Online video gaming firm E-Sports Entertainment has agreed to pay $1m to the New Jersey state in the US to settle a case after E-Sports was accused of taking control over its users’ PCs to mine Bitcoins.
The gaming firm allegedly infected thousands of personal computers with malicious software code allowing it to keep an eye on programmes being run by subscribers even when they had not signed onto or using E-Sports services.
New Jersey Acting Attorney General Hoffman said this is an important settlement for New Jersey consumers.
"These defendants illegally hijacked thousands of people’s personal computers without their knowledge or consent, and in doing so gained the ability to monitor their activities, mine for virtual currency that had real dollar value, and otherwise invade and damage their computers," Hoffman said.
"This case should serve as a message that we are committed to protecting New Jersey consumers, and that we will hold accountable anyone who seeks to exploit them through misleading claims, deceptive practises or the invasion of their computer privacy," Hoffman said.
According to court documents, malicious code was installed within the software by the company’s co-founder Eric Thunberg and software engineer Sean Hunczak.
Both were also accused of developing the malicious bitcoin-mining software code that allowed using graphics processing units of consumers PCs to mine bitcoins unnoticed.
The gaming firm said that it had sacked the staff responsible for the incident and ready to undergo regular privacy audits by a third party, while stressing that it had not breached the law.
E-Sports said in a statement that the settlement that was signed makes explicitly clear that the company does not agree, nor admits, to any of the State of New Jersey’s allegations.
"The press release issued by the attorney general about our settlement represents a deep misunderstanding of the facts of the case, the nature of our business, and the technology in question," the online gaming firm said.
