MW3 Fansite Links To BF3 Site...Activision Miffed

Oh come on. It's a little funny.

Activision has filed a complaint over a website called "ModernWarfare3.com" that is actually a fansite for Battlefield 3.

Obviously, the publisher didn't find it amusing when visitors to the site were immediately directed to the official BF3 site. For a while, the MW3 site openly criticized Modern Warfare 3 as being a blatant rehash, but it temporarily forwarded all visitors to EA's site for Battlefield 3. In the report filed by Activision, the competing publisher described this act as a "retaliation for a take-down notice related to copyrighted content that had previously appeared on the site."

But the only way for Activision to seize ownership of the site is to prove ModernWarfare3.com is "identical or confusingly similar to" its own CoD trademarks, and that the site was registered "in bad faith." And because the site ran ads for GameStop and Best Buy...well, that makes this whole mess all the more hurtful in Activision's eyes. Yeah, this war is just going to keep getting crazier before either game releases in the fall.

Related Game(s): Battlefield 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Tags: battlefield 3, mw3, modern warfare 3, ea, activision

7/17/2011 8:57:35 PM John Shepard

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Comments (49 posts)

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Nlayer
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 9:42:53 PM
Reply

I love this. Not in a hateful way or anything, it's just amusing and good to see some humor. Too bad Activision doesn't see it that way...

Last edited by Nlayer on 7/17/2011 9:43:06 PM

3 up, 0 down

Deleted User
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 9:44:18 PM
Reply

Activision is afraid that maybe people will finally open their eyes and see that Call Of Duty is nothing more than some rehash every year that gets hacked to death by so-called "video gamers". That's what I see: fear.

11 up, 3 down

StangMan80
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:36:16 AM

those are some great spoken words right there, my man. And one hundrend thausand million precent the truth.

6 up, 3 down

Bugzbunny109
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 11:15:26 AM

I don't understand why people thumbed you down...

2 up, 3 down

maxpontiac
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 11:19:43 AM

Truth be told brighat1971 is that most games in a series are a rehash.

There isn't a game out there with a sequel that doesn't have that oh-so-familiar-feel to it.

The only suggestion I offer is to not endorse it with your money!!

2 up, 0 down

Deleted User
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:17:19 PM

@ Bugzbunny109

I guess they were Call Of Duty fans who didn't agree with me.

0 up, 0 down

Deleted User
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:25:57 PM

@maxpontiac

True, but games like Uncharted, Resistance, Infamous, Killzone, Gran Turismo, Gears Of War and Super Mario Galaxy have their sequels released at least 2 years later. The game still has a sense of freshness to it.

Activision, on the other hand, milk these Call Of Duty games and their expensive add-ons like they did with Tony Hawk. At some point, people are going to want something different in the series. Same engine, same gameplay mechanics, same "controversy", same expensive and overrated DLC and same old commercials with paid-off celebrities will be the order of the day come MW3. If it weren't for kids and their "peer pressure issues", maybe they would look into Battlefield 3 for once.

1 up, 0 down

calculator
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 9:45:02 PM
Reply

I find this hilarious.

6 up, 0 down

Claire C
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 11:05:33 PM

Me too. It's like watching a sitcom. =)

4 up, 0 down

kokoro
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 11:24:26 PM

@claire
Awesome display pic man

4 up, 0 down

Killa Tequilla
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 9:55:05 PM
Reply

I visited the site for 2 minutes, it was just so anti-CoD

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 10:06:44 PM
Reply

When I learned about this last week I had a good chuckle. Let's face it, CoD deserves all the challenges to its supremacy that it gets, if you want to be on top you've got to be able to take the heat or get the F out of the kitchen. I'm tempted to buy BF3 just to support the underdogs.

7 up, 0 down

bigrailer19
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 11:16:38 PM

All sigs point towards it being a good game (BF3) anyways. So that's a plus.

0 up, 0 down

FM23
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:17:50 AM

Why waste your money just for support. Go find a deserving less fortunate individual and hook them up. All in all though, MW3 is going to kill BF3 in the sales department. I'm even going to pick it up because all my friends are playing it.

