Speaking up against our would be soviet overlords.
Published on January 21, 2010 By taltamir In PC Gaming

DRM as a whole is not meant to stop piracy; no form of DRM has ever been effective in stopping piracy, nor has any of it ever been designed in a way that could be effective in stopping piracy. DRM is nothing but a trick to force customers to purchase the same product again and again; which several big DRM advocates (such as the CEO of sony BGM) have publicly declared as their ultimate goal. DRM pushers also came on records as saying that libraries are nothing but massive scale piracy by the government and should thus be shut down. It is no surprise that the library of congress (and many others) have been complaining about their inability to archive works with DRM as libraries are another of the real intended targets of DRM.

Software companies like to pretend that their product is both intellectual property which they license, as well as a physical product which they sell you at the same time. Furthermore, they pretend that somehow the two are combined so that the consumer gets the responsibilities of both and the benefit of neither while they get the benefits of both and the responsibilities of neither.

When you sell a DVD you are transferring a physical product, one that was manufactured, transported, purchased, and has to be disposed of (at taxpayer expense) when trashed. And has to be repurchased if damaged. Just like a car. This is taking the "physical object" approach.

Digital distribution does not do that. Digital distribution treats it as 100% IP that is licensed to you. You have one lifetime license to use a game/song/movie/program/etc. A license that does not need to be repurchased if your CD is scratched, degrades from age, or otherwise damaged. Therefore you are getting the benefits (you can make copies, transfer devices, and get a duplicate of the data at no cost) and drawbacks (you may not resell it) of the IP licensing method. Which is fair and reasonable; you must remember that in the license approach, you should not have an inherent right to resell an item.

If you wanted the model in which you the consumer could resell the DVD than you have to agree to a model where DVDs can not be duplicated under any circumstances, that the DVD has to be in the drive to run the game. And that if the DVD breaks then you are obligated to buy a new one at full price, even if you already purchased the game/software. This is a ridiculous notion since a DVD is worth under 10 cents, but the software on it is worth at least 50$. It isn't a car, it is a method of transferring the software, which is pure information.

Most unauthorized copying (called piracy by DRM advocates) exists to reclaim the benfits of either the license or the physical property method, but many users forget that if you reclaim both at once than you are going from protecting your rights as a customer and into the realm of thievery (which, ironically, is what the content owners do to you when they claim the rights of both and the responsibilities of neither).

I am very happy with license type digital distribution. Now in a system that no longer tries to exploit me and steal from me (which is exactly what software companies do when they pretend that their product is two different things at once) I am quite satisfied with purchasing software again. This is why services such as impulse are so much better than buying a DVD at the store.


Comments (Page 2)
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on Jan 22, 2010

ZehDon
I understand your point Nesrie, often a companies collapse is a sudden one and no company has a folder sitting on a shelf labelled "In case of bankruptcy". However, I find it difficult to believe that a plan could not be formulated quickly. And despite what Newell said, I think the most likely situation is that the platform itself would be patched - Steam, for example - to remove the online authentication; any game currently installed would be available to the user. I'd even go as far as to say that they'd give a shutdown date for their servers to ensure that their users could download and backup all of their games.

I understand the hesitation of many gamers who don't like the thought of their games being taken away from them; all their eggs in one basket, so to speak. However, if the alternative is to suffer situations such as my RE4 experience, where my disc is useless and I have no chance of getting it back without purchasing a new one, I'm happy to ride the Digital Distribution train. I promise you if Valve ever folded the legal proceedings in its wake would ensure every customer of Valve got their software. We're not talking about a product - we're talking about replicatable code that costs nothing to duplicate or download, and so there are no foreseeable reasons why uses wouldn't be able to download all of their purchased games and play with an unlocked Steam client.

