That's the Origin install EULA. Apparently there is another EULA when you create an EA account where it states that EA is allowed to record your MAC address along with lots other fun personal info. Yay!

Also, SWTOR will apparently not require you to install and run the Origin service to be able to play the game.

BF3 will require Origin to play. SWTOR won't. Just a note.

@Xeridae: Thank you, I knew there was something a little too cut and dried about all of this fearful thinking and alleged "bullshit".

@Rufi91 said:

Well... God what is going on right now?

The South Park episode "Human CentiPad"

The way I see it this only effects people if you are doing somthing you shouldn't be. Internet, you're not doing somthing you shouldn't be, are you?

Is this unwarranted freakout going to stop me playing BF3 on the PC?  Not for a second!
 
If people want to freak out about what companies do in ways that can really harm them, look at what companies like Monsanto do with GMO food - a little perspective would be nice, people.

Well that explains why EA didn't agree to valves rules. This would be a perfect explanation as it is a conflicting rule between the 2 services. If EA sold an origin game on steam then that would break steam termsof service as the choiceto opt out would no longer be optional.

I think the bigger problem here is why the hell are people actually downloading Origin?!

If this doesn't change I'm gonna regrettably have to cancel my TOR preorder :/

If it was just anonymous usage statistics, that's fine, but personal information? Come on EA, fucking seriously?

I'm going to have to have this installed because I'm getting The Old Republic so this is really pissing me off...

People are making a huge deal out of this right now so hopefully my comments will put this into perspective.
 

The section in question:

You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address), operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services. 

All this means is that they can use the information they obtain to provide software updates, dynamic content, product support and online services like Battlefield 3 multiplayer for example. BFD.
 

EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you. 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 THE APPLICATION.

 
This just means that they can  also use this information to help market their products and SHARE it with third party service providers like DICE without identifying your personal information so that means they can't give out your IP or your computer name or username or anything else that would identify you. It says absolutely nothing about selling this information.
 
This needs to be put into the proper perspective. Did we all lose our reading comprehension overnight? EA can look at whatever the hell they want on my computer as far as I am concerned as long as it is used in the above context. If it is not then they will be in breach of their own EULA and I'll sue their asses. Until then though, this is completely harmless and I would not encourage any of my fellow gamers to give into this fear mongering BS.
 

@CL60: Yeah, Funkydupe mentioned that above as well, but I'm a dumb and ended up replying with a private message instead of a post XD. I'm glad, because I want my ship and my wookie damn it >.<

All I'm going to say is ,if they give us the option to Opt out of all the tracking nonsense then that would be good and all is well. However forcing this on us without any choice is downright Gawd-Awful. There is one choice at least for now, the choice not to buy any games that require EA's Origin Service. I think that sounds fair enough don't you?

how is this different from Steam/PSN/XBL/uPlay/Blizzard client etc?

Why must companies blatantly do stupid things like this?

Well, now what am I supposed to do? Pirate everything from you guys?

Alright: Message received loud and clear EA. Was totally not planning to do that. Hopefully you can come to your senses and give an opt-out option you imbeciles. I would like to support Dice, thank you very much.

This is written completely sensationalist and designed to whip up emotion. This is an absolutely horrendous display of yellow journalism, it isn't designed to inform, but to inflame. I don't want to be that guy who rails on the staff, but I feel like I have little recourse otherwise.

I remember seeing this yesterday as a 'sky is falling' forum topic by, presumably, a screechy teenager. It was criticized in comparison to Steam and most other websites and consumer applications. What is absolutely startling is that the news story posted by an industry professional is written with even more emotional, knee-jerk language than a common forum thread. That's awful.

(For the record, I only play weird indie games like VVVVVV on my PC. I have Steam and don't have Origin. The only PC exclusive that I'm interested in is TOR, which is not Origin exclusive.)

edit: I just read the Deus Ex Gamestop article, and I retract my previous statement; I feel like I should give Alex Navarro shit. I've seen Kessler approach news articles with more professionalism. Raging against the machine for page views is not the kind of industry writing that inspires me, or anyone. Write to inform, not to goad people into roiling in the comments. This is downright blog-quality.

