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Section 8 of the Starcraft 2 EULA is called Consent to Monitor. Essentially, it says that the game may monitor your RAM and send data back to Blizzard including your account name and RAM contents.
I have mixed feelings about this. It is highly invasive and destroys privacy while Starcraft 2 is running. However, it is probably a benevolent attempt to prevent cheating. Playing against hackers can be annoying on a daily basis. The loss of privacy is more indirect degradation of our personal sovereignty.
Poll: SC2 EULA Section 8: RAM monitoringI approve of this. (142) 45% I don't care. (103) 33% I disapprove of this. (69) 22% 314 total votes Your vote: SC2 EULA Section 8: RAM monitoring (Vote): I don't care.
(Vote): I approve of this.
(Vote): I disapprove of this.
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It's for Blizzard's anti-hack technology. I'm unsure if they call it Warden for just WoW or for all programs, but it's for that. They can't use the data they find for anything identifiable nor do I believe can they store it. I don't believe there's a loss of privacy here as long as they cannot store what they find.
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I approve of this.
Amazing anti-hacks could be created by blizz using this method.
EDIT: Damnit, poster above me D:
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What the guys above said.
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Anti Hack - Why would anyone not want this feature?
As usual they won't submit any real data back just hash codes, I assume.
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it's been part of the Blizzard EULA since at least Diablo 2.
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We got more sinister organizations to worry about having our infos than Blizzard. Like the Illuminati or NWO. Or are they the same?
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So lets see:
Activation code tied to regions? Yes
No LAN support? Yes
Requirement to let Blizzard monitor your chat (presumably in game)? Yes
Requirement to let Starcraft 2 monitor the content of your RAM and send who knows what to who knows where? Yes
Requirement to login even though you just want to play the single player campaign? Yes
Rip-off online price of 60€ for no other reason than ripping you off? Yes
Attempt to make Starcraft 2 behave as an MMO even though it isnt one? Yes
Censored versions to cater to different regions? Yes
Blizzard not being up front about privacy issues or piracy issues? Yes
Artificial need to buy multiple copies due to no LAN support and login requirement? Yes
That is some messed up shit.
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While SC2 does have a lot of other potential for datamining, I seriously doubt Blizzard will delve deeply into that field beyond customization for the user, simlar to how any site like amazon or youtube will recommend related things to you based on what you looked at.
This is probably essential for anti-hack measures, and as previously stated, as long as the information isn't stored or used for identifiable means, then it really is a non-issue. Besides, what else will a legitimate player really be running besides SC2? A music player maybe? Not much else to save on system performance probably.
I support this for anti-hack, though I am wary of Activision, but EULA Clauses are more numerous than flies. This probably really is a non-issue.
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I don't really care, i can't see how blizzard could use it to exploit the info they get this way, and it would hurt them more than us if they decided to.
Just a silly thing to be paranoid over.
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eh, I got used to it. I think quite a lot of programs moniter your computer activity and it's practically impossible to get away from it.
Probably the only way to have a completely private computer is to get a linux, a whole bunch of proxy servers that send encoded info for internet browsing.
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I don't have any hacks or anything otherwise illegal running, it if keeps hackers out of the game I'm all for it.
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So a multi billion dollar company can invade my privacy and rely information to other sources based on the fact that im running a game I purchased from them...
Question : Since when is it acceptable for privacy to be confiscated in favor of 'greater good'.
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On July 28 2010 08:44 progress wrote:
So lets see:
Activation code tied to regions? Yes
No LAN support? Yes
Requirement to let Blizzard monitor your chat (presumably in game)? Yes
Requirement to let Starcraft 2 monitor the content of your RAM and send who knows what to who knows where? Yes
Requirement to login even though you just want to play the single player campaign? Yes
Rip-off online price of 60€ for no other reason than ripping you off? Yes
Attempt to make Starcraft 2 behave as an MMO even though it isnt one? Yes
Censored versions to cater to different regions? Yes
Blizzard not being up front about privacy issues or piracy issues? Yes
Artificial need to buy multiple copies due to no LAN support and login requirement? Yes
That is some messed up shit.
