Irvine, Calif. - Blizzard Entertainment, the unit of Vivendi Games that operates the popular "World of Warcraft" multiplayer online game, has filed a federal lawsuit against a company it says has spammed players with ads for its service that sells virtual gold used in the game, Wired News reported.

"As part of the lawsuit, the operators of Peons4hire have been asked to immediately cease all in-game spamming efforts by all entities and websites under their control," reads a post on the official "World of Warcraft" message board.

"If this organization refuses to act accordingly, further legal action will be taken."

Blizzard apparently isn't suing Peons4hire over the actual sale of virtual gold, a controversial topic that other online game operators have tried to address, but rather simply because the company has allegedly been spamming its paying subscribers.

Related Links:
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/05/blizzard_takes_.html

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=106771592&sid=1

http://www.blizzard.com

http://www.peons4hire.com