Back in April, An Alabama couple and two friends reported to have participated in more than 750 bogus Magic: The Gathering tournaments and used fake names and addresses to amass special "rewards cards" that they sold on eBay, the maker of the role-playing game claimed in Federal Court.

Wizards of the Coast claimed that Jonathan and Jennifer Clifton, along with friends Jason Bailey and Adam Schlagether, fabricated hundreds of people, places and events in order to obtain exclusive Magic rewards cards, which the group then sold on eBay.

"Their actions have undermined the integrity and brand proposition of the Magic trading card game and its tournament system," the lawsuit stated.

Jonathan Clifton allegedly sold several Magic rewards cards on eBay to Wizards' employees for $3 to $10 each. He was suspended from organizing or playing in Magic tournaments for five years, the lawsuit states.

A subsequent internal investigation revealed 238 unique names living at 27 different addresses in a 15-mile radius in Alabama, according to the complaint.

Wizards said 212 of these names received rewards cards at 12 of the addresses. The Cliftons allegedly used the name of Jennifer's 10-year-old son to receive Magic player rewards.

Wizards went on to say that the venues listed as having hosted the tournaments "either did not exist or were not involved in the hobby gaming industry nor had any knowledge of Magic."

Wizards asked the court to ban the defendants from using its products and demanded more than $75,000 in damages for fraud, conversion and unjust enrichment.

On or about June 7, the U. S. District Court for the Western District of Washington entered a consent judgment for $100,000 against Jonathan Clifton of Alabama as a result of his alleged fraudulent Wizards Play Network activity against the company, specifically tournament organizer and player activity fraud. The other 3 suits were dropped.

We are pleased that a judgment was reached quickly and in our favor in this case,” said Arron Goolsbey, Senior Director of Organized Play and Game Support at Wizards of the Coast. “We will continue to vigorously protect the integrity of our systems as well as the fun and fairness of our games.

As you can read in the above link, a permanent injunction was also issued that bars Clifton from participating in any Magic: The Gathering tournaments, playing Wizards’ online Magic: The Gathering game, and selling Magic cards anywhere.

This is the 2nd big settlement awarded to Wizards in less than a year, after Thomas Patrick Nolan of Milton, FL, agreed to a judgment against him of $125,000 and Arthur Le of San Jose, Calif., agreed to pay $100,000 to the Hasbro Inc. subsidiary - both for illegally distributing the Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook 2 online.

Now while a great deal of people these days have done nothing but rant and rave about Wizards being too litigious, I think what we have here is another fantastic example of them punishing those who are harming the integrity of the hobby. Especially those who did this so blatantly and didn't even expect to get caught.

What I do wonder is how the judgment can be enforced as it relates to playing Magic online or selling the cards themselves. While the monetary amount is definately an enforceable sum, I can't see how the rest can be policed.

I'm also curious as to why Wizards hasn't removed Clifton's sample hands and decks from their website yet...