Commit suicide already, most of the other haters from "sooo 6 months ago" have done that 
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On July 28 2010 08:44 progress wrote:
So lets see:
Activation code tied to regions? Yes
No LAN support? Yes
Requirement to let Blizzard monitor your chat (presumably in game)? Yes
Requirement to let Starcraft 2 monitor the content of your RAM and send who knows what to who knows where? Yes
Requirement to login even though you just want to play the single player campaign? Yes
Rip-off online price of 60€ for no other reason than ripping you off? Yes
Attempt to make Starcraft 2 behave as an MMO even though it isnt one? Yes
Censored versions to cater to different regions? Yes
Blizzard not being up front about privacy issues or piracy issues? Yes
Artificial need to buy multiple copies due to no LAN support and login requirement? Yes
That is some messed up shit.
Haters ganna hate, Some of those dont even make sense
Finally Antihacking measures Go BLIZZ!
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no problem with that i trust in blizzard, and if they can fuck up more of those damn noob hackers gogogo
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Things like this are in a ton of EULA for games. Its just that tin-foil hat conspiricists like to pick em out for popular releases or certain games so they can make it seem like some huge invasion of privacy controversy.
Oh no, Blizzard is gonna have my battle.net account name...my battle.net account name I registered with Blizzard. I don't care if Blizzard takes my personal life info, what are they gonna do with "Male, Asian, SC2 addict"
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On July 28 2010 08:44 progress wrote:
So lets see:
Activation code tied to regions? Yes
No LAN support? Yes
Requirement to let Blizzard monitor your chat (presumably in game)? Yes
Requirement to let Starcraft 2 monitor the content of your RAM and send who knows what to who knows where? Yes
Requirement to login even though you just want to play the single player campaign? Yes
Rip-off online price of 60€ for no other reason than ripping you off? Yes
Attempt to make Starcraft 2 behave as an MMO even though it isnt one? Yes
Censored versions to cater to different regions? Yes
Blizzard not being up front about privacy issues or piracy issues? Yes
Artificial need to buy multiple copies due to no LAN support and login requirement? Yes
That is some messed up shit.
Umm, that is a problem? All of these things have become quite established, and are beyond trivial. This list is nothing new, every single game does it.
Activation code for region - Yes it would be nice to take my laptop out of the CONTINENT, and still be able to play online. But it's not essential, servers and protection for them cost money. DVD's are tied to regions too, and thats a far bigger problem, because they actually use it for illegal price fixing. Video games really don't have this problem (minus Australia). Cross-realm support will come too, so you can play with those in other continents.
Lan Support- it isn't essential in todays world. Would be nice. Not essential. Helps Blizzard control SC2 and keep it away from KeSPA.
Moniter your chat - So does your cell-phone company. And any IM service. And this website too, for moderation purposes. Good job posting your gripe about this, on a site that monitors the chat
Monitor your Ram - Been in the EULA since D2 this is not new, it's for ANTI-HACK
Online Activation - See EVERY GAME MADE IN THE PAST 5 YEARS.
$60 Price - You didn't expect them to give it away for free, did you? Decent price for todays VG Market.
Make it an MMO - Social tools does NOT equal MMO. MMO's use them. So did SC1 and plenty other styles of games.
Censored Versions for Different Regions - A country's law trumps blizzard. They can't break the law. Lots of other games get censored in other countries, or even banned (see Germany).
Blizzard not being up front - They're busy. They have lives and more work to do. And if they don't have everything fixed yet, they keep their mouth shut til they do, because they know "It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt."
Multiple copies for multiple people - I don't quite know how the guest passes work, but they're there. You didn't expect you could buy the game, and then all of your friends could play it with you because you alone had a copy?
Seriously, you are being extremely disingenuous. None of these things are unreasonable, in fact they are STANDARD for todays games.
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On July 28 2010 09:07 Fyrewolf wrote:
Umm, that is a problem? All of these things have become quite established, and are beyond trivial. This list is nothing new, every single game does it.
