Bah! You people suck as conspiricists.
The widely popular online multiplayer computer game "America's Army" was actually a joint venture between the US Army and the FBI.
The FBI had concocted a keylogging program, dubbed as "Magic Lantern", that records keystrokes of the machine that it inhabits much like the malicious software hackers use to break into systems with captured passwords and user accounts.
Anywhooo... this game was created with state of the art gaming technology (Unreal 2 engine) and built around the highly popular First Person Shooter hoopla of Counter-strike. The Army offered it free of charge to anybody who wished to download it and register with a valid email address. The game was also handed on CD's at various recruiting stations as a tool to lure avid gamers closer to Uncle Sam's reach (purely a second hand benefit).
Making the game appealing (and free) was the main focus as it would ensure that the software gets installed into just about every internet-accessible machine in the world. Sniffers were then employed to locate key words and terms in order to reveal potential terrorists in the post 9/11 era.
We are being watched and no one cares.
Miscellaneous Facts:
- Microsoft was unwilling to include the FBI's package in it's release of Windows XP.
- Symantec, makers of Norton Utilities, initially declined in making their antivirus software blind to the program's existence once installed but soon gave way to government pressure.