1 up, 7 down

StangMan80
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:32:18 AM

I love underdogs! Die COD, die!!!

9 up, 1 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:19:00 AM

It wouldn't be a waste as I'm sure BF3 is both a good game and a better game.

5 up, 0 down

FM23
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:32:42 AM

Agree there...BF3 definitely looks better so far.

0 up, 0 down

Danny007
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 10:19:52 PM
Reply

Yes I agree this is funny and who cares if Activision is mad. Its about time they got hit.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 10:22:44 PM

It's about time Bobby Kotex got "hit" in the mob sense.

7 up, 1 down

chedison
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 11:34:16 PM

agree with you there

2 up, 0 down

kokoro
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 11:23:34 PM
Reply

Looks like western society isn't brain dead after all.

1 up, 0 down

sirbob6
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 11:25:56 PM
Reply

Well, this competition is becoming more and more interesting as time goes on. Can't wait to see what else will happen.

2 up, 0 down

godsdream
Sunday, July 17, 2011 @ 11:41:44 PM
Reply

All I have to say is LOL. Ok, an also NICE ONE! haha.

1 up, 0 down

Qubex
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 12:03:54 AM
Reply

Must admit, it gave me a few LoL's

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

1 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:04:30 AM
Reply

i wonder if so many would be luaghing if say a high profile sony game was treated in the same way. say gran turisom 5com led you to anti-gt website then linked to forza...would you guys be luaghing? or would you be saying that's a dirty trick by ms? i wonder.

Last edited by Excelsior1 on 7/18/2011 1:05:16 AM

2 up, 1 down

Excelsior1
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:26:09 AM

since my original comment hit the filter for mentioning a website and i don't want to be left out of the discussion i'll try again.

i wonder if as many would be luaghing if this involed a high profile sony exclusive. say it was a website that was called gran turismo 5 com that led you to a website that was anti-gt then linked you to forza site. would as many be luaghing? or would they say this was another dirty trick by microsoft like their infamous astroturfing of the web. i wonder.

having said that it kind of funny that activision did not have this domain name locked down. they kind of deserve this.

edit: ben, will please delete my previous comment? thank you.

Last edited by Excelsior1 on 7/18/2011 2:27:57 AM

6 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 3:22:22 AM

Interesting point there Excelsior, I must admit. I suppose, for me anyway, it would depend entirely on whether I thought that the 360 exclusive was in any way comparable to the PS3 exclusive that the site was attacking. I think I'd have a bit of a giggle at Forza 4 vs. GT5 or Halo vs. KZ.

And yeah, Acitivision definitely left themselves open for this one.

4 up, 0 down

Pandacastro
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 3:24:45 AM

Yeah nobody would be laughing here if it happen to ps3 exclusive.

3 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:20:13 AM

What's this about inFamous 2 now?

0 up, 0 down

FM23
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:35:16 AM

@excelsior1....Yes aint that the truth since everyone hear is all pro Sony...lmao. That GT5 thing would be hilarious. Forza 4 looks very promising. Definitely picking up a 360 for cheap just for this game.

2 up, 3 down

Beamboom
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:41:29 AM

Truth. Although, I'd still laugh. :)

3 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:55:28 AM

I want to see some GT5/Forza 4 comparison articles post-F4 release, just for giggles.

0 up, 0 down

Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 9:43:23 AM

This is all about fans. It wouldn't matter what you were a fan of; if a website for a game you liked linked you to a site for a game you didn't like, you'd be a little annoyed.

Please stop making insinuations that the only thing people do around here is play Sony exclusives and bash everything else. It has never been true and I find the insinuation insulting to the community.

7 up, 3 down

Simcoe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:20:17 AM

FYI Excelsior,
You can post website addresses in your post, the only catch is Ben, John or Arnold must approve the post, just to make sure it's not some sort of advertisement or links to a harmful website.

