DRM is dead, long live the DRM!

A group of hackers, Razor1911, has announced an Origin-free version of Battlefield 3.  This is great, cause now I can weigh in on the whole DRM subject.  A lot of people I talk to about this don't even know what it is, let alone why it is probably the biggest issue facing the industry, so I'm going to do a little explaining before hand - bear with if you already know all about the horrors of DRM.




DRM, or Digital Rights Management, is a piece of software that helps the publisher make sure you have actually paid for the game you are playing.  If you've ever "authenticated," typed in a CD-Key, answered some silly questions about Reaganomics, looked up a specific word in the instruction manual, or any other assortment of activities before being allowed to use the software you bought, you have been the victim of DRM.  This may not seem like such a bad thing, right?  The publisher is just protecting their product, and you, being a loyal consumer and upstanding citizen, can easily prove that you did in fact buy their product, so you don't mind jumping through a hoop now and again if it means the less savory parts of society are kept away.  Well, you're wrong, but I'll get back to that later.

The latest in the long line of DRM schemes concocted by the industry is what is referred to as "Always-On DRM."  This kind of DRM requires you to be connected to a server in order to use your product.  Again, this doesn't sound so bad on its face, but we'll get into why it's bad for you and not doing what it's supposed to be doing in a little bit.  Origin is a new version of Always-On DRM created by EA and being paraded around as competitor to Steam, the premier DDS from Valve.  Origin goes beyond the realm of previous DRM packages because it is also spyware.

That's right, when you agree to buy games from Origin, you are willingly installing a virus onto your computer.  From the Origin EULA -

You agree that EA may collect, use, store and transmit technical and related information that identifies your computer (including the Internet Protocol Address), operating system, Application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware, that may be gathered periodically to facilitate the provision of software updates, dynamically served content, product support and other services to you, including online services. EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you. IF YOU DO NOT WANT EA TO COLLECT, USE, STORE, TRANSMIT OR DISPLAY THE DATA DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION, PLEASE DO NOT INSTALL OR USE THE APPLICATION.

So that's the history of DRM in a nutshell.  Obviously, Origin is bad, I think we can all agree to that.  But I promised to tell you why all the previous forms of DRM are bad as well.  There's two lies being perpetrated by the publishers when it comes to DRM.  The first, that DRM doesn't effect legitimate consumers, and second, that DRM is keeping the bad guys away.

Let's look at that second one first, cause I actually think the first one is more insidious and want to tackle it last.  So, the reason, according to the publishers, that they have to put DRM in their software is that without it, no one would pay for their product, deciding instead to steal it.  But when someone steals the software, they aren't stealing a version of it with the DRM.  DRM is a piece of code in your software, and like most code, if you know what you are doing, you can remove it and leave behind a perfectly serviceable program. This new, DRM-free version is what is then distributed by hackers to the pirating masses.  So, not only is it stolen, but it has less hoops to jump through in order to use - a better version of the software, and for free.

So, DRM isn't doing its job, but what if keeping bad people out wasn't its job?  Let me rock your world by renaming DRM with something everyone has heard of before and scorns universally - Planned Obsolescence.  All those forms of DRM I talked about before have it, mostly in the form of some kind of server that needs to contacted to authenticate, whether it be an actual authentication server, a CD-Key check, Always-On, or even having to look up a specific word in a manual on the publishers website since no physical copies of the manual exist anymore, they all require the publisher to maintain something.  If they suddenly decided it's not worth their money to do so, even if you have the physical CD in your possession, there's nothing you can do but go out and buy the inevitable new version that's being released.

You have no right to take advantage of the innocent.