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View Full Version : m4d.dll and Massive Inc./Micro$loth



[HDRW]Smee
2006-12-21, 18:42
As an owner of several computers, I really feel that if someone places SPYWARE on my computer that they have trespassed on PRIVATE PROPERTY.

A company called Massive Inc.(the owners of "madserver.net"), recently acquired by Microsoft, has an SDK that they distribute to game developers across the planet which enables them to integrate their software into the executable of the game. The game software, once installed, does a couple of things:

1. Push ads onto your computer during gameplay (annoying, but not dangerous).

2. Extracts PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE DATA from your computer during gameplay. They claim to only use this data to make sure you are getting the ads which would be similar to what you would see in the "real world". But that is not what I paid for. They actually track what ads you see, how long you look at them (based on character position I guess), what angle you are at while viewing them, etc.

The big problem is that there is no mention of the software in the TOS/EULA of these game companies. Wouldn't this be considered SPYWARE? If not, let me know so I can sell my computers.:eek:

In each of these games (from Codemasters and others) there is a file called "m4d.dll" which facilitates(?) the transmission back to Massive Inc./Microsoft. Without the spyware file, the game will not run.

It would be a boon to gamers if this were detected by Spybot S&D and somehow "sanitized" to keep it from calling home. It calls out to 38.119.38.151 - 38.119.38.153. I have blocked it in my firewall, so personally I'm ok. Well, I don't connect anyways . . . Codemasters accuses me of being a little "off my rocker" :rolleyes: for complaining about it.

These guys did a little investigating, and can explain a lot better than I cann, exactly what it does: http://nationalcheeseemporium.org/

Any ideas?