Steam does this, but the difference is that Steam asks you first shows all the info it wants you to send to them. And they display all the info they get on a convenient web page!

This is written completely sensationalist and designed to whip up emotion. This is an absolutely horrendous display of yellow journalism, it isn't designed to inform, but to inflame. I don't want to be that guy who rails on the staff, but I feel like I have little recourse otherwise.

I remember seeing this yesterday as a 'sky is falling' forum topic by, presumably, a screechy teenager. It was criticized in comparison to Steam and most other websites and consumer applications. What is absolutely startling is that the news story posted by an industry professional is written with even more emotional, knee-jerk language than a common forum thread. That's awful.

(For the record, I only play weird indie games like VVVVVV on my PC. I have Steam and don't have Origin. The only PC exclusive that I'm interested in is TOR, which is not Origin exclusive.)

@Brodehouse said:

This is written completely sensationalist and designed to whip up emotion. This is an absolutely horrendous display of yellow journalism, it isn't designed to inform, but to inflame. I don't want to be that guy who rails on the staff, but I feel like I have little recourse otherwise.

I remember seeing this yesterday as a 'sky is falling' forum topic by, presumably, a screechy teenager. It was criticized in comparison to Steam and most other websites and consumer applications. What is absolutely startling is that the news story posted by an industry professional is written with even more emotional, knee-jerk language than a common forum thread. That's awful.

(For the record, I only play weird indie games like VVVVVV on my PC. I have Steam and don't have Origin. The only PC exclusive that I'm interested in is TOR, which is not Origin exclusive.)

I don't think the article is sensationalist at all. He even mentions that it's an entirely fixable problem for EA and everything he lists that Origin collects is in the EULA. No outrageous claims there. Most people don't even read EULA's and they're not very effective legally, so a program that collects personal information without outright informing them (i.e. a Steam opt-in or opt-out option) could very well be considered spyware.

@benjaebe said:

@Brodehouse said:

This is written completely sensationalist and designed to whip up emotion. This is an absolutely horrendous display of yellow journalism, it isn't designed to inform, but to inflame. I don't want to be that guy who rails on the staff, but I feel like I have little recourse otherwise.

I remember seeing this yesterday as a 'sky is falling' forum topic by, presumably, a screechy teenager. It was criticized in comparison to Steam and most other websites and consumer applications. What is absolutely startling is that the news story posted by an industry professional is written with even more emotional, knee-jerk language than a common forum thread. That's awful.

(For the record, I only play weird indie games like VVVVVV on my PC. I have Steam and don't have Origin. The only PC exclusive that I'm interested in is TOR, which is not Origin exclusive.)

I don't think the article is sensationalist at all. He even mentions that it's an entirely fixable problem for EA and everything he lists that Origin collects is in the EULA. No outrageous claims there. Most people don't even read EULA's and they're not very effective legally, so a program that collects personal information without outright informing them (i.e. a Steam opt-in or opt-out option) could very well be considered spyware.

You and I are going to have to agree to disagree on 'EULA's don't really count so its spyware'. The article wasn't written with a lot of ambiguity, it was written as a damnation with scarce time spent to explain the realities of most consumer software, or how its used. There are literally posts in here saying 'EA is going to steal my credit card information!' If this was written with a mind towards being informative, how could a person even reach that conclusion? Because it was written to engender exactly that reaction, to make people feel threatened and violated.

You know, John Riccitello could very well be a vampire. There's nothing in any of EA's press releases that states he is not. In fact, the entire company might actually be a front for a secretive cult dedicated to Set.

Man, Alex, I understand the sentiment, but couldn't you be a bit more professional about it? This article is so full of vitriol my eyes hurt.

Hey, guys? I kinda don't know where to buy video games anymore.
 
Also, I suppose EA just made the decision for me: no BF3. Not while they're trying to pull this bullshit. And since I have absolutely no desire to play TOR, I guess I can rest easy knowing my money won't be funding their grubby, oily business practices.

