what do you guys think of this? if it truly has these flaws then i don't agree with the practice of banning by serial numbers of hard drives and stuff. but then again this is written by the author of SMiRLbot for america's army so it may be a bit biased.

i tried cheat once because i got bored with the game. i don't have itanymore but if i did have iton my PC just sitting in a folder, i wouldn't like to be banned for that. or if i used an AA hack and then couldn't play BF2 or another PB-protected game because i was hardware banned, it would suck.

Quote :

"It appears today that PunkBuster has gone completely off the deep end now and are going crazy handing out Hardware Bans. I have ALOT to say on this topic, but I do not want to flood the entire homepage so I will try to keep it short. For those who don't know what a Hardware Ban is: PunkBuster uses this method of banning because their software sucks so much that it can't detect all the hacks out there, so their response, instead of fixing their software to better detects hacks, they simply turn to Hardware Banning users. They collect serial numbers from the Hardware in your computer such as your Hard Drive, your Network Card, and possibly other devices in your computer. If any of your hardware gets banned, you are permanently unable to play on PunkBuster servers, on any game that uses the PB software. I hope Evenbalance is reading this carefully: We have retained a silicon valley lawyer to put together a CLASS ACTION lawsuit versus EvenBalance. What grounds for the lawsuit? PunkBuster, being the only anti-cheat software available for the games they support, has a monopoly on their business. Their software is distributed with an INVALID End-User License Agreement and they have an INVALID Privacy policy. The PunkBuster EULA states that PB is purely optional, which, if you ask anyone who plays any game that uses PB, they will tell you that that is a completely FALSE statement. PunkBuster is REQUIRED to use the game on probably close to 98% of game servers. We all know that multiplayer games consist of 2 parts, a client and a server, and it can be construed to believe that if someone wants to play any of these games, they really have no choice except to play on PunkBuster enabled servers, whereas the simple fact is that there really is no alternative to PB servers. Some may say, but you can play on Non-PB servers, but that is an INVALID argument. You can not REALLY play the game, as it was meant to be played on a Non-PB server. Even if PunkBuster's EULA was valid, no where in the EULA does it say 'Thou shalt not cheat.'. They DO say that you can't interfere with PunkBuster doing it's job, but it is clear to me today that EvenBalance is Hardware Banning PC's that have not been used to interfere with PB in anyway. I have had 5 reports today that gamers using SMiRLbot, and only SMiRLbot have been given Hardware Bans. As the lead developer and primary coder of SMiRLbot I can assure you that SMiRLbot in no way interfaces, interacts, or interferes with PB. Any Third-Party analysis of my code will prove me right. Quite Simply, not only is PunkBuster hurting our Business by Hardware Banning users, but they also peirce the corporate veil by following these improper practices. This means that the owners and shareholders of PunkBuster software CAN be held liable for damages charged to EvenBalance. Why is Hardware Banning wrong? Quite Simply, whereas a Computer does not have willpower, a Computer or a Computer component CANNOT violate any form of contract. Only a person can violate a contract. And even if a person violates the PB EULA, the chances are VERY HIGH that they violated it on a computer not belonging to them. The large majority of PunkBuster users are under the age of 18 and use a PC that is owned by a parent, a guardian, a school, or library, or at an internet cafe. I do not know very many minors who own their own PC. By Hardware Banning a peice of equipment in a computer PunkBuster damages the possible resale potentional of said hardware. Do you think any gamer is going to buy any of my 4 hardware banned hard drives? I think not. This means that PunkBuster is causing injury to people or organizations that do not even use PunkBuster software. Regarding EvenBalance's Privacy policy, it's name is HIGHLY misleading. If read, you will realize that it is actually a NO-Privacy policy. EvenBalance openly acknowledges that your privacy is worthless compared with the benefits of allowing them to scan you entire hard drive and computer memory. I assume that they probably do not abuse this, however, do you think it's worth it to let them have access to, and potentially share with a 3rd Party, all of the information contained on your computer? I think that Privacy is priceless and to make a statement like they do, is totally ignorant. We will be posting a public petition to stop EvenBalance from their unethical and improper hardware banning practice and to force EvenBalance to correct their Privacy Policy and End-User License Agreement. I hope that all gamers will digitally sign this petition (or in the case of a minor, will have their parent digitally sign), cheaters and anti-cheaters alike. We ALL have to deal with PunkBuster and truthfully, PunkBuster itself is ruining the game for all of us. I cannot count how many times I've heard people complain about being FORCED to use PunkBuster, even legit players and server administrators. I am not crying about Anti-Cheat software here. Believe it or not, I am an advocate of Anti-Cheat software for fairplay, but EvenBalance lies when they say they are spearheading the effort, because their software is the absolute WORST anti-cheat software I know of. Aside from America's Army, I play a number of other games that are poorly protected by PunkBuster. I would like to honestly know why I cannot play without hacks on a game that I PAID for a license to play. Even if I choose to cheat on my own server for instance, I can understand if PunkBuster would give a 5 min kick for a detected hack, but to ban me when trying to play legit on another game server, simply because the PC that I am using contains hardware that was previously used to 'interfere' with PB is wrong. You cannot Identify a person by the serial numbers of the hard drive they are using. Many people may share a single PC and it is unfair to the other users of the PC (especially on a public computer system such as at a school, library, or internet cafe). It is especially unfair to the actual Hardware Owner. If they try to sell their equipment later, the Buyer has a valid complaint if they intend to play games with it and finds out that their new equipment can not be used to play their favorite game because it contains hardware banned parts. By the way, don't try to get unbanned. They simply will not listen to you. EvenBalance seems close minded to the possibility that someone other than the banned gamer might actually use that hardware at a later time. EvenBalance, you need to STOP the practice of hardware banning. It is wrongful, unfair, and unethical. It's been said before, when it comes to these games we play, EvenBalance plays the role of Cop, Commisioner, Judge, Jury, and D.A.. Absoluete Power corrupts, and yes, EvenBalance is very corrupt. I do not think our lawyers and I will have any difficulty proving any of these points in a court of law, and I believe that any judge in this land would be sympathetic with the rights of the people and not a corrupted corporation like EvenBalance. I think I have said everything that I wanted to say about this subject, but I'm sure that I must have left out another point here or there. If you have been hardware banned by EvenBalance or know someone who has, or if you are not a gamer, but own a computer or hardware that has been banned, please sign our petition (which will be coming soon) that we will send to EvenBalance to make them STOP their hardware banning practice. Thank You. "

