that way we'd have the defense that the server is intended for 'lawyers the MMO' and we have no control over players doing -auth to connect CoX clients to our server as we use a similar encryption method and a similar authentication method.
but that, would be a lot of work. What plan Designation should we give it? Plan ZY? ZOMEGA?
it's a last resort if negotiations wont work.
