According to reports from BBC and elsewhere, Blizzard has been awarded $6 million in damages in a court case involving MDY Industries' sale of Glider software ("MMOGlider"), which enables players in the hugely popular MMO World of Warcraft to automate certain repetitive actions in-game, thereby gaining experience while not actually sitting down to play. Blizzard believes this software is a direct copyright infringement.

It was decided back in July by U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell that the MMOGlider broke the terms of the game's end user license agreement that all players are forced to agree to when they play WoW. It's estimated that MDY founder and MMOGlider creator Michael Donnelly sold more than 100,000 copies of the software at $25 apiece. If you include the software's optional subscription ($5), it's possible that Donnelly generated around $2.8 million from his MMOGlider.

Blizzard had actually been seeking to double or even triple the cash settlement, but the court denied this claim. If Blizzard appeals, however, the actual damages award could be delayed. The case is expected to go to court again in January 2009 to examine outstanding issues in the legal conflict. For example, it's yet to be determined whether MDY broke the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and whether Donnelly will be required to pay the damages from his own pocket, BBC said.