Well you don't have to convince me about the value of Digital Distribution stores. I mean, I use Steam and Impulse personally, although I am still a consumer who, if given a choice at the same price level, still chooses retail copies, and at the moment, I am with the majority (for once). The thing is, and I won't say I 100% know how these business models function, but I suspect these companies have contracts with companies like EA. Let's assume, for sake of argument, that management does something stupid, and now they're insolvent, I believe Valve would actually need permission to patch EA titles so consumers can continue to use them, and do you know what I think the chances are of EA agreeing to something like the, Zero. EA doesn't even remove all its DRM bs from digistores in the first place. There is no way they're going to agree to allow Valve to strip the frontloaded DRM that Steam is as a client so consumers can continue playing. Hell, EA doesn't even like to keep low cost servers running for some of its titles.

So not only will Valve employees and as a company have to be willing and able to patch these games, perhaps even as they are throwing their desks together in a box and sending out resumes, they'd have to get permission to do it, and all the while continuing pay to keep those servers running to allow consumers a chance to actually get the patches they might be releasing.   I am not sure what legal proceedings would do as customers would be somehwere in front investors but behind other people trying to collect dept if a company had do shut down. I mean it might be fun to win in court, but its pretty useless when there is nothing to collect. And it's not like we haven't seen something similar to this happen before... just think about all the DRM music stores that went down. To my knowledge, they didn't sent out any tools remove that DRM and certainly didn't keep servers up for very long. If there was legal action there, and I admit I didn't follow THAT closely, I didn't hear about it. Most of those came from parent companies that are still in existent so there is certainly someone to target for a suit.

My biggest issue though, isn't so much that they might close shop, it's this bs claim the any of  these digi stores are DRM free when they're not, except GoG. I mean if EA just shut it's doors and the aftermath was messy, there would be plenty of games that were purchased as physical discs that could have issues because of all the must use our server nonesense, which is used by Stardock too and many other companies. This need to use their servers, makes those games reliant and at the mercy of these companies' whims.

Digital stores are not offering us DRM free solutions, they're just shifting where the customer encounters the DRM. Are some of the stores better than other DRM schemes, yeah, they are better than activiation limits for sure (I won't even buy one of those), better than online activation, nope not really, gotta be online at some point for them but maybe marginally better in that its not tricky or sneaky (like Ghostbusters which required an online activation even with purchasing the physical disc even though there is no online content whatsoever for the PC).

on Jan 22, 2010

DRM is, for the most part, a violation of your rights.  You have a right to make archival copies of any digital media.  That is in the fair use laws.  So you can copy DRM protected objects (games, songs, movies).  However you are prevented from owning or using any product that bypasses DRM locks.  So how do you make - what is your right - an archival copy and yet not violate another portion of the law?

Simple answer, you cannot.  Hence why DRM is violating your rights.  It is a scam and conspiracy as Taltamir states,  However as long as congress is in Sony's back pocket, your rights are secondary to their lobbying.

on Jan 22, 2010

Well, ya know they say Paradoxes are a part of life....

on Jan 22, 2010

ZehDon
I understand your point Nesrie, often a companies collapse is a sudden one and no company has a folder sitting on a shelf labelled "In case of bankruptcy". However, I find it difficult to believe that a plan could not be formulated quickly. And despite what Newell said, I think the most likely situation is that the platform itself would be patched - Steam, for example - to remove the online authentication; any game currently installed would be available to the user. I'd even go as far as to say that they'd give a shutdown date for their servers to ensure that their users could download and backup all of their games.

I understand the hesitation of many gamers who don't like the thought of their games being taken away from them; all their eggs in one basket, so to speak. However, if the alternative is to suffer situations such as my RE4 experience, where my disc is useless and I have no chance of getting it back without purchasing a new one, I'm happy to ride the Digital Distribution train. I promise you if Valve ever folded the legal proceedings in its wake would ensure every customer of Valve got their software. We're not talking about a product - we're talking about replicatable code that costs nothing to duplicate or download, and so there are no foreseeable reasons why uses wouldn't be able to download all of their purchased games and play with an unlocked Steam client.

