Midasplayer.Com Ltd v Watkins

Cheat software used on an online skill-gaming site may constitute breach of the user’s contractual obligations, inducement of breaches by other users, and unlawful interference with the operator’s business. A contractual breach can amount to unlawful means for the purposes of that economic tort. Summary judgment may be granted where the defendant’s own evidence establishes the essential facts and discloses no real prospect of a successful defence. Injunctive relief remains appropriate even where individual winnings are modest, particularly where the operator cannot assess the wider reputational and financial harm and an injunction is necessary to protect the integrity of the site. The order must nevertheless be framed with sufficient precision to avoid unwitting non-compliance.

Midasplayer.com Limited operated an online skill-gaming site on which registered users could compete for prize money. Its terms required users to play by skill alone and prohibited software or techniques giving an unfair advantage.

John Watkins used and marketed software that simulated keyboard and mouse inputs, enabling users to cheat. The claimant obtained interim injunctive relief and then sought summary judgment under Part 24, although the defendant had not filed an acknowledgment of service or defence. The central issues were whether the conduct established breach of contract, inducement of breach of contract, unlawful interference with business, and entitlement to a perpetual injunction.

1. Summary judgment. Permission was given to pursue a Part 24 application before an acknowledgment of service had been filed. The defendant had notice of the hearing, had engaged with the litigation, and it would have been inappropriate to dispose of the claim administratively by default judgment merely because he had not filed an acknowledgment.
2. Breach of contract. A registered participant was contractually bound by the site’s terms. Using software that deployed something other than pure skill in a game was unfair conduct and breached clause 9. The defendant’s own statements and website material established that he had used such software and had won prize money through it.
3. Inducement of breach. Visitors were permitted access only on the stated terms, while registered members were contractually bound by those terms. Offering cheat software therefore induced breaches by users in either category. The defendant’s evidence disclosed no real prospect of successfully resisting that claim.
4. Unlawful interference. The promotion and use of cheat software distorted the fair-play rule, threatened the reputation and commercial relationships of the gaming site, and diverted winnings. Applying the principle stated by Nourse LJ in Kuwait Oil and Tanker Co. SAK v Al-Bader [2000] 2 All ER (Comm) 271, breach of contract was capable of constituting unlawful means.
5. Relief. A perpetual injunction was granted in principle. The modest value of individual winnings did not justify refusing relief, since the full extent of the software’s use was unknown and an injunction was necessary to protect the integrity of the site. The draft order required refinement so that the prohibited games, unlawful interference limb, and confidentiality restriction were defined precisely. The defendant was ordered to pay the action’s costs on the standard basis, excluding the costs of the summary judgment hearing.

not stated in the judgment.