Always on DRM+Not always on Servers=Strong incentive to Pirate the games I legitimately purchased.
Kotaku wrote:
Some of Ubisoft’s PC Games Won’t Work Next Week. Not Even Singleplayer.
Next week, Ubisoft will be moving around some of its servers. What this means for those of you saddled with Ubisoft PC (and Mac!) games that have restrictive DRM is that, in some cases, your games won't work while the move takes place. At all.
PC games affected include Tom Clancy's HAWX 2, Might & Magic: Heroes 6 and The Settlers 7. Mac games similarly going all busted will be Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell Conviction and The Settlers.
Those games above will be completely inaccessible while the move takes place. Worryingly, there's no ETA on how long the move will take place.
In addition, the multiplayer components of many Ubisoft games, both on PC and console, will be "impacted" as well.
This makes the argument that Gabe Newell of Valve that this type of DRM means that the pirated DRM versions are superior to the purchased product.
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
Always on DRM+Not always on Servers=Strong incentive to Pirate the games I legitimately purchased.
Kotaku wrote:
Some of Ubisoft’s PC Games Won’t Work Next Week. Not Even Singleplayer.
Next week, Ubisoft will be moving around some of its servers. What this means for those of you saddled with Ubisoft PC (and Mac!) games that have restrictive DRM is that, in some cases, your games won't work while the move takes place. At all.
PC games affected include Tom Clancy's HAWX 2, Might & Magic: Heroes 6 and The Settlers 7. Mac games similarly going all busted will be Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell Conviction and The Settlers.
Those games above will be completely inaccessible while the move takes place. Worryingly, there's no ETA on how long the move will take place.
In addition, the multiplayer components of many Ubisoft games, both on PC and console, will be "impacted" as well.
This makes the argument that Gabe Newell of Valve that this type of DRM means that the pirated DRM versions are superior to the purchased product.
I really love that because I purchased a new computer they tell me that my cd key isn't valid anymore when I tried to play The settlers 7, and they have no record of the electronic transaction as proof that I bought it even though it's somehow magically on my steam account, but that's not good enough for them.
Block wrote:I really love that because I purchased a new computer they tell me that my cd key isn't valid anymore when I tried to play The settlers 7, and they have no record of the electronic transaction as proof that I bought it even though it's somehow magically on my steam account, but that's not good enough for them.
This is pre-WWII. You can sort of tell from the sketch style, from thee way it refers to Japan (Japan in the 1950s was still rebuilding from WWII), the spelling of Tokyo, lots of details. Nothing obvious... except that the upper right hand corner of the page reads "November 1931." --- Simon_Jester
Skgoa wrote:That form of DRM will NEVER be a problem, who doesn't have internet 24/7?
Apparently the company that said that.
It has become clear to me in the previous days that any attempts at reconciliation and explanation with the community here has failed. I have tried my best. I really have. I pored my heart out trying. But it was all for nothing.
You win. There, I have said it.
Now there is only one thing left to do. Let us see if I can sum up the strength needed to end things once and for all.
And the fun fact is that perfectly working pirated versions will still keep coming after a couple months at most after the official release regardless of this shit they constantly pull off.
I don't understand why they are making it so frustrating for the ones wishing to be legit.
I'm nobody. Nobody at all. But the secrets of the universe don't mind. They reveal themselves to nobodies who care. -- Stereotypical spacecraft are pressurized. Less realistic spacecraft are pressurized to hold breathing atmosphere. Realistic spacecraft are pressurized because they are flying propellant tanks. -Isaac Kuo -- Good art has function as well as form. I hesitate to spend more than $50 on decorations of any kind unless they can be used to pummel an intruder into submission. -Sriad
Whoever says "education does not matter" can try ignorance
------------
A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient, to look the other way. Well, the answer to that is 'survival as what'? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult! - Chief Judge Haywood
------------ My LPs
Joking aside, every release that I care to actually take the 30 seconds to look, pirated versions are out within hours of the game being in store somewhere in the world. Which often results in games being available for download days before the official release, since shops put them on the shelves ASAP. I remember chuckling at the thread on 4chan/v/ in which everyone had the crack for Anno1404 ready but nobody had bought and uploaded the game, yet. The launch of GTA4 was especially bad: Rockstar had gloated on their forums that they had spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on DRM and yet cracks were on Piratebay 5(!) days before the game came out.
