Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a report on an absolutely absurd clause from the EULA for the Origin digital distribution platform created by EA. It turns out that by installing and using the service, you’re agreeing to give EA the right to:
…collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer, operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware.
I think that just about kills any desire I had to buy the PC version of Battlefield 3.
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=24593024&postcount=22
slimpickins beat me to it
Steam is not doing same thing! The information about the hardware is collected by a separate survey, where it asks you for your permission before collecting and also shows you what it will send before sending.
read the 2nd link I provided…steam admin seems to say otherwise.
As if Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. aren’t doing the same. I can’t be bothered getting mad about this anymore. I don’t have much to hide anyway (apart from cracked Adobe software).