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World of warcraft spyware
lonewolf1980
Member UncommonPosts: 89
i don't know if this had been posted yet, but if it hadn't, here it is.
Comments
Its pretty old. In fact, it is on this page.
"Whoever controls the media controls the mind..-'Jim Morrison"
"When decorum is repression, the only dignity free men have is to speak out." ~Abbie Hoffman
I think its an invasion of privacy too, but I mean people are constantly trying to hack, cheat and steal on MMORPGs and Blizzard is taking measures to prevent this. I dont think they are going to tell your parents that you have porn in My Documents
Blizz already knows my address, credit card number etc. since I put it all down during my account registration so what the point to make some uber program (spyware) to steal from me again. What they are probably doing is protecting me from people who use bots and ish like this then stealing.
Come on listen to yourself.....Why would they make the game bigger and better without first protecting (or try to at least) the people that play the game? Think man! THINK!! You don't offer a free concert to the public without first having a plan for security.........
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Your post is one of the most ignorant I have ever read. It isn't spyware because it doesn't send any information except if you're using hacks or open to websites that contain them and are known. After they gather the information from which you are breaking their EULA then they will probably put your account on watch before the ban you, if everything is running normally they'll probably just leave you alone. However I do know that Blizzard will protect their players and themselves as best they can. They made a game, they provide a service that we spend money on. I consider this a measure to protect my right to enjoy their game that I pay a monthly fee for. I wouldn't want someone messing with my money, would you? This little program only reports violations of their EULA and TOS so go for it Blizzard, knock em out. Us legit players will just get on with our lives knowing that we won't be banned and the botters/hackers will. Good game, play the game fairly like it was meant to be played or don't play at all. If you can't then leave, Blizzard is doing fine without you.
Main Entry: spyware
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: any software that covertly gathers information about a user while he/she navigates the Internet and transmits the information to an individual or company that uses it for marketing or other purposes
Usage: computing
...the post was not ignorant. you are, in fact. spyware, as defined above from dictonary.com, is software that works without our knowing and sends the info to a company for marketing or OTHER purpose. Lets see, its working without our knowing, its collecting information while we are online, and its transmitting it back to Blizzard for a purpose. Hence, spyware.
You are a bit incorrect on that fact:
Works without our knowing? Well, there was a sticky for a long time in the general forum telling what it does, so apparently they're not very good at keeping secrets if this is "covertly gathering information".
Transmits the information to an individual or company? Actually, it doesn't. Nothing is transmitted from the service if the service doesn't find anything. So for 99% of the gamers out there, nothing is ever returned to Blizzard. It doesn't send Blizzard a list of all sites visisted while playing. It doesn't send Blizzard a list of what's running on your machine. It only tells Blizzard if you are using a known cheat.
Basically, if you're cheating, it acts like spyware, but if you're not cheating, it doesn't fit the definition.
the definition doesnt take into account the people who figure this stuff out. from the beginning, it was created to be working in the background without our knowing. you cant say that a "sticky" therefore makes it public knowledge. a major majority still have no idea about it.
as for the transmission of data...the bottom line is that it does transmit data. spyware is not exclusive to programs that transmit 24/7. i could create a program that went to your computer and checked whenever you visited my website, then let me know. that would be spyware. blizzard is doing the same thing. they made a program that looks for a specific piece of information...when found it sends it back to them. just because something doesnt act like something all the time doesnt mean it isnt.
your points are not valid...therefore i stand at my conclusion, this is spyware
It's in the EULA. ^_^
Ico
Oh, cruel fate, to be thusly boned. Ask not for whom the bone bones. It bones for thee.
damn you ico, steal my thunder
i never looked over that, buuut, i was just going from the basic facts. if it is in fact in the EULA, then i guess it would not be spyware. but, if it wasnt and a company did in fact use it without the customer's knowledge, i would categorize it as spyware.
but in turn, i stand corrected...
Don't pop the cork just yet buddy.......listen....
You are playing a game CREATED by blizzard......
People are hacking a game CREATED by blizzard....
Blizzard has CREATED software that detect cheaters for it's own game they CREATED that only serves said purpose....
Bottom line...they are "sending data" to themselves, for their game, they CREATED to protect honest players.....so why don't you just chill Sherlock.....Webster...or whatever name you wanna go by.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Yep they waste money on this crap instead of adding content. Yawn. I guess all the money they save using Asian GMs and CSRs is going into spyware. Boy I'm glad that's where it goes instead of R&D for content.
Are you playing the same game as the one we're talking about here? They haven't released loads of content? They've leased more FREE content then any other MMO I've ever played. The content they've given us freely in patches could of been an expansion if it was condensed into a one-shot update. Blizzard does so much for it's players and you whine about them not doing a thing? I don't know what game you're playing but it sure as hell isn't the same one I am.
Actually to reply to the "could be added in a one-shot expansion" comment, the reason that blizzard is doing these mini addon/hotfix type content adds, is because they promised their players very frequent updates and adds and then didn't deliver, so they're not able to put it into an expansion because they dont even have the updates that they promised in the first place. I think the fact that it's free is their way of countering not being able to deliver what they said they could. I don't even play WoW and I know this.
And loads of content doesn't mean it's good. I'd prefer quality over quantity, but that's just me.
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I live to fight, and fight to live.