Valve Angry Over Counter-Strike Subway Ads

Gamepocalypse writes "I noticed over on GamePro that Valve is considering legal action over the Subway ads that Engage In-Game Advertising was pumping into Counter-Strike matches. Valve's Doug Lombardi: 'Advertising or any other commercial use of our games requires our written permission.'" I'm unclear on this: Were the ads actually in the game already, or was the company just saying they were going to put the ads in? If the ads were displayed in-game, how was that done without Valve's knowledge? If the ads weren't in the game ... why would you make a public claim like this without clearing it with Valve first? Odd all around.

Re:ridiculous

[blanktek]

The article specifically states this is a legal matter. How the law handles proper use of copyrighted material is what is important, although it does seem unfair. Using the engine may have different arrangements. You did read your EULA, didn't you?

Examples

[Chabo]

Here [imageshack.us] are some examples of advertising in-game. This is inside Valve-made maps, not custom maps.

Re:How do they do it?

[Premo_Maggot]

They are server side sprite files.