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EA Hit with Class Action Lawsuit over Spore DRM
(EA Hit with Class Action Lawsuit over Spore DRM)
Slashdot has a post on it too.
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Now I could have posted this in the Spore thread, but I want to use this article as a stepping stone to discuss DRM methods companies are using these days to treat their legit customers as thieves and criminals.
Spore was the first PC game I've purchased in a long while (other than FFXI and recurring fees), and I was quite annoyed to find it bundled with SecuROM. So after buying the rights to the software, I actually find my rights are quite limited due to EA's DRM use of SecuROM.
SecuROM installs software onto your harddrive that is almost impossible to completely remove without simply reformatting your computer. Sounds an awful lot like malware to me. I'm sure the EULA mentions it at one point, but I have to confess, I haven't read an EULA for a video game in ages. However, EA could have made the use of SecuROM known on the actual packaging, which would have strongly influenced my decision to buy it. There is zero, none, nadda, ever an okay reason that an unwanted software should be allowed to install onto my computer that affects stability. SecuROM will not allow certain porgrams to run, and may stop even more programs from running if virtual device software is detected.
I'm sorry, but fuck any company that thinks it has the right to dictate what I use on my computer. According to EA, the Spore DRM is meant as a preventative measure for an amazingly small percentage of their user-base; so the large majority is treated like criminals and thieves as such.
Go.
With all the vitriol surrounding Spore's DRM, it was only a matter of time before lawyers got involved. Courthouse News Service reports (via Shacknews) that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Electronic Arts in federal court, which alleges the company defrauds its customers by not disclosing the installation of SecuROM copy protection as part of Spore's installation. Interestingly, while the most vocal complaints regarding Spore's DRM have focused on the ways it limits the use of the game, this lawsuit is concerned with the fact that it exists at all. "Although consumers are told that the game uses access control and copy protection technology, consumers are not told that this technology is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install and operate on their computers along with the Spore download," the complaint reads (you can read the full PDF document here).
"Consumers are given no control, rights or options over SecuROM," the complaint continues. "The program is uninstallable. Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls Spore and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecuROM remains a fixture in their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."
The complaint also argues that the copy protection software is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernal), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations." What these certain circumstances and hardware operations are, however, are not detailed.
The lawsuit was filed by Melissa Thomas "on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated." Thomas is represented by Alan Himmelfarb, of KamberEdelson of Vernon, California, and New York. The lawsuit is seeking payments for "actual damages, statutory damages, punitive or treble damages, and other such relief as provided by the statutes cited herein," as well as restitution of legal fees and "relief in the form of restitution and/or disgorgement of all unlawful or illegal profits received by defendant as a result of the unfair, unlawful, and/or deceptive conduct alleged in herein" (you have to love legal writing).
While this lawsuit isn't very surprising considering the controversy Spore has been under for its DRM, it is a bit odd when you consider Spore is far from the first EA game to use SecuROM copy protection -- Mass Effect used the same software before it, and the recently released Crysis: Warhead (as well as the upcoming Red Alert 3) uses it as well.
"Consumers are given no control, rights or options over SecuROM," the complaint continues. "The program is uninstallable. Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls Spore and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecuROM remains a fixture in their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."
The complaint also argues that the copy protection software is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernal), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations." What these certain circumstances and hardware operations are, however, are not detailed.
The lawsuit was filed by Melissa Thomas "on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated." Thomas is represented by Alan Himmelfarb, of KamberEdelson of Vernon, California, and New York. The lawsuit is seeking payments for "actual damages, statutory damages, punitive or treble damages, and other such relief as provided by the statutes cited herein," as well as restitution of legal fees and "relief in the form of restitution and/or disgorgement of all unlawful or illegal profits received by defendant as a result of the unfair, unlawful, and/or deceptive conduct alleged in herein" (you have to love legal writing).
While this lawsuit isn't very surprising considering the controversy Spore has been under for its DRM, it is a bit odd when you consider Spore is far from the first EA game to use SecuROM copy protection -- Mass Effect used the same software before it, and the recently released Crysis: Warhead (as well as the upcoming Red Alert 3) uses it as well.
Slashdot has a post on it too.
----
Now I could have posted this in the Spore thread, but I want to use this article as a stepping stone to discuss DRM methods companies are using these days to treat their legit customers as thieves and criminals.
Spore was the first PC game I've purchased in a long while (other than FFXI and recurring fees), and I was quite annoyed to find it bundled with SecuROM. So after buying the rights to the software, I actually find my rights are quite limited due to EA's DRM use of SecuROM.
SecuROM installs software onto your harddrive that is almost impossible to completely remove without simply reformatting your computer. Sounds an awful lot like malware to me. I'm sure the EULA mentions it at one point, but I have to confess, I haven't read an EULA for a video game in ages. However, EA could have made the use of SecuROM known on the actual packaging, which would have strongly influenced my decision to buy it. There is zero, none, nadda, ever an okay reason that an unwanted software should be allowed to install onto my computer that affects stability. SecuROM will not allow certain porgrams to run, and may stop even more programs from running if virtual device software is detected.
I'm sorry, but fuck any company that thinks it has the right to dictate what I use on my computer. According to EA, the Spore DRM is meant as a preventative measure for an amazingly small percentage of their user-base; so the large majority is treated like criminals and thieves as such.
Go.
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