On Friday we broke the news that Lambda Legal was getting involved in the whole gay rights in World of Warcraft
issue. Today we learned that the legal firm has sent Blizzard an
official letter questioning their policies. In the letter to Blizzard
president Mike Morhaime and Vivendi In-House Counsel, Lambda Legal
spells out the foundation for possible litigation in the issue.
The
attorneys explain how an online world can be considered a place of
business and how current anti-discrimination laws would apply. Here it
is in a nutshell:
Although Blizzard is well within its rights to insist that players
avoid referring to other gamers in an “insulting manner,” Blizzard
cannot issue a blanket ban on any mention of sexual orientation or
gender identity.
Interestingly enough, the letter mentions that Blizzard has already
started to cave on this issue, withdrawing their citation against Sara
Andrews for alleged violation of WoW harassment policies.
According to the letter, an e-mail from “Thor Biafore,” the head of
Blizzard’s customer service worldwide, acknowledges that the action
taken against Ms. Andrews was based on an “unfortunate interpretation”
of Blizzard’s current policies.
By Brian Chase