@Brodehouse: How often do you read Alex' and Patrick's news pieces? This is an enthusiast site whose staff write for an enthusiast audience, as they themselves are enthusiasts. If you're expecting some higher-order, journalistic objectivity, you'll hardly find it here. I don't find that to be a fault, however, since I'm looking for people who advocate for my video gaming interests. In fact, it appears that we both literally subscribe to it. Having said that, I don't see the "yellow journalism," you're crying foul over in this piece. If anything, this is the least-invective-filled piece out of the three that called out gaming companies today. It's not like Alex is imploring gamers to actively boycott EA here. He posted a link to a Reddit thread.

EA may have just shot themselves and Origin in the foot.

@Brodehouse said:

This is written completely sensationalist and designed to whip up emotion. This is an absolutely horrendous display of yellow journalism, it isn't designed to inform, but to inflame. I don't want to be that guy who rails on the staff, but I feel like I have little recourse otherwise.

I remember seeing this yesterday as a 'sky is falling' forum topic by, presumably, a screechy teenager. It was criticized in comparison to Steam and most other websites and consumer applications. What is absolutely startling is that the news story posted by an industry professional is written with even more emotional, knee-jerk language than a common forum thread. That's awful.

(For the record, I only play weird indie games like VVVVVV on my PC. I have Steam and don't have Origin. The only PC exclusive that I'm interested in is TOR, which is not Origin exclusive.)

I don't think the article is sensationalist at all. He even mentions that it's an entirely fixable problem for EA and everything he lists that Origin collects is in the EULA. No outrageous claims there. Most people don't even read EULA's and they're not very effective legally, so a program that collects personal information without outright informing them (i.e. a Steam opt-in or opt-out option) could very well be considered spyware.

@veXedbulldog: How often do you read Patrick's news pieces? When he reports on the Valve/EA tension or especially his series regarding the California violent games bill, he writes with the intention of informing and not getting emotional reactions. He takes quotes from sources no matter how unpopular they are and doesn't mess with context, he offers a look at both sides of arguments. Today's articles only feature the kind of knee-jerk reaction you'd expect from, well, a Reddit thread. Not only do we deserve better, but Alex is capable of better.

As for 'advocacy', you should look into what it means. Being a consumer advocate does not mean you attempt to stir them into a frothing, angry mass every time something happens, it means you give them all the knowledge and tools within your power to make good consumer decisions. Writing emotional, uninformative tirades that only exist to stroke populist fears of violation doesn't serve the consumer in any way, because now they're just ignorant in a different way.

What I appreciate is a principled stand. Not a constantly blaring klaxon designed to generate page views.

@Ashuramaru said:

The way I see it this only effects people if you are doing somthing you shouldn't be. Internet, you're not doing somthing you shouldn't be, are you?

This always struck me as a bizarre attitude. I don't have anything to hide in my living room, but I wouldn't want people randomly stopping by and staring into it. I think we're entitled to some measure of privacy in these Zuckerberg and Google-filled days we live in, surely?

so if they are going to sell this info why is my game still 60 bucks? 
oh yeah, to all the people saying they will just get the console version, do you really think Sony and Microsoft don't do this in some manner also? 
meh, i'll probably still buy and play it.  why do i care if EA knows how much time i spend on reddit  or giantbomb?

so if they are going to sell this info why is my game still 60 bucks? oh yeah, to all the people saying they will just get the console version, do you really think Sony and Microsoft don't do this in some manner also? meh, i'll probably still buy and play it.  why do i care if EA knows how much time i spend on reddit  or giantbomb?

People are making a huge deal out of this right now so hopefully my comments will put this into perspective.
 

The section in question:

You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address), operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services. 

All this means is that they can use the information they obtain to provide software updates, dynamic content, product support and online services like Battlefield 3 multiplayer for example. BFD.
 

EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you. 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 THE APPLICATION.

 
This just means that they can  also use this information to help market their products and SHARE it with third party service providers like DICE without identifying your personal information so that means they can't give out your IP or your computer name or username or anything else that would identify you. It says absolutely nothing about selling this information.
 
