DRMs

Really? Bollywood movies and cellphone knockoffs are your support for the elimination of intellectual property? The poor quality Indian copies of American movies (search "Indian Star Wars" on Youtube) and the knockoff phones (search "KIRF" on Engadget) are literally jokes.

I believe that a person should have a right to own the software that they create, and the right to limit distribution of that software. I believe that there should be legal protections for that person. I understand that there is debate on the effects of patents and copyrights, but I do not see success in the software market if there are no protections on software.

Like I said, I can only provide the data that has been reported. The 90% figure was reported by Arstechnica, Joystiq, and countless other reputable sources. If you choose not to believe those sources, then by all means ignore them. However, if you only choose to believe data that supports your viewpoint, while refuting all other data, then you're never going to advance your understanding of this topic.

 

And 90% of PC games out there aren't jokes? Come on! You must not have played many. That kind of proves Pitabred's point (and mine too).

So where are the protections for the customer. Oh wait, there are none. Gee, seems a little one sided to me.

I said the same thing Pitabred did. To just take sales divided by unique IP's is a blind and simple way to look at things. It means nothing, quite frankly. However, 2DBoy did drop DRM, but as far as I know they haven't published results from that. I wouldn't be surprised if sales remained the same, maybe even increased a bit by the few minority (us) that bought it on principle that it didn't contain DRM. I did.

 

You do own the software you create. Just don't give out copies. You may not see success in the software market, but you also don't take into account that most programmers don't work on commercial software. Again, skewed statistics, and perhaps it's an indication that the market is wrong, or that trying to sell something that has a set initial cost and near zero marginal cost is a silly idea, and only propped up artificially. Artificial interference in markets is what causes problems... what would it have been like had the law that New York used to have that someone had to walk in front of every automobile with flags stayed in effect?

I'm saying the output of Bollywood is much higher than Hollywood. Just because some are poor copies doesn't make it all worthless. I've seen some very good Bollywood movies that I enjoy a lot, that are different than anything I've seen coming out of Hollywood.

Just because some crap is developed doesn't mean it's all crap. That's how innovation happens... sometimes there are mistakes and bad products. But they can lead to great products.

Oh, and just because everyone reports it doesn't make it true. Most of those figures are taken at face value. I mean, their methodology doesn't stand up to any kind of analysis. I may as well say that 50% of pirates go on to buy the legitimate product, because I knew one guy who did and one who didn't. It's just as legitimate as their methodology.

 

Sure, most programmers don't work on commercial software. But by eliminating intellectual property, you're in effect saying that all software can be had for free without any ramifications. That's not an acceptable solution.

There's good products and bad products everywhere, but there's no denying that Hollywood produces, on average, a much better product. Even then, movies are very different from computer software. Try as you might, you're not going to get a 100% accurate copy by remaking a movie. However, with one click of a mouse button, you can get a 100% accurate copy of software.

Fine, then there is no data.

 

Intrusive DRM is one of the most stupid things in the video game industry. It is reminiscent of Atari's actions that led to the video game crash in the 80's. I don't see how treating your customers like dumb animals is ever going to contribute to your profit. Maybe it will, but not for long. I expect casual buyers to eventually develop a distrust for companies that implement intrusive DRM if this keeps going on, or maybe even against PC games in general.

The worst is when developers attribute piracy to low sales. I find it absolutely revolting - specially if its coming from console or handheld developers, where piracy is considerably smaller. I ask, since when a pirated game equals a sale loss? Plus, if there really is a 90% piracy rate (something I doubt, as I believe 2D Boy's conclusion to their "analysis" was taken off their arse for reasons stated above), I would urge publishers to maybe, just maybe, consider factual research on reasons behind this high piracy rate; it would perhaps enlighten them a little.

 

Because you said so?

It also means that any software can be had without benefits. No support from the manufacturers, no access to various servers or updates, or whatever. Not to mention most people tend to want to do the right thing, and would prefer paying more for a legitimate product than downloading a copy. Most people are not criminals. We just have a very strong inbuilt sense of fairness, and when we feel ripped off, people will use it as justification for their actions. It's up to game publishers to make their customers not feel ripped off.

Try reading this: Developer Stardock Says Piracy Isn't Killing PC Gaming - PC News at IGN

DRM is creating a crippled product, and changing the benefit for the consumer to get the cracked version. If companies would focus on providing good value instead of adding a "you must be a criminal!" half-working, crippled DRM to all their software and not try to point the fingers at red herrings like copyright infringement, they would make more money.

 

So basically your solution is that software is now a service industry. That's fine. That's why DRM is going to be replaced with streaming technology and cloud based services. That's why the focus on the multiplayer aspect of games is growing greater and greater. That's why companies are requiring a constant internet connection to be able to use their software. You reap what you sow, so be prepared to "rent" all your software in the future.

Don't spew that righteous bull-crap. People will pirate from an indie developer that doesn't use any DRM and sets extremely fair prices. Who is this developer? Oh, it's Stardock. Piracy causes nightmares for Stardock's Demigod - AfterDawn

 

Every software company faces that problem, whether they implement DRM or not. I just have a lot more respect for companies like Stardock that choose not to use EA's business model.

 

As an aside, anybody seen any reports on pirating of the new Starcraft game? Needless to say that game is really selling like hotcakes but the multiplayer experience apparently needs a properly registered genuine copy to work. Since half of the game experience or more is based on the multiplayer, would it make sense to assert that piracy rates for that particular game aren't very high?

 

I'd be more curious if there is a workaround for LAN on Starcraft 2. Again, another total FAIL due to stringent DRM.

 

PM me if u find one =)

 

I recall reading that you can use LAN as long as you're signed into battle.net, which of course assumes that you actually own the game.

 

No, you must play through battle.net.

 

So the choice is to either rent software, or have your computer screwed up from DRM systems? Sounds like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Yup. People did pirate from them. But the real question is, would those pirates have bought the game at ANY price? Notice how many people did buy it legitimately for it not having any DRM. And also read how Stardock's CEO realizes that the solution isn't to punish your legitimate customers for buying your product, which is what DRM does. If you had read a more complete article you'd have gotten to that bit. He dislikes copyright infringement, but he dislikes DRM more.

 

I'm not defending DRM. I'm defending intellectual property rights. DRM is a flawed mechanism for trying to protect intellectual property rights. I'm telling you that your plan to eliminate intellectual property rights leads to the above situations.

Except that he regrets not implementing a key-based protection system.

"For example, if I had to do it over again, I would be inclined to require a valid user account to play LAN even if it only has to be validated one time. That way, we could also make it a lot easier for a legal user to have a LAN party with a single license,"

Key-based protection systems is basically DRM in it's infancy. Basically, you have to realize that the thought process behind all of this leads companies to DRM-like devices.

 

Currently for me the most acceptable DRM is the one Eagle Dynamics use which is you enter your serial number and validate and activate it via the Star-Force website. You have a certain number of activations and deactivations. When you run out you email them and they give you another refill.

Yes it's a pain to even have to do that but it's no where as bad as the 1st generation Star-Force DRM. I lost a CDROM and HDD drive to that malware.