Ubisoft's new DRM

[DontSayBanana]

I dont think I´ll ever install something with this particular piece of spyware on thanks. Well maybe if it was Starcraft 2.

Thinking of "installing official spyware," I'm just struck by how quickly we've all forgotten about Sony's little rootkit brouhaha.

Honestly, this kind of crap is why I want to get into IP law; there's endless possibilities for purchasing the product/rights to use the product, and then not being able to use it for reasons that are beyond the average PC user's comprehension.  There needs to be some kind of "dud purchase" protection: for example, when you ring up at the register, it puts a hold on the funds until successful installation.  That way, you're not accepting purchases from people who can't meet the invasive DRM scheme.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

to use a bit of hyperbole:

if you buy it, it is yours. Anything else is corporate-based communism.

[DontSayBanana]

to use a bit of hyperbole:

if you buy it, it is yours. Anything else is corporate-based communism.

Software "purchases" are actually treated as leases where user license agreements are concerned (it's usually in the first few lines of those EULA interstitials that nobody reads before clicking "I agree"); there should be more of an effort on the part of marketers and developers to make sure that fact is known before the transaction, though. 

What I don't like is that you think you're purchasing a product, and you're not told that it's actually a lease until you've paid your money, put it in the drive, and begun the installation.  The companies are free to choose whether they'll lease the product to you or sell the product to you, but you should know which kind of transaction it is before you hand over any money.

[Grey Fox]

Which is probably why that, if challenge, EULAs wouldn't stand in court.

[Syt]

Maybe they should just re-introduce dongles.

[Iormlund]

I don't know if it will be harder to use though.  I've never had DRM problems despite the monumental bitching I hear about it.  I wonder how much of the bitching from how hard it is to use is actually by pirates.

I had to crack my copy of Silent Hunter III two weeks after buying it, since Starforce decided it wasn't legit anymore. Needless to say, Ubi has one less customer for SH V now.

[Ed Anger]

Maybe they should just re-introduce dongles.

Or the non-xeroxable paper from Zak McKracken.

[Vricklund]

I don't know if it will be harder to use though.  I've never had DRM problems despite the monumental bitching I hear about it.  I wonder how much of the bitching from how hard it is to use is actually by pirates.

I had to crack my copy of Silent Hunter III two weeks after buying it, since Starforce decided it wasn't legit anymore. Needless to say, Ubi has one less customer for SH V now.

Yup, I ended up doing the same thing. I think SH3 was something out of the ordinary though. I've never had as much trouble with copy protection as I had with that disc.

On a side note I have NEVER had any DRM problems with the pirated games I've tried. I think the "monumental bitching" is justified. It just makes it harder to use for the customer. Not only will the pirate get it for free, he'll also get a superior product. Now there's something seriously wrong with that.

[Syt]

Maybe they should just re-introduce dongles.

Or the non-xeroxable paper from Zak McKracken.

That was a bitch, but I had the original. Forget which game it was, but one had the codes printed glossy black on matt black.

[The Brain]

LOL I saw SH5 and for a second I thought "hey might get this one" and then I remembered... must be great for the developers to have management include a customer assfisting with your game.

[DontSayBanana]

Which is probably why that, if challenge, EULAs wouldn't stand in court.

Unfortunately, EULAs have stood up in court... provided the pertinent information is immediately clear.  Courts have struck down licensing agreement setups where it's "unclear."  They've also struck down schemes where the terms were deliberately hidden (if you say "by breaking this seal, you agree to be bound by these terms," then the terms had better be on the exterior of the packaging.

I have two concerns about the way these are handled:

1) In physical transactions, there's no mention of a license agreement before the money is exchanged, and courts have not addressed this.  In online transactions, the licensing agreement needs to be available prior to checkout, but there's no such requirement for physical media.

2) Since nobody's checking leases before handing over money, there are a lot of agreements that should be nulled floating around.  Say Mom gives her 10-year-old son allowance money and carte blanche to head to the local games store.  The kid buys a game that's rated "K-A," brings it home, and installs it on his own laptop.  One of the requirements for the agreement to be valid is that both parties have to be eligible to enter into agreements; in the United States, that ten-year-old can't enter on his own into any type of agreement of that nature.  So all that text in the softwrap is really just useless bytes.

[garbon]

Why would I care about poor people though?  

I don't always have an internet connection and I even have computers that never go online. Has nothing to do with poverty.

[DisturbedPervert]

Ubisoft's DRM servers crashed, rendering games unplayable   

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/07/ubisoft-drm-authentification-server-is-down-assassins-creed-2/

[HisMajestyBOB]

I don't know if it will be harder to use though.  I've never had DRM problems despite the monumental bitching I hear about it.  I wonder how much of the bitching from how hard it is to use is actually by pirates.

I had to crack my copy of Silent Hunter III two weeks after buying it, since Starforce decided it wasn't legit anymore. Needless to say, Ubi has one less customer for SH V now.

Yup, I ended up doing the same thing. I think SH3 was something out of the ordinary though. I've never had as much trouble with copy protection as I had with that disc.

On a side note I have NEVER had any DRM problems with the pirated games I've tried. I think the "monumental bitching" is justified. It just makes it harder to use for the customer. Not only will the pirate get it for free, he'll also get a superior product. Now there's something seriously wrong with that.

They sell SH3 without the Starforce DRM, at least on Direct2Drive.

Still won't buy the SH5 POS.

[Syt]

Anecdote from my colleague.

Her boyfriend got Assassin's Creed 2. Things went well till yesterday. First he spent half an hour trying to connect to the U-be-soft server. Then the game crashes. He tries to re-log in but can't (probably still tagged as connected on the server). When he finally gets back on his saved games can't be accessed.