This needs to be put into the proper perspective. Did we all lose our reading comprehension overnight? EA can look at whatever the hell they want on my computer as far as I am concerned as long as it is used in the above context. If it is not then they will be in breach of their own EULA and I'll sue their asses. Until then though, this is completely harmless and I would not encourage any of my fellow gamers to give into this fear mongering BS.
 

@DarkbeatDK said:

I expect to be kidnapped on the street by masked men in a black truck and then find myself as a competitor in a twisted nightmare version of "The Running Man" filled with ridiculous amounts of colored lights, "Powered by Nvidia" messages and hosted by John Romero.

Well...sign me UP!

@broqz said:

so if they are going to sell this info why is my game still 60 bucks? oh yeah, to all the people saying they will just get the console version, do you really think Sony and Microsoft don't do this in some manner also? meh, i'll probably still buy and play it.  why do i care if EA knows how much time i spend on reddit  or giantbomb?

They are not selling any personal information, that was a false statement.

@FrankCanada97 said:

@broqz said:

so if they are going to sell this info why is my game still 60 bucks? oh yeah, to all the people saying they will just get the console version, do you really think Sony and Microsoft don't do this in some manner also? meh, i'll probably still buy and play it.  why do i care if EA knows how much time i spend on reddit  or giantbomb?

They are not selling any personal information, that was a false statement.

"We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you."  This is the exact sentence from the clause in the EULA that has caused this uproar: as a legal document it doesn't say anything about not exchanging money for said information.

@Xeridae said:

People are making a huge deal out of this right now so hopefully my comments will put this into perspective.
 

The section in question:

You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address), operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services. 

All this means is that they can use the information they obtain to provide software updates, dynamic content, product support and online services like Battlefield 3 multiplayer for example. BFD.
 

EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you. 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 THE APPLICATION.

 
This just means that they can  also use this information to help market their products and SHARE it with third party service providers like DICE without identifying your personal information so that means they can't give out your IP or your computer name or username or anything else that would identify you. It says absolutely nothing about selling this information.
 
This needs to be put into the proper perspective. Did we all lose our reading comprehension overnight? EA can look at whatever the hell they want on my computer as far as I am concerned as long as it is used in the above context. If it is not then they will be in breach of their own EULA and I'll sue their asses. Until then though, this is completely harmless and I would not encourage any of my fellow gamers to give into this fear mongering BS.
 

Case closed?

@Donos: its more the fact that they are saying they will sell your information (name, email, address, facebook, phone number) to 3rd party companies. this means more spam in your inbox and more telemarketers calling you.

@Napalm said:

@Xeridae said:

People are making a huge deal out of this right now so hopefully my comments will put this into perspective.
 

The section in question:

You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address), operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services. 

All this means is that they can use the information they obtain to provide software updates, dynamic content, product support and online services like Battlefield 3 multiplayer for example. BFD.
 

EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you. 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 THE APPLICATION.

 
This just means that they can  also use this information to help market their products and SHARE it with third party service providers like DICE without identifying your personal information so that means they can't give out your IP or your computer name or username or anything else that would identify you. It says absolutely nothing about selling this information.
 
This needs to be put into the proper perspective. Did we all lose our reading comprehension overnight? EA can look at whatever the hell they want on my computer as far as I am concerned as long as it is used in the above context. If it is not then they will be in breach of their own EULA and I'll sue their asses. Until then though, this is completely harmless and I would not encourage any of my fellow gamers to give into this fear mongering BS.
 

Case closed?

Not at all. This guy reads EULA's like they're classic legal contracts written in black and white; I'd argue anyone with decent reading comprehension skills can easily pick up on the ambiguities and generalities in this EULA. For example: this guy points out that collected information could be used in the context of BF3, however, he completely fails to point out that the EULA says "other services". Other services is a pretty wide umbrella. The second point he makes suffers from the same inability to understand what the EULA is saying implicitly: that although the information may not be sold in a transaction where the information is sold for money, the information "shared" could be part of a sharing agreement set up prior to the EULA where money was exchanged for such a service. And as for "third party service providers", if I was to list all of EA's third party partners, no one here would recognized even half of the names on the list (including me). It boils down to this: EA has a bad history when it comes to customer relationship management and no rational person should be saying, "Hey, this sounds alright to me because Company X does it!"

