WoW = Spyware

[Joe]

http://www.torrentspy.com/article.asp?id=3729

Switch to cedega and linux or ph33r.

[Quik]

Let's see some proof and an official statement from Blizzard, please. Oh, and reversing something (against EULA) that is supposed to verify your compliancy with the EULA is not a good idea, and can be sticky when reporting results scientifically.

[Armin]

Who said this guy didn't have some other spyware, and he just blamed it on WoW?

[Blaze]

I'm pretty sure Warden does do that, but go through your contact list?  Thats not true.

[Newby]

I'm pretty sure Warden does do that, but go through your contact list?  Thats not true.

Some people like to exaggurate to prove a point.

[Quik]

I'm pretty sure Warden does do that, but go through your contact list? Thats not true.

He's saying it goes through all open processes and scans for text which might give it away as being a hack. If you had a list of emails open, or a website with your credit card information entered (why would you do this, then play WoW with it still open?) it would grab your info.

[Joe]

Quik, heres a situation. You get raped by horde in the middle of nowhere, die, release spirit, spirit heal, and hearthstone. You have 10 minutes to kill, so you work on a top-secret programming project like JavaOp2 (BAD EXAMPLE, LIVE WITH IT <3).

Blizzard now has your source code.

[Blaze]

But it doesn't do that... it scans the process names, thats it.

[TheSickEmpire]

Let's see some proof and an official statement from Blizzard, please. Oh, and reversing something (against EULA) that is supposed to verify your compliancy with the EULA is not a good idea, and can be sticky when reporting results scientifically.

There are two definitions pertaining to what reverse engineering is:

Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of taking something (a device, an electrical component, a software program, etc.) apart and analyzing its workings in detail, usually with the intention to construct a new device or program that does the same thing without actually copying anything from the original. The verb form is to reverse-engineer, spelled with a hyphen.

This, is personally the definition I agree with. Then, there is another definition which is quite diffrent. It essentially states:

The process of analyzing a program.

No specifics. None. So, some guy finds a flaw in your program and is about to release it? Threaten to sue for reverse engineering your product. This second definition leave a lot of room for interpretation, which is bad in law.

EULA's in general have gotten out of control. They can state just about anything in their EULA, and it becomes a binding contract. Let's say you go all out and buy Microsoft XP, is there a complete readout of the EULA before you buy it at the store? No. On the box? No. After you've opened it? Possibly. After you've inserted the CD and possibly already installed it? Yes.

Now, by the time you've opened the box and read the EULA, you're already out $150. With no chance of getting it back at a store. It's either Accept or Disagree. What do you do? Accept, obviously. You really don't have much of a choice, by the time you read it, you've already opened the box.

But it doesn't do that... it scans the process names, thats it.

It's still an invasion of privacy, which is wrong.

[Blaze]

How do you suggest they stop hacks then?

[TheSickEmpire]

How do you suggest they stop hacks then?

I'm not here to suggest how they stop hacks, there is a bigger issue here: Privacy.

[Joe]

IIRC, it didn't specifically say that it sent the list to blizzard, it said something along the lines of the "result". Maybe it checks for a list of process names, such as "wowhack.exe", and if it finds that, then it sends it to blizzard. To avoid the obvious problem of EXE name changing, perhaps it will checksum it?

[Newby]

The data is hashed and compared against a list. It's never read by human eyes.

Stop your paranoid whining.

[TheSickEmpire]

The data is hashed and compared against a list. It's never read by human eyes.

Stop your paranoid whining.

What if they flag people who have "WoW is gay" open, and ban them because they have said window open? My point is, computer or not, they have no right to read what windows I have opened.

[Sidoh]

I really don't care to be honest.  I don't cheat on WoW and I'm not about to care that they know I'm looking at porn.  :)

( Kidding ).