Because people keep defending them. You know this is just an appeal to tradition, yet you accept it and as a result, more shit is kept being added. Having your computer monitored is certainly not trivial.
Activation code for region - Yes it would be nice to take my laptop out of the CONTINENT, and still be able to play online. But it's not essential, servers and protection for them cost money. DVD's are tied to regions too, and thats a far bigger problem, because they actually use it for illegal price fixing. Video games really don't have this problem (minus Australia). Cross-realm support will come too, so you can play with those in other continents.
This seems to be the exact same thing as the DVD region bullshit. If I live in europe and have friends in the US, then i cant play with them. How do you know such support will be there? Then whats the point with regions at all?
They made the choice of using a server instead of p2p. Shouldn't affect the users. People should have the right to choose.
Lan Support- it isn't essential in todays world. Would be nice. Not essential. Helps Blizzard control SC2 and keep it away from KeSPA.
I guess you want your shit in the "cloud" to, huh? Let other people manage it. Let them rip you off. Allow them to impose rules on you so you have to buy back what you once had for free and took for granted. Whats your next argument gonna be? "but i can afford it? I can afford to not know jack". Fuck that.
They own the copyright, the trademark and maybe some patents that are valid in the US. That is the extent of their ownership after the product has been sold to a customer.
There should be LAN support so people can control the stuff they own.
Moniter your chat - So does your cell-phone company. And any IM service. And this website too, for moderation purposes. Good job posting your gripe about this, on a site that monitors the chat
No. It does not. Data monitoring is not allowed. Data is content. They might monitor sms, but certainly not the actual conversation.
But even if they did, there is a difference. This is a game. The primary value of this product is not to let people chat. Where is the option to let people use an external chat server? People should have an option to not be monitored. You wanna use their shit? fine, they will make sure your free speech rights are thrown out.
Monitor your Ram - Been in the EULA since D2 this is not new, it's for ANTI-HACK
Sure, and the internet is being filtered and your privacy thrown in the trash because the children must be protected.
If you think they wont gather a lot more info than what they need your not even naive.
Online Activation - See EVERY GAME MADE IN THE PAST 5 YEARS.
But its not just online activation. Everything is tied into the server and it is restricting you from using the product you bought the way you want. You are defending their rights at the expense of your own.
$60 Price - You didn't expect them to give it away for free, did you? Decent price for todays VG Market.
I said EURO didnt i? The € means euros not dollars. 60€ = 77$. I expect it not to cost 30% more than the retail version. Seems pretty fucking reasonable, yes?
Make it an MMO - Social tools does NOT equal MMO. MMO's use them. So did SC1 and plenty other styles of games.
The entire game is artificially dependent on their server. Yet the content is practically static and you will realistically never play with more than 12 people per game. The "server" should have been matchmaking only without region limitations.
Censored Versions for Different Regions - A country's law trumps blizzard. They can't break the law. Lots of other games get censored in other countries, or even banned (see Germany).
And if that country's law didn't trump blizzard's, they'd just find a way to impose restrictions anyway. Just like they are doing with everything else.
Up the age restriction. I've seen this in other games, because certain countries don't allow shit to be shown, all other countries suffer. Yes, i want my blood, gore and dismemberment.
Blizzard not being up front - They're busy. They have lives and more work to do. And if they don't have everything fixed yet, they keep their mouth shut til they do, because they know "It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt."
What the fuck is this shit? That's so weak. They have spent years on coming up with ideas that are not needed on how to invade peoples privacy as much as possible, they should take some time to actually discuss this with the victims (the customers).
Multiple copies for multiple people - I don't quite know how the guest passes work, but they're there. You didn't expect you could buy the game, and then all of your friends could play it with you because you alone had a copy?
I expect to be able to install it and USE it on every computer in my house AND let any friends i bring over play the game over the LAN.
Seems pretty reasonable to me. What? Why didn't you throw out an appeal to tradition? What about the fact that it has been this way for years and years, why is that not an argument for keeping it that way? Hypocrite.
