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Microsoft going after another Halo 4 beta site

Company's legal team taking action against Halo4beta.biz with National Arbitration Forum.

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343 Industries likely won't be hosting a public beta test for Halo 4, but that isn't stopping shysters from giving keys away anyway.

Don't be fooled, Halo4beta.biz is a fake.
Don't be fooled, Halo4beta.biz is a fake.

As spotted by domain and trademark sleuthing website Fusible, Microsoft filed a complaint (No. 1432610) with the National Arbitration Forum today over Halo4beta.biz.

The fraudulent website remains online and claims to have Halo 4 beta codes, which it says will be dispatched at a clip of 300 per week. To score a Halo 4 beta code, visitors are asked to "Like" the website's Facebook page, post a message to their Facebook Timeline, and take a survey.

Additionally, Halo4beta.biz displays the logos for Halo Waypoint, the Xbox 360, and 343 Industries. The site also shows what it claims to be Halo 4 beta art, though the image it displays was a widely circulated Halo: Reach render.

The specifics of the complaint are not immediately available, but the grievance was filed under the forum's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

The outline of this policy states Microsoft must show how the domain name (Halo4beta.biz) is either identical or "confusingly similar" to a trademark or service that Microsoft has rights to, why the domain holder has "no rights or legitimate interests" in the name, and why the domain name is to be considered as "having been registered and used in bad faith."

An arbitration panel consisting of either one person or three will deliberate and reach a decision, which will be posted at a later date.

As Fusible points out, a WHOIS search reveals an Illinois resident is the owner of the domain. As of press time, neither the owner of the website, nor Microsoft, had responded to GameSpot's requests for comment on the matter.

In January, Microsoft filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum over Halo4beta.net under the same policy. That case remains pending.

Halo 4 is due out this holiday season on the Xbox 360. It is a direct sequel to 2007's Halo 3, stars super soldier Master Chief, and is part of a new series dubbed The Reclaimer Trilogy.

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212thCROSSOFF

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multi looks really good !

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toyo75

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A friend of mine always sings Beyonce's "Halo" whenever she sees me playing a Halo game. It's annoying!

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icetone

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I need to get a Xbox 360!

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Draco416

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Hint Hint 343.

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namdar

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@Suikogaiden I know dude... like people cant see the logic ... if it's too good to be true it probably is!

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aaron263

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I'm pretty sure there will be another Halo 4 multilayer beta, well i hope so anyway. It will probably come bundled with another game just like the Halo 3 beta came with Crackdown, although if the beta invitation comes with a game like Crackdown i wouldn't mind as Crackdown was (and still is) an awesome game.

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Suikogaiden

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Trojans for Beta keys basically. Cant believe that old survey for free stuff thing still gets people.

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Tseng

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1. That Illinois resident is in for some serious arbitration. 2. You would have to be an idiot to think that site was legitimate.

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Gelugon_baat

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@Femto513 I have to admit here that I do not care enough to do research on this matter - but I care enough to ask if somebody else can do it for me. :D I am not seeing you giving me a definitive answer, by the way.

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Femto513

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@Gelugon_baat Did you read the first line of the article or visit the page of the article it links to? How could codes be genuine for a beta that doesn't exist?

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WolfGrey

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New trilogy? Oh no...please just stop making halo games...

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steelmouth

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this shoudnt even reach MS offices the ISPs should flat out reject ol such names,its like if you name any of your products iAnything everybody straight away know who you ripping off

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DiscGuru101

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lol - "Don't be fooled, Halo4beta.biz is a fake."

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DiscGuru101

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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phillkillv2

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Hit em good.

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Marky360

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well I wonder what there fake beta codes actually do if anything at all

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Avatar image for Gelugon_baat
Gelugon_baat

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Can anyone tell me if the codes are genuine? The answer to that question determines my reaction to this matter. (I am usually indifferent to whatever Microsoft does - it's usually something douche-y - but I am especially not enamoured by hoaxes and scams.)

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mikel222222

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how about Microsoft buys all the domains that they think might interfere with the future halos..so halo 4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Domain cost so little, so ridiculous

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Avatar image for MJ12-Conspiracy
MJ12-Conspiracy

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When the dev/publisher makes a statement that public beta isn't expected and has a reason given why they don't intend to do a beta then websites shouldn't be saying they have beta codes..... It's a pretty open and shut case, offer service you can't provide and you get shut down....case closed.....

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Haasdude

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Lol, they claim the "beta keys" are for a PC beta.

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MW2ismygame

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and they are surprised that people are that stupid ?

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krishnaV_

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Hmm.. it can also turn out that the next XBox would launch with Halo 4. Nice to see what the new system and the version of Halo would be up to.

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BimboShaggins

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this game is going to suck anyways. xbox is dead

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Tsuchikage

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So the shyster doesn't even steal money from people?

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Gorbenshore

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Hopefully they come out with a beta soon

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