I like to pay for a good product, even if I have the opportunity to get it for free. Maybe game publishers should try that approach instead of trying to fight copyright infringement by punishing paying customers.
This is pre-WWII. You can sort of tell from the sketch style, from thee way it refers to Japan (Japan in the 1950s was still rebuilding from WWII), the spelling of Tokyo, lots of details. Nothing obvious... except that the upper right hand corner of the page reads "November 1931." --- Simon_Jester
Skgoa wrote:The launch of GTA4 was especially bad: Rockstar had gloated on their forums that they had spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on DRM and yet cracks were on Piratebay 5(!) days before the game came out.
Aren't those always a case of inside jobs?
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Skgoa wrote:The launch of GTA4 was especially bad: Rockstar had gloated on their forums that they had spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on DRM and yet cracks were on Piratebay 5(!) days before the game came out.
Aren't those always a case of inside jobs?
Yeah, but it still makes a complete mockery of DRM.
Stark wrote:Only if you assume DRM is aimed at hardcore pirates, which it isn't.
Is there a difference between a Pirate who downloads some games from torrents and a Pirate who downloads all his game via torrent?
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
Stark wrote:Only if you assume DRM is aimed at hardcore pirates, which it isn't.
Exactly. So what happens to someone who doesn't understand DRM or anything like that and tries to play when the server is down? They have no frame of reference or understanding of what's happening. They just know it's not working. And they have no understanding of how to fix it.
You'd think Ubisoft would learn, but they've had plenty of time to and they never have. The only thing people can do is stop buying their games on PC and write them to tell them exactly why.
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-revprez, with yet another brilliant rebuttal.
Exactly. So what happens to someone who doesn't understand DRM or anything like that and tries to play when the server is down? They have no frame of reference or understanding of what's happening. They just know it's not working. And they have no understanding of how to fix it.[/quote]
They start buying games on consoles. :v I don't think most people have the perspective to understand how blank most people would be about issues like this. I don't think most people playing games on PC participate in the 'normal' feedback methods.
Stark wrote:I don't think most people playing games on PC participate in the 'normal' feedback methods.
We participate in the most ancient feedback method in the book. We take our money elsewhere. But it seems that the magical 'free market' fairy actually can't fix everything. *shock*
On that note, what is the legal status of purchasing a copy of their games and than acquiring a pirated one so that you can actually play it? Not that I would do so since I don't really care about these particular games. But its an interesting question none the less.
It has become clear to me in the previous days that any attempts at reconciliation and explanation with the community here has failed. I have tried my best. I really have. I pored my heart out trying. But it was all for nothing.
You win. There, I have said it.
Now there is only one thing left to do. Let us see if I can sum up the strength needed to end things once and for all.
Once someone buys something, if they stop playing it the publisher doesn't give a fuck. As DP says, if you want to send a message you should send an actual message. Ubi has almost certainly learned that people on forums are not to be listened to. :V
Stark wrote:I don't think most people playing games on PC participate in the 'normal' feedback methods.
We participate in the most ancient feedback method in the book. We take our money elsewhere. But it seems that the magical 'free market' fairy actually can't fix everything. *shock*
On that note, what is the legal status of purchasing a copy of their games and than acquiring a pirated one so that you can actually play it? Not that I would do so since I don't really care about these particular games. But its an interesting question none the less.
Before the DMCA, I don't think the courts would have cared.
But, the DMCA makes bypassing DRM illegal.
Rule one of Existance: Never, under any circumstances, underestimate stupidity. As it will still find ways to surprise you.
Andrew_Fireborn wrote:But, the DMCA makes bypassing DRM illegal.
You say that as if it matters. A law is worthless if it can't be enforced, just like that no smoking at bus stops law. Of course, it's even more worthless if there is great incentive to break the law, which Ubisoft has unwittingly provided to paying customers.
