14 DAY TRIAL // Gaming forums were blazing yesterday with posts regarding spyware rumors in the Battlefield 2142 video game. The whole rumor started when CGW got their hands on a retail box copy of Battlefield 2142 and wanted to test it.
When they opened the box, a paper slipped out along with some discs and manuals. The guys at CGW started to read the paper and found out that once you install Battlefield 2142, you will be also installing some software that records your computing habits. Allegedly, the software records your IP address and surfing habits and sends it to advertising companies and advertising servers that generate online ads.
Today, IGA, the company that allegedly receives the information recorded by the Battlefield 2142 "spyware", replied by saying that the monitoring software only checks which country IPs originate from and sends the information to region-specific advertising servers, and it also reports whether players look at the ads or not and for how long. This system is used by IGA to geo-target the advertisements, to prevent for ads meant for U.S. viewers to be seen by European ones.
IGA representatives stated that the in-game ad solution they provided for Battlefield 2142 does not record at what time of the day the gaming session began or ended, but records at what time of the day an in-game ad is viewed and what deflection angle the viewer uses.