Copy Protection Discussed at Next Generation

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Next Generation has published an article by PC Gamer editor-in-chief Greg Vederman, in which the author discusses the problems caused by various copy protection methods publishers use. Here's a snip:

Software piracy has become a huge problem for game publishers — one that, according to the SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association), costs the software industry somewhere between $11 and $12 billion in revenue each year. Game companies have grown understandably frustrated and are constantly on the lookout for better ways to protect themselves.

Despite years of combating piracy, by the late ’80s and early ’90s, the games industry could do little more than ask nicely that people not pirate their wares. These days, however, copy-protection software is ubiquitous, and any PC game bought at retail is going to have it embedded on the game disc(s) in one form or another.

I would only like to point out that the best form of copy protection is lack of nonsense restrictions and an agreeable price. Or at least lack of too obviously greed-driven restrictions (look at what you can do per a standard EULA) and a somewhat reasonable price. However, the author spends most of the article's length pointing out the problems which happen to legitimate buyers:

I’m okay with that in theory, but some of these anti-piracy software programs are so potent that they cause issues for legitimate game buyers. One of the leading brands, StarForce, is notorious for not only making it difficult for a small percentage of legitimate users to load up StarForce-protected games, but also for leaving potentially problem-causing StarForce software behind on your PC, even after you’ve deleted the game it was protecting. And this isn’t just some story that I’ve read about online or in emails from readers. No, it happened to me.

Last year, my work PC suddenly began blue-screening (crashing) any time I popped an audio CD into either of my two optical drives. I went online and learned that other people were having this problem and that it appeared to be StarForce-related. Deleting my StarForce-protected games did nothing. I had to run a StarForce-removal utility before my system — filled only with legal, licensed software — could play audio CDs again.

And I'm totally in agreement with him when he says it sucks. I think it's already illegal pretty much everywhere and it should be criminal for publishers to accept the risk of messing your computer up like that if they know. He also mentions the problem of not accepting returns, which royally sucks in my oh so humble opinion. But enough of my opinions. It's your turn now.

Read the rest at Next Generation. You can also find the Star Force article and Stardock Systems interview at GameSpot informative. It's actually quite illustrative of the attitudes towards piracy.

 

Hear hear!