The Steam subscriber agreement (http://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/) is quite clear about your rights as a consumer (2.A.): "You understand that neither this Agreement nor the terms associated with a particular Subscription entitles you to future updates, new versions or other enhancements of the Steam Software associated with a particular Subscription although Valve may choose to provide such updates, etc. in its sole discretion." In plain English, once you buy the game, Steam doesn't owe you a damn thing, not even an update of its own client software.  If Valve/Steam was serious about unlocking games in the event of bankruptcy/buy-out/collapse/etc., they would mention the unlocking plan in the EULA.  Instead, they have decided to state very plainly that they owe the user nothing, not even an update to their own client software. 

on Jan 22, 2010

Dr Guy
You have a right to make archival copies of any digital media.  That is in the fair use laws.

Similar laws here in Belgium but somehow more bad... we can make a backup copy but a author right tax is added on any blank media...

It mean that when i buy a blank DVD, some percent of the money used go to the author association... but distributor try to stop me making a backup copy of the product buy !!!

About online music store and DRM, i have know the problem too... store close but for play music and/or video video, i need to connect to a server for authentification... solution was not to use the windows media player... in fact, i have use Linux for convert everything in a open format... they can call me a pirate but i have a screenshot of all my internet transaction and i can show evidence that i have pay for the product...

Problem is the usual citizen Joe... who know just the basic of Windows ( start and stop computer )... once the media will not more play in his mediaplayer, he will complain, cry and everything... but never he will be able to use what he have pay for... these citizen Joe will become mad and next time, he will use pirated version... in fact, all these malicious game distributor are mainly responsible of the piracy problem... citizen Joe is not born pirate, he have become one...

By the way, if some pirate read these topic... when you release a pirated version, try to release the crack in a stand alone torrent... i don't like download 16gb of data when the file i need is only a few mb... try to think about these of us who buy legal version of a game but use your service for remove these DRM who make our live more difficult...

on Jan 22, 2010

e can make a backup copy but a author right tax is added on any blank media...

They did that in America as well - with audio tapes.  When video came out, they tried to do it with VHS and then CDs/DVDs, but they were unsuccessful.

 

On a related, but different topic, check out this site:

http://freeallmusic.com

 

They are just starting up and allegedly are going to provide free legal music - but with ads.

 

on Jan 22, 2010

You go on and fight the good fight, Che.  *rolls eyes*

I seriously dislike DRM because it's ineffective, inefficient, and only incvoneniences legitimate customers rather than the pirates but as a developer of a (non-game related) software company that does unfortunately use DRM... it has nothing to do with trying to screw over the library of congress.  It's based entirely on the belief that it will reduce piracy an therefore increase sales.

They're wrong, but that's executives for you.  Still, there's no grand conspiracy.

on Jan 22, 2010

 it has nothing to do with trying to screw over the library of congress.

Then why are the CEOs and other higher ups of sony, RIAA, and MPAA all say that libraries are piracy and should be outlawed?

It's based entirely on the belief that it will reduce piracy an therefore increase sales.

And a 5 activation limit serves to do that how? it is clearly targeted at the legitimate resale market and for forcing people to repurchase.

Still, there's no grand conspiracy.

People get into the habit of thinking a conspiracy is impossible because some idiots like the 9-11 truthers who come up with obscenely stupid conspiracies... conspiracies are real, it happens all the time. usually in business where there are a variety of crimes that involve conspiracies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing

on Jan 22, 2010

I always saw Impulse and Steam as just a seperate Internet Browser dedicated to the specific software these companies sold and felt more comfortable simply going to the store and buying the disk with the software rather than buying it online as a download. Being able to install a program without the need for Internet (if I didn't happen to have a connect at the time) felt better, I dreaded not being able to install all the Windows updates after a fresh reinstall with no Internet. But that all changed the day I purchased Object Desktop almost a year ago.

