suddenoutbreakofcommonsense: EA gets hit by Class-Action over Spore DRM

Certainly some of you have heard of the Spore DRM backlash. First came the influx of 1-star reviews at Amazon - now at almost 2500 - then came the news that the game's Draconian DRM was broken on day one anyways. EA's response? Basically: Let them eat cake - and if they dare to complain about said response, ban them. Not just from the forums, but from playing their games too.

Well it appears people are actually standing up and taking notice. EA's being slapped with a Class-Action lawsuit over the SecuROM bullocks.

To quote Captain Picard from First Contact:
"The line must be drawn here. This far, and no further!"

 

I have a feeling the outcome will be:

Lawyers - rich.
Everyone who bought SPORE: $5 off coupon of an EA game.
All future EA Games: Disclaimer on back that reads "must install SecuROM to play".

 

I watched my friend play on his computer. I thought to myself: "this looks like a kids game."

 

This is so true. Anyone remember the Blockbuster "No Late Fee" lawsuit that ended up with everyone getting a free rental coupon? I think business increased after that "punishment".

Honestly, the punishment needs to be EA having all their software licenses revoked and forcing them to call customer service for every piece of equipment they own and BEG for permission to reinstall it. This should also happen every time they upgrade their equipment for the next 10 years.

 

Sweet. I was hoping this would happen. Making companies have to declare they are putting SecuROM software on your computer is very long overdue. And it's really only a small step. Most people still won't know what programs like SecuROM are and the extent to which they can mess with your system and create security risks.

 

Probably so. But at least it's something. Unfortunately more a word to the wise than to the general public, who will still remain clueless as to what's really going on when they install SecuROM.

 

Agreed.

Has anyone noticed the similarities between what happened with Spore and Bioshock?

Was there a class action lawsuit on Bioshock?

Like Spore, Bioshock also launched with this 3 installs only crap.

Like Spore, they then upped Bioshock to 5 installs, supposedly after receiving complaints.

Even later, Bioshock's publisher then provided a install/revoke tool. (like Spore will?)

I wonder if they (both) always planned to do it this way, and that this whole "listening to the complaints of end-users" is just spin?

 

Thats really all it is.

 

I'm glad I didn't pre-order Spore which I almost did do due to all of the surrounding hype at launch.

I won't even pay $5 for Spore and even if I were to be able to get it for free I wouldn't waste my time...

 

The complaint they're listening to is the one filed by lawyers.

For me, I object more to SecuROM's potential to interfere with disk imaging and DVD playing programs than anything else. And to mess up my drives. So EA turning off checks for how many installations you can have and such really does very little for me. I could have the game long since taken off my system and have SecuROM still telling me I can't use programs that have absolutely nothing to do with EA's games. This is an uncompensated -- and surreptitious -- taking of rights. If I agree to surrender them and get paid for losing them, and the arrangement is adequately disclosed rather than snuck in under cover of doing something else (installing a game), then fine. Otherwise, I don't think EA will have a leg to stand on in court.

 

So what does happen when you install SecuROM then?

I've to my knowledge installed it twice, once with GT Legends and once with Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 and neither time have I encountered problems with it, during or after I've removed the games.

I don't get what people are whinging about, I use VLC, Media Player Classic, WMP 11, PowerDVD, Alcohol 120% and none have been affected by installing a game that has SecuROM, I burn and mount images all the time (mainly because I copy all the games I buy to ISO so I don't end up scratching the original disk) and I've never had a problem, or am I missing something?

It's good to see people taking games companies to task over some of their practices but I would think a better cause would be value for money - I spent £20 on MoH Airborne, it lasted me 12 hours. Not vfm imo. That's something to complain about...

 

Yes, what exactly is "SecuROM" and why is it bad?

How can I check if it was installed with any of my games?

oh, and kudos to whom ever started the lawsuit.

 

I don't have Spore nor have I installed a game that had Securom but I'm glad to see someone sticking it to EA. Kinda off topic but I've refused to buy (almost) any EA game after they signed on as the only company able to make an NFL licensed game because they were scared of competition and didn't want to improve their product. Even further off topic but imho they almost only release/publish average games but I'm considering Spore once this is cleared up and the price drops.

 

Small sample bias. Don't take yourself for the whole. It not only doesn't make sense; it's beside the point. The point is not what YOU personally have experienced. Nobody here probably even knows you, or me, or cares.

Go to www.reclaimyourgame.com for discussions of what SecuROM can do and has done. If you're curious, make an effort, and you'll find out. It's not like anybody's hiding the info. Not doing so but saying people who do know a little about the problems are "whinging" makes you the real ... however you like spelling whiner these days.

Zenica, the site above is one of those that has a list of presently infected games.

 

Oh well excuse me. It just seems to me that it's a "core" of a number of people who always seem to have issues with things such as SecuROM not the majority of people. If the majority of people had issues with things such as SecuROM there would be more complaints than just those on a few forums across the web. Given the number of people in the world who buy video games it seems to be a small portion of them that seem to be complaining they have problems with SecuROM...

And I never said I was the "whole" just that I don't see why people are whinging about it because I've not had problems with it so I don't know what they're whinging about.

Thanks for the link, I'll take a look and see if I can learn something about SecuROM.

 

Serves 'em — EA — right!

 

Atleast it isn't starforce!

