Post by Phantom~*DS*~ on Oct 18, 2006 16:22:09 GMT -8
Oct 16th, 2006 10:10:43
So. In the latest CGW podcast, they received retail boxed copies of BF 2142. When you open the box, a big slip of paper falls out first, preceeding any discs or manuals. The slip of paper says, essentially, that 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online, and records "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other "computing habits" in order to report this information back to ad companies and ad servers, which generates in-game ads.
Now, I can live with certain in-game ads (though apparently there will be Dodge truck and Neon ads in the bleak, futuristic world of 2142), but including a lengthy description - outside of even the Eula - seems to indicate even EA knows that this is some shady borderline spyware shit. I don't support it and won't be buying 2142 (for a host of other reasons, too).
So. In the latest CGW podcast, they received retail boxed copies of BF 2142. When you open the box, a big slip of paper falls out first, preceeding any discs or manuals. The slip of paper says, essentially, that 2142 includes monitoring software which runs while your computer is online, and records "anonymous" information like your IP address, surfing habits (probably via cookie scans), and other "computing habits" in order to report this information back to ad companies and ad servers, which generates in-game ads.
Now, I can live with certain in-game ads (though apparently there will be Dodge truck and Neon ads in the bleak, futuristic world of 2142), but including a lengthy description - outside of even the Eula - seems to indicate even EA knows that this is some shady borderline spyware shit. I don't support it and won't be buying 2142 (for a host of other reasons, too).
Full article here.
As if the in-game advertisements with no trickle-down weren't enough... it's like BF2142 is an experiment to see just how much bullshit EA's customers will go through before they completely refuse to buy/use a product and/or start murdering EA executives. A comment on the above article says it best:
As I mentioned elsewhere on the internet - EA can't really do this legally without offering either a refund or an opt-out. It's the same reason that companies technically have to refund you if you disagree with the EULA - you buy the product with the license inside. It's impossibly to agree to this license pre-purchase, and it's also impossible for most (read: non-news junkies) to know of this out-of-place data mining.
Ads are fine. Forced data mining isn't.
I've requested a refund on my preload order, because this is pretty much bologna. Myself and a few others will be launching a consumer awareness program be it that they refuse to refund.
Ads are fine. Forced data mining isn't.
I've requested a refund on my preload order, because this is pretty much bologna. Myself and a few others will be launching a consumer awareness program be it that they refuse to refund.