Is using method below against the eula of pubg?

Question

I made a generic tool/application to terminate the foreground window on windows systems. It is written in c++. It uses functions from windows.h:

HWND foo = GetForegroundWindow();
GetWindowText(foo,title,sizeof(title)); // never used.
DWORD pid;
GetWindowThreadProcessId( foo, &pid );
HANDLE handle = OpenProcess( PROCESS_TERMINATE, FALSE, pid);
TerminateProcess( handle, -5 );
...
CloseHandle( handle );

I bought a PUBG software gaming license while it was on early access. It kept crashing and freezing – and sometimes the most latest frame would be staying on top (while the game is crashed/frozen) making task manager dangerous.

So I wrote that tool to listen to a certain key-combination which would then terminate the foreground window in case it's stuck. It worked like a charm.

However I got banned from PUBG 20 days ago and haven't really been given any clear reason besides that I violated the terms and services and that they have proof of it.

Now the PUBG EULA states following:

You agree to only use the Game Software, or any part of it, in a manner that is consistent with this License and you SHALL NOT:

...

(f) reverse engineer, derive source code, modify, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works of the Game Software, in whole or in part (except as the applicable law expressly permits, in which case all and any lawful modifications, adaptations, improvements, etc., and all copyrights and morale rights therein, shall be deemed assigned to, and shall belong to, vest in and be the exclusive property of Bluehole and/or its licensors on creation, in any event);

(g) remove, disable or circumvent any security protections or any technical measures that control access to the Game Software;

(h) remove, modify, deface or circumvent any proprietary notices or labels contained on or within the Game Software;

(i) export or re-export the Game Software or any copy or adaptation in violation of any applicable laws or regulations; or

(j) create data or executable programs that mimic data or functionality in the Game Software.

Does the software tool I describe above violate the letter of the EULA?

E.g., I'm curious on whether I did "modify" the game software? I believe asking windows to shut the application down isn't really modifying it.

Or did I "remove, modify or circumvent any security protections or any technical measures that control access to the game software?" That seems pretty vague since an end user doesn't really know anything about their security protections, etc.

Answer 1

We don’t know what you are alleged to have done

What you say you have done may not be the reason that you have been banned. There is a lot of stuff in the EULA beyond modding the software.

It’s possible that your program affects their diagnostics so they think you have modded their program or are running multiple copies. Technically, you did violate j:

create data or executable programs that mimic data or functionality in the Game Software

Closing is one of the functions of the game software, however, this is probably an unfair reading an an arbitrator may also think so.

However, your little app may have nothing to do with your banning:

YOUR USE OF THE GAME SOFTWARE IS ALSO SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN THE STEAM™ SUBSCRIBER AGREEMENT AND/OR ANY OTHER TERMS SET FORTH BY VALVE CORPORATION IN RELATION TO THE STEAM SERVICE.

Is there anything in that that might cover something you haven’t told us?

---

You do have legal redress. It’s detailed in Clause 10 of the EULA - for your issue it means “binding non-appearance-based arbitration” by a mutually agreed arbitrator. This is likely to be expensive in relation to the cost of the game; this is a simple single-issue Arbitration but even so the fees will be a few thousand dollars.

However, you may have better success with a customer service rather than a legal approach. Find out what you have actually been banned for and go from there.