 

I don't like or agree with all this drm BS. It very well may be the end to my gaming career, as I reformat all the time as well as remove games for space a lot. Now if there is something in place to limit the amount of times I can install it on my rigs then they can kiss my business goodbye. You purchase a license and media you should be able to remove and install as many times as you want, as long as the license isnt being illegally used. Just plain BS from software companies trying to be to tight with license accountability.

 

As refreshing as this news is, the sad fact is that the courts will almost undoubtedly side with the publishers, and even in the event that some settlement is reached, the only other people to benefit will be the lawyers. The most we can probably hope for, is that publishers will be forced to mention up front that you need to install their "spyware" in order to use their product. Therefore your purchase would imply compliance with whatever draconian DRM they choose to implement.

What actually scares me more, is that this "three install" trend really has little to do with preventing piracy, and more to do with just wringing more money out of us consumers. The precedent EA and others are trying to set, is that our purchase only entitles us to a given number of installations. The next step is going to be formally requiring us to REPURCHASE THE GAME in order to get more installations. And that actually bothers me more than SecuROM, etc.

 

I don't see the big deal as soon as you hit uninstall you get your "install credit" back. So really there is no limit, its just you can only have it installed up to 3 times at once. And even in the event that your uninstall screws up and you don't get that "install credit" back, you can call EA and have them reset it for you.

annoying yes, but it doesn't call for a class action lawsuit.

 

EA banned people for this?! Wow.

Anyway, I heard this game got boring fast and wasn't worth it. It only looks interesting when Robin Williams is playing around with the creature creator.

 

Yes that is what I believe the real issue should be, not the fact that some people have system issues when installing/uninstalling games with SecuROM.

 

Are we still talking Spore here?

 

You didn't you see the video of Robin Williams creating a creature awhile back?!

C'mon, everyone saw that I thought.

Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5TXEUiR1Xk

 

This is a nice change of pace. Even if EA comes out on the bottom, they will probably end up settling for a sum and holding onto DRM.

There will need to be a lot more of this for DRM to be put down. The 1 million Spore sales will not help.

 

EA will not let it go to court---a court may require the removal of the DRM software thus requiring EA to send new DVD's and facilitate the removal of the DRM where it has already been installed, no, EA will settle for a small sum leaving DRM in tact with a small warning on the new packages. People that already have the DRM will be given a credit towards another ES product and mailed instructions to remove/disable the DRM.

 

trepticon, you are unaware of everything that SecuROM does. Read up.

www.reclaimyourgame.com is one of very many sites on the net that can fill you in. Worth reading. A must, to put together an informed opinion.

 

The only way to combat the rising of draconian DRM is to not buy or pirate the game. The problem is the publisher will blame piracy for everything and either crank up the DRM or abandon the PC outright. It's an eternal battle between corporations and customers each wrestling for control over how the product is used; much like many other industries.

 

I'm aware of what it does, but it has yet to ever affect me in the ways the site lists. So my opinion is still the same.

 

It will not go to court, but not because EA is afraid of losing. They'll "crunch the numbers" and decide that throwing us a bone in a settlement would be cheaper than a court battle. So they'll act magnanimous and offer to do what the court would probably order them to do anyway, and that's put a sticker on the box that says, "You must install DRM software in order to play."

And then a couple years down the road, we'll be paying PER install for every game we buy and wishing wistfully for the "good old days" when we got three installs for our money.

 

LOL, yes, like looking back to when gas was under $1.00 per gallon
(right up till mid 2000) or airlines did not charge for extra weight and I don't mean luggage.

I was given these links by someone...use them as you see fit.

Newzbin
NewsRazor

 

If so, in leaving out reference to the worst things SecuROM does as if they don't exist and played no part in the lawsuit or anyone's real or potential problems, the best thing that could be said about your post is that it was a very misleading and unhelpful one.

 

I'm with you there. Installs on only three machines (or 5, or whatever) is OK by me, since it's likely to be a fair few years before I get through that many. However, the SecuROM thing is particularly worrying. Maybe I wouldn't see it do anything to my system. But I'd rather not risk the possibility that all of a sudden a program or game I need/want to use will not be allowed to operate. To not even advertise the fact it will be installed (I didn't realise until I saw this news item!) is insidious and simply can NOT be considered a fair action, if it isn't outright illegal.

 

I remember when I bought one of the more recent Myst games and a message popped up telling me that it wouldn't run until I uninstalled CloneCD from my computer.

That pissed me off enough to uninstall Myst instead. Too bad I couldn't return it since I opened the box.

So yeah, the activation limit doesn't bother me nearly as much as the possibility that DRM will interfere with my system; intentionally or otherwise. I'm also worried that some forms of DRM will open up security holes like Sony's rootkit did.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if it would since publishers don't seem to want to tell you exactly what their DRM is or does; sometimes it's difficult to tell if a game has DRM at all unless it explicitly says so.

 

Yeah, I don't see mention of SecuROM on boxes, and you can have to do a great deal of reading before you find out what the DRM status of a title is.

Plus uninformed customers are very misleading to other customers sometimes. A game might come with DRM but then later have the activations policies turned off, so customers will then say, Oh, the DRM or SecuROM is gone now, they took it out with the latest patch. What's really happened is that the DRM/SecuROM is still there on old machines and may still be installed on new machines; it's just that the activation limit has been changed or turned off.

The average consumer is going to have no idea what's going on.