f13.net

Rancored_Elf is the guy that most people go to with spoiler information regarding the new sets.  He's been doing this for years for first one, and then another magic news site.  If you follow magic on the internet, you probably know who this guy is.

WotC has long had an anti-spoiler stance, and much to my surprise, they're finally doing something about it.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=company/pr/20060119a
From the text:
     
The first part is bullshit, Wizards has known about mtgnews and mtgsalvation for as long as they've been around.  I'm not sure how well the second half is going to stand up in court; wizards runs their own previews to generate interest.  Although I'm sure they would say that those cards are carefully selected. 

For magic, this is big big news.  The players are NOT going to like this, as most of them see spreading the spoiler info as harmless, and R_E is a much-loved Robin Hood figure.  I'm fairly apathetic myself; I can certainly live without an early spoiler. 

Edit:  The thread on mtgsalvation:  http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=29155&page=3
    From R_E: 
Edit again as I read more on this, its an interesting topic:  There's speculation that this is more about the coldset prototype cards that R_E somehow got a hold of, than the normal spoiler before the set. 

Those guys will have to be careful. Washington does have a Uniform trade secrets act and it's unsettled law whether or not protection of trade secrets trumps journalist shield laws/protection. They really should consult a lawyer on this and maybe get the EFF involved. The EFF are involved in a similar case involving Apple suing to discover the identities of those involved with leaking trade secrets to various sites.

I'd be surprised if what mtg salvation does is legal. At the very least they'd be hard pressed to argue that the card scans and similar are anything other than copyrighted art.

Clearly going after R_E and co will be bad for the product and bad for the community, but this is about the over-precious faction within Wizards stealing a march over the sensible faction, not about anything related to protecting MtG.

Also, point of order, this is happening on the last day of the current spolier cycle.

Which is incredibly suspicious.

What's funny is the number of trade secrets many people are privvy to. The problem is when people like R_E feel the need to publicize it. They make the rest of us honest folk look like, well, the less honest folks.

Also interesting is that R_E lives entirely in Canada.  I'm not sure how that affects the case.

R_E doesn't seem very guilty to me. He doesn't take the initial information. He doesn't perform the card scans. All he does is post information. The people wizards should be going after are the people leaking the info in the first place. And almost all of the spoiler info and card scans come from articles in magazines from other countries and things like this. A bunch of the latest spoiler info is from France and Italy. I don't see how taking freely available articles in other countries and translating them to the web is a crime.

Furthermore, spoiler sites do not harm the magic brand in any way and they know that. If anything it helps the magic brand to a large degree. How interested would people be in pre-release events if there was no spoiler info at all?

It would be very easy for wizards to stop the leaking - they control the information 100%.

Wizards once again fails to understand their target audience - big surprise.

I see a couple reasons why this is a decent move:

1. R_E is also in the business of selling cards.  Essentially,  he's using his spoiler activity to generate interest in his card shop.  He never exploited it too much,  but....  Eventually he or one of his successors probably would have.

It's not journalism if you stand to gain from it.

2.  We were already starting to see the "MMO effect" on forums and boards.  Someone in R&D leaks early information,  casting costs or wording on cards in testing get out,  and the boards go nuts when they nerfed before they make it live.

3. Early information has a negative effect on release events.  It's pretty easy to see in release events who's been studying the spoiler lists and working out strategies,  and who is looking at cards for the first time.

A HUGE fun thing about Magic is your first few drafts with a new set of cards.  It's fun to figure them out, figure out combos,  and even get hosed because you interpreted a card incorrectly.  As long as everyone else is in the same boat.

It's not fun when a few guys at the table have obviously been working up game plans for the last few months.....

Yes it is. Seriously. As long as what you report is truthful, it's journalism. Regardless of whether you stand to gain from reporting it.

Also, I don't see how this is a good business-move. I see it causing a lot more illwill than goodwill, in addition to requiring expensive lawyers.

By your definition,  about 95% of journalism wouldn't be journalism,  because it's basically lying by omission.

That doesn't matter. Under Washington state law if you acquire a trade secret from somebody who had an obligation to protect that trade secret (e.g. signed an NDA) that is still considered "misappropriation".

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=19.108

And by your definition it's not journalism if you get paid for it.

Well that sucks for him.

I honestly think that the number of people attending pre-release events would go down if there was no spoiler info, or at least stay the same. Of course I have no facts to make that case with, it's just my feeling.

I like how the press release names R_E and 10 other people...except it doesn't name those 10 people. It's worded very strangely.