5 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 10:31:15 AM

ben, i never made any insuations about this community, and i certainly did not say all people do is play sony exclusives. that's not a fair statement at all. i just asked a reasonable question to try to put a difierent perspective on the situation. that's okay on this site, isn't it? why so defensive? some thought it was an interesting question and it lead to some decent discussion. i am sorry if i insulted the community. if i did i didn't mean to.

@simcoe

i know you can link to website. i was afraid by time it was approved the thread would be dead so i reposted. apparently i insulted the psxe community.

Last edited by Excelsior1 on 7/18/2011 10:43:19 AM

2 up, 2 down

NiteKrawler
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:41:56 PM

@Excelsior: It's kind of apples and oranges isn't it? This prank was aimed at a multiplat glutton of a game that will undoubtedly bring in unreasonably high sales just because of its name. The CoD franchise is really the only game I can think of this generation that receives such praise and worship for doing so little to actually earn it. But to answer your question, yes, I believe most here would be quite unhappy if what you suggested happened. But for different reasons I think.

3 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:35:54 PM

i guess it is kind of apples and oranges. i sure do resent having words put in my mouth, though. again, i never said everyone is sitting around just playing sony exclusives and bashing everything else.

2 up, 0 down

StangMan80
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:29:46 AM
Reply

HAHAHA I love it!
I call Battlefield 3's side in this war! :D

Know there is finaly a game I can root for againt COD. I love battlefield. haha

0 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:41:41 AM
Reply

Ha, I love that Monty Python voiceover skit against MW3 on his site.

0 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 1:48:17 AM
Reply

The owner of the site is just trying to have a little fun (and get a lot of media coverage in the process) and Activision's just going to go in and bust his bubble? That's too bad. What's the bet the site starts slandering Activision for trying to hamper freedom of speech? That's what I'd do.

0 up, 0 down

dmiitrie
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:26:15 AM
Reply

While I also think that it's pretty funny, Activision is in the right to try to get ownership of the site. It's hard to argue that it is nit "confusingly similar" to the COD trademarks and it was, in all likelihood, registered "in bad faith".

2 up, 0 down

___________
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 2:55:45 AM
Reply

hows it funny?
these idiots are infringing on licensing laws and its funny?
gone are the days where slander was illegal.
might as well set up port trackers, or redirections.

0 up, 3 down

Lawless SXE
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 3:25:45 AM

So far as I know, slander has never been illegal, only frowned upon. And slander is spoken. On the other hand, Activision is right to try to put a stop to this, even if it won't have much of an impact on their sales in the long run.

1 up, 0 down

WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:21:16 AM

He bought the name, he can do what he wants with it.

1 up, 0 down

Excelsior1
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:57:00 AM

as lawless has already mentioned slander is spoken, libel is the term we are looking for when referring to print. you can be sued for such matters and parties can win damages although it is just a civil matter.

Last edited by Excelsior1 on 7/18/2011 4:58:10 AM

0 up, 0 down

Lawless SXE
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 5:49:15 AM
Reply

Apparently Activision have filed a $2600 complaint against the URL. Seriously, that's it? If anything is funny about this whole affair, it's that.

Paltry...
EDIT: Damn, I started thinking poultry and now I feel like eating chicken. >.>

Last edited by Lawless SXE on 7/18/2011 5:50:00 AM

1 up, 0 down

gumbi
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 8:10:16 AM
Reply

It's like watching politicians at election time. It can be both entertaining and depressingly sad that when the chips are down it seems our nature is to inevitably resort to mudslinging.

2 up, 0 down

DjEezzy
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 4:02:49 PM
Reply

Who cares. I mean really... What the hell are they afraid of?!? They are still going to make billions off of MW3. Seems to me like Activision are feeling the pressure from EA and BF3.

0 up, 0 down

bluedarrk
Monday, July 18, 2011 @ 8:02:23 PM
Reply

I don't get why Activision is getting so upset it's already crushing black ops in pre-orders and BF3 in pre-orders. I'm sure they will still sell 20 million+.

1 up, 0 down

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