Digital rights management, or DRM, is a form of copyright protecting that has been forced upon consumers in the digital age. It seeks to protect the interests of artists and programmers, whether through music, movies, or even games. In actuality, it fails in all areas and causes profit losses and headaches for both sides: corporations and consumers.
Illegally copying data, no matter what the form, has always been a problem for computers. Whether it was copying floppy disks, CD-ROMs, and now DVDs, the problem has not gone away. Companies have resorted to many different measures to try and combat illegal copying of their property. Most recently, they have resorted to using CD-keys for games that require online activation or by limiting the amount of times you can install a game that you bought. Both infringe upon the rights of the normal consumer and do nothing to combat the ability for people to obtain these games illegally.
All these forms of DRM, or protection, have done nothing but infuriate the average user. Somehow, somewhere along the line, companies have snubbed the people who actually make them money, that is, the average user. Average users buy a game, CD, or DVD that they want, and expect to be able to use it, play it, or watch it.
Pretty simple, right? Wrong. You cannot even buy a game in this day and age without having a required CD-key that may or may not work, depending on if some hacker has already used it. In the unlucky chance it has already been used, the user is stuck in a bind. Most stores will not allow you to return a game once it is opened, so the user is stuck with chatting for hours with out-sourced, foreign tech support. This is the user that has already paid money for something that he or she should rightfully own by now, but instead is subject to the draconic measures of modern DRM.
An example of this is a new game called Spore, distributed by EA. Under the DRM agreement for Spore-users can only install the game three times before having to call up EA and verify that they’re not doing some illegal activity with a game they paid money for.
Personally, I refuse to buy the game for that very reason. Who knows how many times I have installed and uninstalled games over the years, based on a whim of what I did or did not want on my hard drive, getting a new computer, or is often the case with EA, having to reinstall the whole dang game because it just won’t work. Just another example of irritating the buyers and giving excuses to the hackers.
Hackers get a certain glee of satisfaction by “sticking it to the man” and finding a work-around for every new form of DRM they encounter. In their eyes, DRM is unjust and unlawful, so they feel within their rights to pirate, pillage, and plunder digital booty as they see fit. And why blame them? Perhaps they are a disgruntled user who attempted to buy something the old fashioned way, only to be rebuffed by EA when they encountered problems with their shady programming.
With this system, everyone ends up in a bind. Hackers work around every form of DRM with ease, causing companies to scrounge up new, tougher DRM measures. These new DRM measures further frustrate the legit user base, which either stop buying games altogether or join the savvy pirate crusade against the evil empire. The companies see their profits fall further, blaming the pirates, initiating some other inane form of DRM, and the cycle continues to its current state.
The only logical solution is to get rid of digital rights management in its entirety. Companies will save money by not having to come up with inane ways to protect their property. Legit users will not get frustrated so quickly and will be less tempted to pirate whatever they need. Those who are already pirating will either continue to do so or will find their cause complete and buy what they need. Either way, no new recruiting is occurring.
Until then, yarr, matey.