Maybe EA’s DRM isn’t all that bad
Recently, EA has been releasing games with a controversial piece of digital rights management which dissallows usage and activation after three initial activations. What I didn’t understand at the time of my previous post, was that this limit was for separate computers. Concurrent installs on the same computer do not count against your limit.
This scheme isn’t all that bad, considering that retail copies of Windows allows installation on several computers before denying your activation as well. EA’s DRM, much like Windows’ activation software, shouldn’t interfere with the installation of your product, so long as you’re using the same computer. The problem I have with this DRM software, though, is the idea of being denied use of the license you purchased. It’s really a pretty new idea for consumers in terms of DRM in the gaming industry.
I’m going to take a classic example of a game that has been on our hard drives for quite a few years: Starcraft. This game is 10 years old and still remains among some of the most avidly played games on the internet. Consider how many computers one copy of Starcraft has been installed on. If you ask me, I’ve had my copy installed on 6 computers (my computers, of course) in the last 10 years. When you purchase a new PC game, you expect the same freedom from the software. (I doubt, however, that EA is capable of creating a game that would last 10 years. Their scope is so broad.)
So on one hand, the DRM isn’t all that bad. You can continue to use your products on ‘authorized’ computers, much like how iTunes handles authenticated computers with iTunes Store-bought music. On the other hand, the idea of software ‘expiring’ after install on several computers is a little uncalled for. If I had to compromise, I’d have to say that I could live with installs for 5 different computers for the lifetime of the license. We’ll see how EA continues to respond to customers’ concerns on the DRM issue, though.
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