If not EA, then at least Bioware. But always reading between the lines, I anticipate this will be an EA-wide corporate policy.
As noted here on the Star Wars: The Old Republic website...
Appropriate excerpt:
The last paragraph was included to note that more than likely EA will be attempting to "Double-Dip" the customer, or rather essentially pass the 'cost' of this supposed "illegal" practice on directly to the customer.
Mind you, this does not explicitly state as such, but odds are this will also extend into different-region purchases, knowing how EA operates at least. This will more than likely affect anyone trying to score a deal on a title by purchasing a Russian/Asian-based game key from one of the many popular websites. Again, this last part is pure speculation on my part, but it will likely come to pass especially given the entire blurb references the Origin/EA EULA and ToS.
Fun times indeed.
As noted here on the Star Wars: The Old Republic website...
Appropriate excerpt:
We understand that some customers are unaware they are purchasing 'stolen goods' when they buy these codes, usually from online retailers and auction sites. For that reason we have not taken action against customers using these codes in the past, as despite not gaining revenue from their purchase, we still value them as a customer. Over time however, the number of legitimate customers using these codes has dropped, and the number of gold farmers using them has risen to a level where we can no longer ignore these illegal sales.
As a result, we are changing our policies to limit the practice of using fraudulently obtained codes. From May 2nd, 2012 any account created using a fraudulently obtained game access code (ie, one that was bought using a stolen credit card) will be banned from the game service.
This change may affect a very small number of users who believed they purchased an authentic game access code. If your game service is affected, you may contact Customer Service who will help you obtain a legitimate game code to re-instate your account.
The last paragraph was included to note that more than likely EA will be attempting to "Double-Dip" the customer, or rather essentially pass the 'cost' of this supposed "illegal" practice on directly to the customer.
Mind you, this does not explicitly state as such, but odds are this will also extend into different-region purchases, knowing how EA operates at least. This will more than likely affect anyone trying to score a deal on a title by purchasing a Russian/Asian-based game key from one of the many popular websites. Again, this last part is pure speculation on my part, but it will likely come to pass especially given the entire blurb references the Origin/EA EULA and ToS.
Fun times indeed.