11/18/2005 8:25:34 AM

summary: wah wah wah i got caught cheating now i'm going to cry like a bitch

11/18/2005 8:37:30 AM

nobody's saying they got caught, idiot. read.

11/18/2005 8:39:24 AM

There are tons of unranked servers that don't use PB. You can use hacks on those servers all you want and PB won't do anything. If you are stupid enough to use a hack on a ranked server then you deserve to get caught. I do agree with the article though. Hardware banning is way too harsh. I think that a simple account reset would be the most effective consequence. Most people are using hacks to either pad there stats (resetting their account will make all that hard work go to waste) or just have fun (they won't care if their accounts are reset).

11/18/2005 8:58:36 AM

Quote :

"They collect serial numbers from the Hardware in your computer such as your Hard Drive, your Network Card, and possibly other devices in your computer. If any of your hardware gets banned, you are permanently unable to play on PunkBuster servers, on any game that uses the PB software."

once a cheater, always a cheater

seems legit

11/18/2005 9:09:07 AM

I don't see anything wrong with this. If you want to cheat, play on a server that allows cheats. Simple enough.

11/18/2005 9:13:28 AM

the only legitimate complaint i see is that it kills the resale value of the banned hardware or someone may buy banned hardware and it would be a pain in the ass to check it before you bought it. Other than that, I dont see a problem with it. If you don't even play around with hacks, then you don't have anything to worry about. Besides if PB was that bad, then server admins would quit putting it on the servers.

11/18/2005 9:33:43 AM

Quote :

"They collect serial numbers from the Hardware in your computer such as your Hard Drive, your Network Card, and possibly other devices in your computer. If any of your hardware gets banned, you are permanently unable to play on PunkBuster servers, on any game that uses the PB software."

I'm sure the people that cheat at games will have no trouble changing the serial numbers for their hard drives, network cards, and possibly other devices.

11/18/2005 9:36:43 AM

Quote :

"I'm sure the people that cheat at games will have no trouble changing the serial numbers for their hard drives, network cards, and possibly other devices."

uhh, lol?

11/18/2005 9:39:09 AM

^thats kind of what I was thinking

11/18/2005 9:43:29 AM

Changing a volume serial number on a hard drive is simple. Manufacturer's is a different story.

11/18/2005 9:49:03 AM

Quote :

"I would like to honestly know why I cannot play without hacks on a game that I PAID for a license to play. "

Because the other people that play the game with you paid for that same license as well, you self-centered egotistical cheating asshole.

ban em all. and the tk'ers

11/18/2005 10:04:19 AM