While I would normally ignore a report such as this, mainly because I have No Interest in purchasing this type of software, or maybe pass it along to warn others about the problem.
Reading this, this morning around 4:30, with my first cup of jo, and getting ready to get ready for work, I Started Laughing till tears streamed, this is Halarious!!
Its about this Game Software:
Peaked your curiousity yet?
Here’s the banner from the site:
and the description:
Game description
Wage a war of apocalyptic proportions in LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces – a real-time strategy game based upon the best-selling LEFT BEHIND book series created by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Join the ultimate fight of Good against Evil, commanding Tribulation Forces or the Global Community Peacekeepers, and uncover the truth about the worldwide disappearances!
Now here’s what had me in stitches so freakin early in the morning:
Spyware Left Behind in Religious Video Game
by Chris Sabga | updated 20060628 @ 00:46AM EST
Infopackets-Spyware Left Behind in Religious Video Game
The Anti-Christ’s dark influence may have already poisoned “Left Behind: Eternal Forces,” a new real-time strategy game based on the best-selling Christian book series. The game allows you to “conduct physical and spiritual warfare: using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops.” (Source: LeftBehindGames.com)
But the power of prayer won’t protect you if you install Left Behind: it comes bundled with a special bonus feature: hidden Spyware that cannot be blocked or uninstalled.It tracks your every move:
**How often you play
**The duration of each game session
**What time of the day you play
**Where you go in the game (Times Square, Soho, Chinatown, and the United Nations Building are some of the locations available)
**It also knows where your computer is located and taps into your personal information. (Source: Arstechnica.com)
**And most importantly: it has control over the product placements and video ads viewed during gameplay. (Source: Talk2Action.org)
The company behind the intrusive software, “Double Fusion,” describes itself as “the leading independent provider of in-game advertising and marketing solutions worldwide.” (Source: DoubleFusion.com)Ironically, Double Fusion is based in Israel: a country described as the “Holy Land” in the “Left Behind” books. (Source: Talk2Action.org)
However, there is nothing holy about the company’s agenda. From Double Fusion’s Web site:
“Double Fusion gives game publishers the next generation in-game advertising the technology, knowledge and sales solutions that help unlock the full revenue potential of their games and take advantage of the new gaming marketplace.” (Source: DoubleFusion.com)
In other words, Double Fusion litters its games with obtrusive advertisements and unwanted Spyware.
What happens if you play as a member of the Anti-Christ’s army in the game? Will Double Fusion try to add you to a database of “non-believers”? A facetious question, obviously, but companies can do anything with the data they accumulate from Spyware.
In the “Left Behind” books, “non-believers” eventually receive the “Mark of the Beast”: an irremovable symbol that damns them as hell bound heathens with no hope of eternal salvation.
Perhaps Spyware companies deserve to suffer the same fate?
Now you can either laugh along, really worry what Robertson, Falwell, and the Chosen – bush, will do with yet another invasion of privacy, or just pass this along to warn others about yet another Software Problem of Spyware!!
Me, I’m Still Laughing!!
