America's Army executive producer, Phil DeLuca, has warned all those who cheat in or modify the game, through the AA forums. "So what?" I hear you say, unfortunately Mr. DeLuca, displaying a remarkable lack of judgement, decided that he would threaten the entire community and that he would utilise the might of the American Army to do so. By doing so, Mr. DeLuca has managed to, single-handedly destroy any recruitment potential that the game may have had. AAs executive producer stated, in no uncertain terms, that anyone cheating in the game or tampering with it, is guilty of cyber crime. He then went on a wild rant comparing, for all intents and purposes, gamers to Imperial Japan during WWII!!
Since he figured he was onto a winning streak, Mr. DeLuca decided to close his little outburst by claiming that The Army is angry, and we're coming for you...
To be fair to Mr. DeLuca, we are not aware how serious the problem of cheating on AA servers is but we seriously doubt that it can be so bad as to justify a response from the world's leading superpower's army. In a world used to protecting big interests at all costs, we have become accustomed to exaggeration; music and movie piracy support terrorism and downloading a movie is just the same as breaking into a person's home... we are told, maybe the RIAA can start using the U.S. Army for its little love-notes to downloaders.
Since AA admins have now, wisely, removed the entry, here is the full post by Mr. DeLuca:
Some of you (and clearly the bad guys are among them) don't always remember that this game, and all accounts and derivative products, are the property of the United States Army. When you tamper with the game, not only are you breaking the EULA you're misusing Army property - and, worse, you're misusing US Army computer programs and equipment.
"Tampering with software and servers owned or used by the Army is cyber crime.
"In the early 1940's, Japan learned an important lesson - "let the sleeping giant lie." We may not react swiftly, but when we do it's with unstoppable force. The Army has partners that deal with cyber crime as a matter of course. These include not just various Army IT departments, but also the Department of Justice, the Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
"It's going to get uncomfortable for some of the bad guys, but you know what? They brought it on themselves. Knowing this anyone who continues to be bad is just plain foolish. Keep trying, though. Sooner or later the bad guy will realize we've known about him for a while... and by then it's too late.
"Allow me to speak directly to the bad guys for a moment: When you get banned, know that we know and have records showing you were doing something that's a violation of terms of service, breaks your EULA, and also happens to be against the law. We know who you are, and can track down where you play from. We have incontrovertible proof you did something illegal. The Army is angry, and we're coming for you.
