Don't play World of Warcraft while on the run from the law

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Don't play World of Warcraft while on the run from the law

Posted Jan 2nd 2010 10:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Contests, MMO, World of Warcraft

We know playing World of Warcraft can be addictive but here's a big word of advice for those players who also happen to be running from law enforcement; stop playing right now. As reported by the Kokomo (Indiana) Perspective newspaper web site, a fugitive was found after the game's developer/publisher Blizzard voluntarily gave up info on his World of Warcraft account.

The Howard County (Indiana) Sheriff's Department had been looking for some time for a certain Alfred Hightower, who had a warrant with several drug charges placed on him in 2007. In their pursuit, the department found out that he had left the country to Canada and that he was also a World of Warcraft player. A request to Blizzard for info on Hightower's account yielded lots of info on him, including his IP address. It was this info that allowed the department to find his location in Canada. He was arrested there and is awaiting to go back to Howard County by January 5.

[Via WoW.com]

Tags: alfred-hightower, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, world-of-warcraft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

I fought the Alliance and the Alliance won...Posted at 10:46AM on Jan 2nd 2010 by Two Worlds

you would think with a name like hightower he would have joined the policePosted at 12:56PM on Jan 2nd 2010 by Decanus

What ever happened to "innocent 'til proven guilty?" I'd be pissed if Blizzard gave up my info just because the cops asked.Posted at 3:03PM on Jan 2nd 2010 by Boomzilla

WoW. Posted at 1:08AM on Jan 4th 2010 by KehTaci

Ummm.... you'd be pissed if Blizzard gave up your info just because the police asked? How old are you? Or rather, how little knowledge do you have of the legal system.
The can't and won't give over info "just because someone asked". It would have required a court order to obtain the information from Blizzard's records. And denying the court order could have landed Blizzard in a LOT of trouble. Which, as a corporation, they won't violate the law to do just to protect you.
The verbage was bad reporting by John Callaham on this report, but don't think for a second any company on earth would protect your information if required by law enforcement.Posted at 6:07PM on Jan 12th 2010 by komodo