Patent ID: 8715072

Claim:
A method for maintaining community integrity in a gaming network, the method comprising: generating a plurality of rules for a game title, where each rule is defined as meeting a set of prerequisite parameters prior to achieving a game status, wherein failure to meet the set of prerequisite parameters prior to achieving the game status is associated with cheating; storing the plurality of rules in memory, each rule defining fair game play for the game title; receiving gameplay data sent over a communication network regarding a user of a monitored device interacting with the game title in the gaming network, the received gameplay data including an observed game status; executing instructions stored in the memory, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor: determines that the received gameplay data includes indicia that one or more of the rules stored in memory has been violated, wherein the set of prerequisite parameters associated with the observed game status is not met; automatically generates a query to the monitored device, wherein an invalid response to the query verifies that the indicia in the received gameplay data from the monitored device are associated with cheating under the stored rules; updates a cheating watch list stored in the memory regarding the verified cheating by the monitored device; and identifying a percentage of a plurality of other players comprising a community of peers in the gaming network that validates the monitored device, wherein continued gameplay by the monitored device is permitted based on the percentage of validating peers meeting a predetermined percentage, and wherein failure to meet the predetermined percentage results in continued identification of the user as a cheater.