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This was posted back in August, hasn't EA changed the EULA since then? http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/action/battlefield-3/news/6331203/ea-changes-origin-eula http:/

• mattmanser 15y ago
  They only removed parts of it, specifically the parts allowing them to use the information for marketing. Also the Germans are going nuts about it because they claim the Origin EULA is a violation of privacy laws: http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/3477/article/origin-s-invasive-eula-could-meet-legal-opposition-in-germany/ http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/3477/article/origin-s-inv... I was under the impression that Steam's anti-cheat bot actually did something similar to this too, scanning running programs to search for aimbots and the like. This might go further though, I have no idea if it scans non-steam folders.
  • lclarkmichalek 15y ago
    I thought most EULAs were ruled invalid in Germany, as you pay for the product before you accept the EULA.
    • Xylakant 15y ago
      While this is technically true, the Origin EULA would be invalid in large parts even if it were accepted before paying. There's a detailed article (in german) here: http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/battlefield-3/artikel/analyse_zur_eula_von_ea_origin,45612,2561554.html http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/battlefield-3/artikel/analyse_... There's a provision in german law that EULAs may not contain clauses deemed "surprising" or "unexpected". There are multiple paragraphs in the Origin EULA that violate this principle (such as reserving the right to scan all data on your computer). There's another rule that customers may not be placed at a significant disadvantage if you're dealing with private customers. This rule is violated for example when EA reserves the right to terminate support for the game (rendering it effectively unusable) at any time at their sole discretion. There's other minor points such as attempting to move eventual lawsuits out of country or reserving the right to unilaterally change the EULA at any time but that's more or less the icing on the cake. The obvious consensus is that the EULA is invalid in pretty much any given point. Which means that the game is defective and may be returned to the store at any point after buying - a tempting idea actually :) In other news: EA seems to back off a little http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Electronic-Arts-reagiert-auf-Kritik-an-Origin-Nutzungsbedingungen-1369022.html http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Electronic-Arts-reagi... (german as well)
      • rmc 15y ago
        I'm not surprised. But why not use this to your advantage as a campaign? On a given day, everyone buys the game, then goes back and asks for a refund. Get everyone knowledgeable about the law, given them leaflets explaining the law to quote to the store clerks, forms to fill in with details if the clerks don't give the refund. Do this a few times.
  • Havoc 15y ago
    Nobody cares about what gets scanned on the HDD. Antivirus, indexing apps etc all do that. Its the attempt to legally extract the info and (ab)use it that angers everyone.
  • cube13 15y ago
    >They only removed parts of it, specifically the parts allowing them to use the information for marketing. They removed it from the Origin Terms of Service, which is nice, but left it in the privacy policy, so the overall change is... nothing.