Sorry for bringing up such an old article but I just had to, it was a real enlightment on this whole issue. I never actually played any game of the main series of Ultima, only the MMORPG - hell I only realized that UO was based on a whole series years after playing it - but I've always heard good things about it and Origin.
So these days I finally started playing them, beggining with Ultima VII, and got curious as to how and why Origin sold out to EA, thankfully I found this article on google.
I gotta say, even though it's stated on the article, even by people from Origin, that they too were guilty for some of the errors, after reading it I just felt like saying "FUCK YOU EA"
Man did they destroyed that company, I wonder how many classics we, players, lost because of their greed.
And seeing the guys that gave us Ultima, Ultima Online, Deus Ex, System Shock, Thief, etc. making web-based cheap mmos and mickey mouse games is just sad. The industry badly needs these guys to come back on their feet.