Hegemonyiii.exe is trying to establish an outbound internet connection with galaxy-log.gog.com. I don't use Galaxy, I have downloaded the classic version of Hegemony 3, and, most importantly, I have not allowed Hegemony 3 to do so, nor has Hegemony 3 bothered to ask me for approval. That I have blocked the attempt to establish the connection with the help of my firewall, and that Hegemony 3 runs without the connection, is true, but beside the point:
- Why is GOG trying to spy on my PC?
- What data does GOG collect and on which legal basis?
- Why does this happen behind my back, without my approval, without asking me for approval?
GOG is certainly aware that the Data Protection Laws of the European Community (which protect my PC) don't allow retrieving personal data from my PC without my explicit approval, which I haven't given. I'm not saying that GOG is trying to collect personal data from my PC, because I don't know - this is why I'm asking the second question above.

thats weird, raise the issue with support, GOG rarely checks the forums.

According to my experience they do check the forums, but rarely respond. I see no reason to raise the issue with GOG - they know what they are doing and won't change anything just because of me. And there are other games on GOG showing the same behaviour. Everyone using a firewall and bothering to read its messages can reproduce these experiences.
I don't intend to take legal action, and no harm was done - thanks to my firewall. The internet access is not required for playing the game. I was posting here to inform people of what's going on. Apparently either the Hegemony forum is not visited by many people, or the visitors are not interested or sensitive enough to mind spyware on their PCs. No surprise - Steam is doing it, too, and I guess the same is true for GOG Galaxy, if you use it (I don't). The difference is that Steam does it openly (and GOG Galaxy, too, I guess), while in my case I wouldn't have noticed it without my firewall.
Bottomline for me is that GOG is moving strongly in Steam's direction - one reason less to favour GOG over Steam. I will bear this in mind when I decide where to spend my money. This is not saying I will not buy from GOG anymore, but I guess somewhat less than in the past. GOG will survive it, I assume :-).

Data collection is nothing new, but I recommended ask gog support about it so they tell you what data it is collecting, but from what my investigation is, its just basic information, just because they are collecting data doesnt mean its "becoming like steam" I think you are a tad overreacting there, but I can sympathize with the concerns.

I agree, and I'm not really worried about the data they may collect from my PC. My point is that it happens behind my back and without my approval. Why do they not simply tell me they would like to (for example) monitor usage, and let me decide whether or not I let them do it? Or worse, but still better than using the spyware approach: make my approval a pre-requisite for doing business with them. Even then it would still be MY decision to share whatever data with them or not. Moreover, my data seem to have value for GOG (otherwise they wouldn't be interested in collecting them), so they should offer me a fair price, according to the standard business model of our world.

Regarding "becoming like Steam": I wasn't so much alluding to Steam's data collection (I have to give them the right to do it if I want to become their customer!), but to the stepwise implementation of GOG Galaxy as GOG's standard gaming platform. Initially an additional service people could use if they wanted, has it turned into the default service (still not mandatory), and it will become mandatory over time, unless GOG's customers resist (with a noticeable negative revenue impact for GOG). GOG has already gone a long way for a company whose biggest selling point used to be "DRM-free". I don't see how this can be maintained when using GOG Galaxy. Unfortunately, I don't have the impression that many people care.
On the other hand, it clarifies the business relationship: The more similar Steam and GOG become, the more people buy where it's cheapest - commodity selling and buying. And probably an over-interpretation (?): The assimilation is also a good basis for a future merger (why does GOG Connect come to my mind?).

I dont think GOG and Steam will merge and I still disagree with you on many things but I do not have the time to discuss it, nor really the desire to as well, I would rather wait and see how things go, but I view Galaxy as just a logical progression from GOG Downloader personally, but today's gaming market demands a steam like interface and GOG needs to appeal that market for its long term success, but like I said I dont really want to discuss it at all, just wait and see how it goes.

Plus we still have our installers and Galaxy install has become web based, so too me GOG is still trying to keep the "drm free" part of their model alive.

Agreed :-). Thanks for your comments.