Do you read the end user licence agreements for software? No? You should. Sometimes they say important things. Like not to build nukes.
Phantasy Star Online 2 is Sega’s MMORPG that is currently free to play. The game is available in both Japan and the West [Correction: Not officially in the West.], but players recently discovered that the game’s Japanese EULA contained a rather interesting caveat.
On the Japanese version of the game’s official download page is the EULA. Under item 7 is written the following:
Translated to English it reads:
7. Prohibition of Misappropriation
The user agrees not to use this software for the purpose of development, manufacturing and use of weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, biological weapons, and missiles). This item does not condone the previously stated activities outside of the boundaries agreed to in this end user licence agreement.
So be warned any terrorists who were planning on using Phantasy Star Online 2 to develop their nukes: You’re not allowed to. And you should always read your EULAs.
Comments
7 responses to “Phantasy Star Online 2 Says Not To Build Nukes”
I’ve seen clauses like that in all sorts of EULAs, most notable I remember was iTunes
Yeah, I remember reading that too. I don’t remember the rest of the terms I agreed to, but I remember that.
It might be a joke but it’s actually not that uncommon with technology. I used to sell systems that included software that someone somewhere deemed a little too close to being capable of calculating various missile trajectory stuff, so there were all sorts of agreements as to who I could sell to and what the buyer had to agree to. It’s really stupid considering it’s stuff with applications so wide that you can learn it through a thousand legitimate channels.
As part of the terms of the lease I’m not allowed to build nukes or chemical weapons in my warehouse either. The man is always trying to keep me down. =(
Wasn’t there an embargo on PS2 in Iraq during Sadam’s time for that specific reason?
It also indemnifies them in the event any group decides to use their game as a communications platform. It is not uncommon for underground cells to use online game chat to communicate with people who are in hiding from governments.
Maybe it’s just a caveat to protect the developer or publisher if there was a terrorist plot of some sort, and it was found these terrorists had used the game for communication and collaboration.
Which is a really interesting idea; would using a f2p chinese MMO be an effective form of secretive communication that is untraceable (obviously through PM’s and/or group/party/guild/clan chat)? Do MMO’s retain chat logs?
I’ve heard a similar story where a game’s developer put a cause in the EULA saying that upon phone contact, they [the developer] would give the customer $10.
10 or 15 years later someone finally called up to collect because no-one else read the darn thing.