Warning: Spyware in the Software! Left Behind: Eternal Forces comes with tracking software inserted directly into the game by an Israeli corporation called Double Fusion, which downloads the latest ads and uploads data on your geographic location (based on your IP address), and tracks your gameplay in real-time. For example, this software, without a gamer's knowledge or permission, tracks when the game is played, how often, and how long, and which ads the gamer views in what New York neighborhoods. READ ON at Talk to Action: http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/6/21/23153/9497

What is spyware? Here's a simple definition, which fits Double Fusion's software to a tee:

"Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge... Data collecting programs that are installed with the user's knowledge are not, properly speaking, spyware, if the user fully understands what data is being collected and with whom it is being shared... Software designed to serve advertising, known as adware, can usually be thought of as spyware as well because it almost invariably includes components for tracking and reporting user information." URL: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci214518,00.html

Even if Double Fusion were to insert in the fine print of an End User Licensing Agreement some ad-speak gobbledegook, that would not suffice to adequately inform a 13-year-old gamer (or his parents) that strangers on the Internet are tracking his gameplay for undisclosed purposes without his voluntary, knowing permission. In plain English, and in bold face type, a 13-year-old gamer and his parents need to know who is tracking his gameplay and collating and reporting data, who is receiving that data, and for what purposes it is being gathered and analyzed.

Finally, the insertion of the Double Fusion software -- which cannot be removed or blocked with any currently existing technology -- does not lower the price of the game, which will be sold for $49.95. Mommy, mommy! What's spyware? Can I have some for Christmas? I want strangers to track my gameplay on the Internet in real time!