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The Federal Court of Australia issued the search warrant.
Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive filed a court case that resulted in a police search of two Australian residences connected to individuals allegedly responsible for creating and selling a popular cheat for Grand Theft Auto 5.
Originally reported by Torrent Freak (via Kotaku Australia), the Federal Court of Australia issued a search warrant (which can be found here) for two Melbourne residences in September linked with the creation and distribution of the “Infamous” set of cheats for GTA 5. Those involved have been restrained from “developing, distributing or selling” these cheats, and can suffer prison time if they don’t comply.
The “Infamous” cheat allowed users to teleport, generate currency, use a “super jump,” generate reputation points, create copies of virtual goods and in-game objects, and give the player unlimited ammo, weapons and vehicles – here’s a video of it in action. It reportedly went offline over half a year ago, though it was being sold for $40 USD before this.
The court also ordered the assets of five people involved with the cheat to be frozen, though this was later changed to focus on a single individual, effectively lifting many of the suppressions issued to the others. Those involved have not yet filed a formal defense, though the court is scheduled to convene later this month.
In other recent court cases, an Australian high court dismissed Valve’s attempt to appeal a $3 million fine, a judge cut ZeniMax’s $500 million winnings from Oculus in half, and an Austrian court ruled that YouTube is not a neutral host provider and is liable for copyright infringement.
Colin Stevens is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.