Once I realized I did not have to go crazy looking for my software thru folders or CDs, I realized how great it was to have the software all on 1 (or 2) location just waiting for me to installa dn use it. And the best part, I never had to worry about lost or broken CDs. But things like WindowBlinds and LogonStudios programs were minor things in a way to me at first and not the end of the world if I had lost them somehow had they not been on Impulse. It was my games that I fear losing the most. Paying $50 or $60 for a disk that could easily scratch and I would never be able to install the game again even if I had the serial number was horrifying to me and it happend once or twice in the past. That was until I descovered torrents but that's going off topic. Anyways, the moment I was completely sold to the idea of using programs like Impulse and Steam was when I did a recent reinstallation of Windows on my PC and was doing the usual reisnatlling of all my software and games. I came across a copy of Counter Strike Source I had bought about a year ago that my son had asked me to install for him and to be honest I didn't really care for it since I did not find it as interesting as the Call of Duty Series. Anyways once I put the CD in the first thing the game did was install Steam. I figured, oh well, why not. I'll need it anyways for the game

And this is where I was sold. I realized that once I entered the games serial number into Steam to find my lost account, Steam automatically started to download and install the game for me. Heck, I was able to remove the CD and continue other installations while this happend. I was like "wow, this is great". No need for CDs, no need to worry about it being scratched. if I ever lost this CD I still had the serial number in my account.

Now I find myself ready to purchase my next game online the Steam and Impulse also has some games I was gonna buy duplicates of so I could install on my sons PC. No need for CDs to install, no need for Cds to play the game, no worries about scratching the Cds and best of all, no worries about losing the serial number.

I can only hope that Impulse expands their collection with games that I would love to get with no CDs which I have right now.

on Jan 22, 2010

I am with you there  ChuckCS. I buy all my games digitally nowadays. I love impulse and steam (I prefer impulse)

on Jan 22, 2010

Dr Guy
DRM is, for the most part, a violation of your rights.  You have a right to make archival copies of any digital media.  That is in the fair use laws.  So you can copy DRM protected objects (games, songs, movies).  However you are prevented from owning or using any product that bypasses DRM locks.  So how do you make - what is your right - an archival copy and yet not violate another portion of the law?

Simple answer, you cannot.  Hence why DRM is violating your rights.  It is a scam and conspiracy as Taltamir states,  However as long as congress is in Sony's back pocket, your rights are secondary to their lobbying.

I'll buy that for a dollar even though I believe large chunks of the software market (e.g. OS and productivity app innovations) belong under patent law and not copyright law, and that's only when I pretend that I support current copyright laws.

DRM is spawn of the DMCA, and that stinking legislative Bono-ball most definitely ignored the serious conflict that Dr Guy points out.

on Jan 22, 2010

ugh, patent? really?

Patent law is a blight upon humanity and one of the biggest hinderances of our development.

Example of software patent: Amazon patentended "one click buy"; after barns and nobles has had it for months. amazon sued barns and nobles, who lost the suit and had to pay amazon huge sums of money AND remove the "one click buy" buttons from their web pages. According to amazon CEO, he was sitting down one day when he got the idea to patent it, he called up the legal team and the web team, and less then a day later it was done and implemented. he commented that if he didn't patent it, someone else would have and used it against him.

In the gaming market, someone has patented the use of an arrow floating above a controllable character pointing at the direction of your next objective... some games were sued... remove said feature.

another company patented the idea of having a minigame during loading screens. If you want a minigame in your loading screen you must pay royalties to the patent owner. 

Patents have no room at all in the software market, be it gaming or OS and productivity. even "app innovation" should not be patentable.

Copyright, sure. Someone can NOT use your CODE without your permission... but if someone decides to implement a "start button" using a unique set of code, all the more power to them.

on Jan 22, 2010

(I prefer impulse)

Suck up.

on Jan 23, 2010

Suck up. 

Just the truth. Had I preferred steam I'd probably be over at THEIR forums

on Jan 23, 2010

ugh, patent? really?

OK, I admit I was throwing a bit of a red herring there. I have a shred of sympathy for patent law in general, but software is so far beyond what any of the early designers of copyright and patent could have imagined that all attempts to apply those antique concepts strike me as hilarious at best. I'm one of those honor-code customers who vex Brad philosophically. I buy Stardock licenses instead of pirating because I believe in supporting specific groups of people who work steadily on software I use now and want in the future.

Basically, today's intellectual property law is just a bunch of weirdness born in the mercantilist age and mutated by modern interest group politics (hence my bitch-slap at the departed Mr. Bono). Truly devout free marketeers would reject it out of hand because it is based entirely on government intervention in markets.

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