The Emperor can't force everyone to walk on their hands, after all.
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"I see you do not understand objectivity," said Tom Carder, a fundie fucknut to Darth Wong
Stark wrote:I don't think most people playing games on PC participate in the 'normal' feedback methods.
We participate in the most ancient feedback method in the book. We take our money elsewhere. But it seems that the magical 'free market' fairy actually can't fix everything. *shock*
On that note, what is the legal status of purchasing a copy of their games and than acquiring a pirated one so that you can actually play it? Not that I would do so since I don't really care about these particular games. But its an interesting question none the less.
Before the DMCA, I don't think the courts would have cared.
(CN) - General Electric did not infringe on a power supplier's digital copyrights when it used protected software unlocked through a hacked security key, the 5th Circuit ruled.
"Merely bypassing a technological protection that restricts a user from viewing or using a work is insufficient to trigger the (Digital Millennium Copyright Act's) anti-circumvention provision," Judge Garza wrote for the New Orleans-based court.
"The DMCA prohibits only forms of access that would violate or impinge on the protections that the Copyright Act otherwise affords copyright owners."
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by MGE UPS Systems, a manufacturer of uninterruptible power supply machines used by companies like Power Maintenance International (PMI), which was bought by GE in 2001.
To fix the machines, technicians have to use MGE's copyrighted software programs. The software can be unlocked with an external hardware security key, called a "dongle."
Dongles have expiration dates, passwords and a maximum number of uses.
Years after MGE introduced this technology, hackers posted information online on how to bypass the hardware key. Once a key is cracked, the software can be freely used and copied.
In its lawsuit against GE and PMI, MGE claimed a group of PMI employees had at least one copy of software obtained from a hacked machine. It said GE used the software 428 times between June 2000 and May 2002, even after a judge barred GE from using MGE's software and trade secrets.
A jury awarded MGE more than $4.6 million in damages for copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets, but the trial judge dismissed its Digital Millennium Copyright Act claim.
MGE appealed, arguing that its dongles barred the kind of access to its software that the Act is meant to prevent.
But the 5th Circuit said MGE "advances too broad a definition of 'access.'"
"Without showing a link between 'access' and 'protection' of the copyrighted work, the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision does not apply," Judge Emilio Garza wrote.
"The owner's technological measure must protect the copyrighted material against an infringement of a right that the Copyright Act protects, not from mere use or viewing."
In other words, intent matters. If you are circumventing DRM to access a work you already own, then you are not committing copyright infringement and therefore do not fall under the purview of the DMCA.
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someone_else wrote:And the fun fact is that perfectly working pirated versions will still keep coming after a couple months at most after the official release regardless of this shit they constantly pull off.
Weeks, not months. The more complex the DRM, the bigger the fun for the crackers.
someone_else wrote:I don't understand why they are making it so frustrating for the ones wishing to be legit.
Because right now, the DRM department at Ubisoft is probably as big as a gaming studio and all these people have to justify their existence on company's payroll.
Expect more outrageous DRMs in the future. An idea: with every game you get your own ubisoft employee. He plays the game for you while listening for directions to make sure you never copy it.
The only DRM that may actually work is running the game or at least part of it on a server. Basically single player games now become single player MMOs.
Anything else is just a small speedbump for crackers.
I have to tell you something everything I wrote above is a lie.
Only until an inside job leaks said part of the game and someone sets up a pirate server.
It has become clear to me in the previous days that any attempts at reconciliation and explanation with the community here has failed. I have tried my best. I really have. I pored my heart out trying. But it was all for nothing.
You win. There, I have said it.
Now there is only one thing left to do. Let us see if I can sum up the strength needed to end things once and for all.
Purple wrote:Only until an inside job leaks said part of the game and someone sets up a pirate server.
The pirate server will cost money to run, discouraging people from running them unless they can profit. And I don't see how the person running it could convince a court that they didn't know the server was infringing copyright. Making any prosecution much more likely.
The launch of GTA4 was especially bad: Rockstar had gloated on their forums that they had spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on DRM and yet cracks were on Piratebay 5(!) days before the game came out.
" - 