Is everybody willfully glossing over this statement:
 
"We may also share that data with our third party service providers >in a form that does not personally identify you<." 
 
Where's the controversy again?

@EveretteScott said:

@css_switchfoot said:

and pirates come to the rescue once again

i hope if they do patch in the opt-out feature that some tech-savvy dude checks to make sure its actually not still collecting information.

Again? Yeah, no. They also haven't 'rescued' anything to begin with.

I disagree with you. In the beginning...sure it was all a bunch of bullshit so people didn't have to pay for games. Then DRM proved to actually affect people's CD and DVD drives (their actual hardware) and use spyware and rootkits. Then people couldn't buy a physical copy and install it without being connected to the internet (some better than others... Steam vs Ubisoft for instance). In the end piracy has hurt the industry...but DRM has also. They provide fuel for each other and both are bad, but necessary, to the industry. Piracy is an avenue that allows people to play the games they bought wherever and whenever they want, not just for thieves who don't want to pay for their games. If I want to play the BF3 campaign without letting my email get sold to 3rd Party spammers, I will have to buy the boxed game and download the Pirate's crack. This isn't the first game that I had to play that way.

So to me...pirates to the rescue once again.

@Xeridae: How is the EULA specific when even you admit that the EULA says "other services". And no I'm not afraid, I just know how EULA's have been bent and used in the past and know of the legal history surrounding them; software companies have used EULA's in the past to do as they please, usually masking such activity under the ambiguous language that they used in their EULA. But hey, if you're fine with this then go ahead: many people, including myself, are not, largely because EA isn't a trustworthy company as evidenced in it's past with customer relationship management.

The only thing I got out of this article is how much I fucking hate South Park now. People talk about how Family Guy is trash because all they do is reference other stuff, well, at least those references are quick. South Park just bases every single new episode around "WHAT WAS HOT IN THE NEWS A WEEK AGO." Awful, awful show now.

@Xeridae said:

@RsistncE said:

@Xeridae: How is the EULA specific when even you admit that the EULA says "other services". And no I'm not afraid, I just know how EULA's have been bent and used in the past and know of the legal history surrounding them; software companies have used EULA's in the past to do as they please, usually masking such activity under the ambiguous language that they used in their EULA. But hey, if you're fine with this then go ahead: many people, including myself, are not, largely because EA isn't a trustworthy company as evidenced in it's past with customer relationship management.

Even though it says other services, It also says "other services to you". What is there to be concerned about? This information is not being used to create super aids that is delivered to your door. That's my point. I know you say you're not afraid but your comments seem to portray something to the contrary and I am merely trying to reassure you and others that this is inconsequential. I can't speak to what EA has or hasn't done. I can only tell you that based on what this EULA says, the information they obtain is used purely for products and services, whatever they may be, and not to destroy your life.

You really should stop replying to him, he hates EA with a fiery passion, and is also an idiot, from what I've seen of his previous bullshit posts.

It sounds more like a Gamestop service than an EA one, at this point. 
 
At any rate, i don't care. I definitely lean more towards consoles for my gaming experience, and only use Gamersgate and GOG for PC downloads. I don't even wanna use Steam, unless it someday lets you just DL games from a browser. I don't care for any features on Valve's service besides buying games and don't need anymore .exe's on my desktop. All these services are getting really shifty...
 
Also, out of all the services for hackers to go after, I'd imagine Origin would be looking quite tempting right now, what with all the personal info EA's gathering...

and that's exactly why i'm waiting for Skidrow

After reading this I definitely wont be buying games on Origin (not that I probably was going to anyway).

@whatisdelicious said:

The only thing I got out of this article is how much I fucking hate South Park now. People talk about how Family Guy is trash because all they do is reference other stuff, well, at least those references are quick. South Park just bases every single new episode around "WHAT WAS HOT IN THE NEWS A WEEK AGO." Awful, awful show now.

Uh - that has been how South Park has operated since like 1998 and the turnaround time on their social commentary pieces is what has set them apart from other shows.

Considering Steam does the same shit.... Pirates are probably the only sane PC gamers left.