punkbuster

@Actionj123 

If you used your same Origin player account to attempt to connect with your new hardware setup; you will find that you are still globally banned. Your player GUID is banned, nothing you do with regards to your hardware will make any difference. You could purchase the game again, and with new hardware/software...if there was a false positive due to hardware/software that was the cause of the ban initially, you would be able to play again. However, you will have start your player persona from scratch. It will also be interesting to note if you are banned again with the new hardware/software setup: ie. a video card driver that is the same as you used prior but new HDD etc, and do not cheat, there exists a sure sign that your initial ban on your old hardware/software setup was due to a hardware/software issue. If that is the case, I would state that the ban issued to your GUID was due to a false positive trigger of PB due to some hardware or software item. There is also the chance that your new GUID could be hacked and used for cheating by the hacker that stole it. This would also trigger a ban...

There is now testimony on a YouTube podcast where a anonymous hacker stated that Russians had compromised a security flaw in EA owned software (probably Origin or Battlelog) where they could steal thousands of accounts and did steal thousands of accounts. They then sold these accounts to players that used them to cheat. I would gamble that this is the reason we have seen so many thousands of legit players accounts being banned this past year. However, as EB will not share any information about what or how PB was triggered, and EA will not fully investigate the matter, players are left with no recourse. (that is how you and many others end up here, posting on this forum)

To add: No player can tell if any of these bans that have occurred over the last year have been due to hacked/stolen accounts that were then used by the thief to cheat on PB enabled servers, thus causing a ban of a legit players GUID. Because EA will not look into it thoroughly: no player/consumer will know for certain if indeed a compromise of EA's account security protocols have occurred. This should be highly alarming for EA as this will directly effect their bottom line as rightly it should. I do not know many consumers whom will take the chance of spending their money with a company whom does not have proper security protections in place to ensure that theft of purchased product use is not compromised. 

The ball is in EA's court and they know it. Otto may state that EA has nothing to do with it, as he has stated many times before. However, he is wholly incorrect. I will state it clearly once again: 

Contract law stipulates that when one party "Contractee or Principle" (EA) enters into an agreement with another party "Vendor or Contractor" (Evenbalance), to act in some fashion based upon the writ of the contract (provide anti-cheat software), the person/contractor (Evenbalance) that gains (paid $) on the basis of action/motion on behalf of the contract, is in fact operating as an agent of the contractee/entity (EA).

Here is the Black's Law definition of an agent in fact:
A person or entity authorized by another (principal or entity) to act for or in place of him; one instructed with another's business.

This means that Evenbalance is a contracted agent in fact of EA due to their contractual agreement to provide anti-cheat software in exchange for money or interest.

Bottom line:

If indeed EA software was compromised, they have the duty to correct those security flaws and financially rectify the issue with those effected consumers. EA may have taken steps to rectify the security flaws however they have done nothing to compensate all those thousands of players who had their accounts stolen...if in fact that is what occurred.

If a false positive ban issuance has occurred within Evenbalance software PB, EA also has a duty to investigate and rectify the flaw in their agents contracted service. This would mean that they need to compensate all of those players effected by the false positive bans or they need to force their agent in fact to unban those players, as EB currently operates and has operated as agents of EA.

Again, it is crystal clear as to what needs to happen.

EA has shown that they care not. Due to this, unless they choose to act, I would imagine that only insane or stupid (or both) individuals would continue to purchase products from EA. With that said: I believe EA and there lack of action would determine that there are MANY more stupid people that would simply continue to support patronage of EA owned games even though those individuals will possibly and willfully have their money stolen from them. Due to this, why would EA care to look into matters such as this...as it does them no good...unless the wrongfully banned player count grows so large as to make an impact!