'Call of Duty' maker goes to war with 'parasitic' cheat developers in L.A. federal court

Two summers ago, the Santa Monica-based company behind the popular video game "Call of Duty" sent a letter to a 24-year-old man in Antioch, Tenn., who went by the online handle "Lerggy." Known in real life as Ryan Rothholz, court filings say, he is the creator of "Lergware," hacking software that enabled Call of Duty players to cheat by kicking opponents offline. A lawsuit filed in May against Rothholz and others allegedly involved in the hacking scheme is the latest salvo in years-long campaign by Activision-Blizzard and other companies to rid their games of cheating. The war is being waged in the Central District of California civil courts, but the defendants are scattered across the country and as far away as Australia. An immersive "first-person shooter" game, Call of Duty takes players into simulated, realistic military combat.