Internet Explodes Over Origin's Invasion of Privacy

[ph0b0s123]

Was going to pre-order from Origin to get the free game and beta access. But until the policy above is changed, I won't be touching it with a barge poll.

But before we freak out too much and to put things in context, what does Steam actually collect as a comparison? Anyone know?

Edit: Looks like steam also collects what applications you are using, but at least those surveys are optional: http://store.steampowered.com/news/4086/

 

[Treblaine]

And neither will most of your target market.

I hate to be the depressing pessimistic voice you'll find in all nerd societies, but do you really think that's the case? EA targets all gamers, not just the ones who stop and consider what they're buying and installing. I would say of every one hundred people who buy the game, maybe only one or two will even be aware of the term.

You don't understand the market that EA is going for with bringing Battlefield back to PC. These aren't chumps who install anything, these are die hard PC gamers most of which have built or at least upgraded their own gaming rig. They know their hobby, they are not like your typical console gamer.

This really is freaking exploding. Companies may be able to get away with such invasion of privacy for casual games but not with the hardcore, not with this crowd that scrutinise every detail, every angle, every aspect.

I bet EA were hoping they could bury this in a long and wordy EULA. But no, this is being spread around. I will repeat it again for EA's shame and if this forum had signatures this would be my sig:

[HEADING=2]"IF YOU DO NOT WANT EA TO COLLECT, USE, STORE, TRANSMIT OR DISPLAY THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, PLEASE DO NOT INSTALL OR USE ORIGN."[/HEADING]

Everyone knows. EA better change this or else lose a couple million dollars in sales.

 

[dillinger88]

I use avast! anti-virus which has a sand box feature.

What I believe this does is, if you open origin in sand box, it only shows that software the HDD space it requires. So it will think you only have tiny hard drive and find nothing on it.

If any files such as BF3 need to be accessed by it you can add them to the sand box and origin can access them.

Can anyone confirm this is what sandboxing is? If so, I'll fight for them to remove it the terms of service, however if they don't, they still won't be getting my info.

EDIT:

Nevermind, I'll use sandboxie. It allows you can stop origin reading anything from your system using closed key paths. http://www.sandboxie.com

 

[Crazycat690]

Wonder if BF3 fanboys will still like EA that much more than Activision after this lol, they are the first to point fingers when Activision does something bad, gonna be interesting to see more of what happens with this.

 

[Treblaine]

Is this worth Boycotting over?

Actually is it even a boycott? I mean boycott is when you refuse to buy something good based on principal. This goes BEYOND princial, this is common sense to NOT want to deliberatley install SPYWARE on your system and more than that - give then legal sanction to do whatever the hell with the personal info they steal from you.

Fuck that.

You'd be a fool to install origin with these terms.

 

[___________________]

I always thought EA was kind of fishy. Oh well, fuck them all. I hope those guys that have been hacking everything but their mums hack EA and fuck them up so bad the people working there get exploding diarrhea.

 

[RagTagBand]

anddd uninstalled, I will redownload it to get BF3 but I will be opening it in isolation where it cannot see or do anything but run BF3.

Suck it, EA.

 

[Sonicron]

I had the EA Download Manager installed on my system prior to its transformation to Origin, because it was needed to run Crysis 2. Now it's morphed into the anti-privacy atrocity we see before us, and I'm rather displeased.
Were I to uninstall Origin, would EA lose the right and ability to browse through my system? It'd be kind of sad to effectively lose my copy of Crysis 2 this way, but I think it'd be an acceptable sacrifice, given the circumstances that occasioned it.

 

[Sartan0]

It is going to be sad to not get to play ME 3 over this.

 

[DVS Storm]

EA wants BF3 to beat COD. There are also many others who want BF3 to beat COD. Or they just want to play what seems to be the best FPS ever(imo). But Ea is making it pretty fucking hard with these things. NO BF3 in Steam, No Bf3 unless you install Origin, Preorder weapon packs and now this. Do they actually want the people to hate the game and the service or are they just frickin' stupid(obviously the latter one but I gotta wonder...).

 

[Dabono]

Dear knobheads (yeah, that's you producers),

You may call me optimistic, but I still have a bit of faith in humanity. In essence I believe most people that want to play your games are also willing to pay for them. Sure, some may find them too expensive, but most would not care to wait for a bit until the price drops.

Now I'm sure you're aware there are these websites were people talk with throated Rs and have wooden legs and parrots. Turns out those offer a bit of competition since they offer your games for free, and all you have to do is step over a little moral boundary.

And not only that, but it seems you can install the game in any region, get the full game, have no need for an Internet-connection and don't need your collection of midget porn indexed by a bloated downloading program.

So, in all honesty, why are you trying to make it HARDER (or at least less favourable) for your customers to actually pay you? Take advantage of the fact that most people still WANT to. Currently a generation is growing up that wouldn't know anything else than that games, music and films are FREE. That moral bound most of us feel right now, will be gone when these lads and gals become adults.

 

[Sartan0]

Now that I think about it: I am going to excise my right to free speech at PAX.

 

[theultimateend]

It still boggles the mind as to how this much of an invasion of privacy can be legal.

Haven't you seen that one South Park episode:Everything is legal, as long as you agree to the terms of service.

I... I try not to...

It's a funny episode but not legally sound.

Obtuse TOS's don't hold up in court.

 

[Joseph Alexander]

this is different from steam how?
playing the devil's advocate here but they both invade your privacy, EA just needs to narrow the scope of the ToS.

 

[Sartan0]

this is different from steam how?
playing the devil's advocate here but they both invade your privacy, EA just needs to narrow the scope of the ToS.

That narrowing of the ToS is the issue. They will not do that without pressure. Time to bring it!

 

[PatrickXD]

I'm probably going to be flamed for this but, what exactly are they going to do that is so wrong? I don't quite get the uproar if I'm honest. They are gaining the ability to look at the stuff on your PC and distribute it etc, but what will come of it? I can't see them selling off all the user information to some band of internet hackers who are going to backtrace your Ip and cyber police and yada yada.
tl;dr, If I download origin, am I going to spontaneously combust?

 

[Sutter Cane]

It is going to be sad to not get to play ME 3 over this.

you realize me 3 is going to be on consoles right?

 

[ragestreet]

Okay seriously EA? It's like they're actively trying to get their games pirated now.

 

[Sartan0]

It is going to be sad to not get to play ME 3 over this.

you realize me 3 is going to be on consoles right?

That would be great if I owned one. And even if I picked one up I am not sure I could bring in my PC save files to continue my Sheppard's.