Seriously, you are being extremely disingenuous. None of these things are unreasonable, in fact they are STANDARD for todays games.
I think I'm being very honest. Maybe some things will turn out to be slightly exaggerated, but I think most people know what I'm saying and if they had a choice (while still being able to play the game), most of these things Blizzard has imposed on us would not be accepted.
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Progress, your arguments are not very coherent. If you are going to argue, please reword it. Half of the arguments don't even make sense (i.e. And if that country's law didn't trump blizzard's, they'd just find a way to impose restrictions anyway. . . all other countries suffer. + most of the other statements)
It does suck that 60 euros is significantly more than 60 dollars, but the overall prices for SC2 around the world are fairly close. No LAN also sucks. I do want LAN. But I don't want someone like KeSPA stepping into the scene either. If it really comes down to it, I'll either get a second hacked version with LAN in addition to my legitimate copy, or even buy the Pro version with LAN support that will come IF I really got serious about hosting a lot of LANs and tournaments. I would respond to more of your post if the responses were written coherently and actually relevant to what you were responding to.
The ad hominem really needs to stop though. Attack my arguments, not me, classic argument fail. If English is not your first language, I also speak German quite well. However if you are going to keep just spouting more ad hominem after this, I advise you to stop trolling. I'm not an idiot, and I really don't care to argue with someone that can't argue correctly.
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agree with progress 100% you are the one not being coherent Fryewolf
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It's exactly the same as Warden for WoW. It watches for third party programs. Dang people you need to loosen up. Every program on your computer is not trying to steal your personal information and give it to the interwebs.
Move along, nothing to see here.
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Don't do naughty things and play SC at the same time?
I'm all for this it seems like a good way to discourage cheating. Could also stop laggers downloading porm whilst they play lol!
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its not like someone will be sitting in a chair in blizzard office watching into our RAM, its mostly to prevent maphacking, the whole NO-LAN concept and blizzard hosting the games are anti-hacks measures,
I dont care i bet dustin watch porn too :D
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On July 28 2010 16:53 j4vz wrote:
its not like someone will be sitting in a chair in blizzard office watching into our RAM, its mostly to prevent maphacking, the whole NO-LAN concept and blizzard hosting the games are anti-hacks measures,
I dont care i bet dustin watch porn too :D
Not when he plays SC2 he wont!
..and this is a harmless tool for blizzard to see which version of 1337_maphack.exe we're running.
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If you have the knowledge to hook an advanced client like SC2 without being instantly and easily caught by the less-advanced anti cheat measures, you probably also have the knowledge to hook warden to tell Blizzard's servers that everything is fine. People easily hack in TF2 by hooking VAC to tell Steam that they aren't cheating because all these systems really do is take a hash of the running process and compare that against the hashes of other known cheat programs. At some point, that program sends out a packet which the hacker can easily intercept and alter. Another attempt to prevent cheating which doesn't. What man makes, man may unmake at his leisure.
If anything, this measure will lead to false positive bans in grey areas like BWchart or similar apps (which may or may not exist, I haven't exactly looked so I apologize for speculating), while banning a handful of retards that tried to win using unsafe hacks because they got bored with the game. The real hackers, who cheat because discovering a way to get away with it is the entire reason they do it, are not stopped and are often well-to-do and highly intelligent hobbyists who think nothing of going through 8 CD keys in the development of a sound hack. They will distribute their methods to kiddies sooner or later and we'll have map hacks and the like, and anything we suffered in hopes of eliminating the hacks will be revealed as unnecessary.
Personally though, I don't think warden is particularly invasive. Blizzard learns nothing about you from hashes of your running processes unless one of those hashes is the same hash as a known hack program. Theoretically they can also determine what version of winamp you're running in the background if they happen to maintain a database of hashes of Winamp versions, which seems wise since if you're trying to prevent cheating by using such a system to determine what's running on remote clients you should also have a list of non-hack program hashes to compare against.
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EPT
