We interrupt your regularly scheduled law suit for...

By now you've probably heard about Blizzard's case against MDY, the makers of WoWGlider. Just at the point where the lawsuit seemed to be mostly wrapped up, something interesting has happened. Jonathan Lee Riches, a felon convicted of fraud who fills his jail time by filing odd lawsuits, has filed an amicus brief in the case - a bit of legal dazzle that allows any odd person to pile on any odd law suit.

In his amicus, Riches contends that it is Blizzard's fault that he is in prison, since supposedly he committed the fraud he is serving time for in order to pay for World of Warcraft. The game, apparently, made his mind a "living video game". Yeah, riiiiight.

In the motion in this case, Riches claims that Blizzard’s World of Warcraft:

"…caused Riches mind to live in a virtual universe, where Riches explored the landscape committing identity theft and fighting cybermonster rival hacker gangs. Riches was addicted to video games and lost touch with reality because of defendants. This caused Riches to commit fraud to buy defendants video games. Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job. Riches mind became a living video game."

Riches tried a similar approach in a suit against Rock Star Games and Grand Theft Auto. I bet this one will get dismissed even quicker than that one was. It may just become a blip on the radar with this case, but what a blip!

For more information, as well as a .pdf of Riches' filing, please check here.