GND-Tech - EA Online Pass - Gaming Codes May Expire Before Use

You may want to be cautious next time you pick up another EA game in the store. Electronic Arts's new Online Pass, which will come bundled with the game, may already be expired. The first reported incident of this was for a copy of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit from Amazon. Instead of unlocking content, an error was displayed saying that the code was either incorrect or no longer valid. EA was questioned about this and according to an adviser, it turns out that it is EA's corporate policy to have the codes expire. Apparently, this should not happen, but if it does, then they can get a new one for free, by either downloading it or getting it from EA directly.

According to the EULA, it mentioned that currently there is only one game with this restriction. It's only Dragon Age 2 which has a time-limited an Online Pass code and that it expires on March 31, 2012:

ONLINE PASS SERIAL CODE EXPIRES MARCH 31, 2012. EA ACCOUNT, REGISTRATION WITH ENCLOSED SINGLE-USE SERIAL CODES, INTERNET CONNECTION AND ACCEPTANCE OF END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT REQUIRED TO PLAY AND TO ACCESS BONUS CONTENT (IF ANY) AND ONLINE FEATURES AND/OR SERVICES. SERIAL CODES ARE NON-TRANSFERABLE ONCE USED. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE CAN BE FOUND AT EA.COM. YOU MUST BE 13+ TO ACTIVATE SOFTWAREAND REGISTER FOR AN EA ACCOUNT. EA MAY RETIRE ONLINE FEATURES AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE POSTED ON EA.COM/2/SERVICE-UPDATES.

So there you have it. Also notice that the EULA doesn't say anything about obtaining a replacement key if yours expired. There is also no info from what we could find about what the actual purpose of these codes are.