Players don’t care about DRM
DESPITE THE FACT that users have been ignoring its official DRM poisoned 'Spore' game in favour of the pirated version, EA boss John Riccitiello claims that DRM is only a concern for 0.2 per cent of gamers.
If you are worried about EA's DRM system that only allows you to copy the expensive game a few times on your PC and might actually melt down your hard-drive, you are in a minority, he said.
At the INQ we have noticed that there is a standard PR defence that infects companies whose products show any signs of going tits up.
Before engaging brain, the PR bimbo or bimbette will spout "only a minority of users have been effected".
The psychological result of this is to make those users who suffer from any problem feel like they are in such a minority that their problems are small in comparison to the huge volumes of products out there.
Universally, when this defence, is used the problem is actually huge. Xbox 360 meltdowns, Apple's incredible bending notebooks and the Iphone that kept dropping calls, only effected "a small number of users" right up until the day that the companies admitted that shedloads of people were suffering.
As a rule of thumb it is always best to assume that, if a PR monkey says only a minority of people are effected, they know in six months time they will be admitting that an angry mob is at the gates with torches and a battering ram demanding satisfaction.
Speaking at the Dow Jones/Nielsen Media and Money Conference, EA’s CEO John Riccitiello claimed that the DRM thing had been blown out of all proportion.
He said that 99.8 per cent of users wouldn't notice that there computer was suffering, but for the other 0.2 percent, it became an issue and a number of them launched a cabal online to protest against it.
Even if a small number of users were miffed at DRM, Riccitiello's numbers prove nothing. A really a huge number of users could not find their bottoms with both hands but look to the 0.2 percent to tell them why their computer is bejiggered.
They might be asking their expert friends why the EA DRM, SecuROM installs a service in Windows that allows it to shutdown emulation software, preventing you from using Alcohol 120% and Nero, for example.
Only an expert would know why it is bad that SecuROM might have access to Ring 0, providing direct access to the kernel. Officially SecuROM only has access to Ring 3 of Windows, which contains normal applications.
Riccitiello told the throngs that he did not like DRM, as it "interrupts the user experience". He would get rid of it like a shot, but there is a problem called piracy out there.
We guess that effects only a minority of companies. µ
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ist definitely not political correct. Even Bimbette.
I don't know how antagonizing and driving away large numbers of your _legitimate_ customers is supposed to deal to piracy, but I guess that's just because they must be smarter businesspeople than I'll ever be...
Nick. Please learn the difference between "effected" and "affected" so that you don't look such a plonker in future! ;-)
Oh and the difference between "there" and "their". Jesus, do they teach ANYTHING in schools nowadays?
now what is the percentage of people who haven't bought these handcuffs?
I have no real problem with DRM, but EA's SecuROM implementation hasn't been thought through.
Limited activations is a joke, we all know EA won't be running authentication servers in 10 years time... but I still occasionally play 10 year old games. 
Not Spore though, I returned my copy as faulty. TBH, nothing lost, It's a shockingly bad game.
I was surprised to learn on uninstall that SecuROM remains on my machine. 
If you contact EA support, they have no idea what you're on about, and point you to SecuROM. You ask SecuROM and they provide an uninstaller that doesn't actually uninstall it, when you ask why you get a list of lies and misinformation!
The entire system is a joke, penalises legitimate customers and will drive piracy more than anything else I can think of.
After Spore I cancelled all the pre-orders I had for this year. Thank god, FarCry 2 and Crysis Warhead appear to be in a total mess.

If EA has bothered to inform their customers that they were going to infect their machines with malware before you buy it, alot of people could have saved time and money. As it is I think EA shows nothing but contempt for their customers. There is no mention of SecuROM, or that there is no propper uninstaller anywhere in the EULA.

If you wanna get rid of it, it's regedit time.. a pain and beyond the scope of most users.

I think EA should do the decent thing and create an uninstaller that actually uninstalls SecuROM, or cover the cost of people doing it themselves.
The only way to make pirates understand is to penalise the law abiding masses and reward pirates by using stolen DRM free copies of our games.

Yes I can see how that is a sound business decision.
I bought Mass Effect, but had to get a pirated one early on as it fixed some of the maggive game-breaking bugs which weren't caused by DRM, honest. I didn't buy spore due to the DRM either. 

Essentially, a legit copy is worse than a pirate copy due to DRM, you're only punishing the honest users. You're losing sales, and not stopping the pirates. I am not sure why EA seem to have an agenda to kill the PC as a platform, when actually all that will happen is that the Microsoft and Sony cuts on console games will just increase and reduce their profits- when their consoles are the only option.

I dunno, think pointy-haired boss in Dilbert. They're responsible for making it a disadvantage to be honest now, and any "brand loyalty" that they fap themselves into a lather about is quickly eroded by abusive DRM. 

...who refuse to buy anything that is DRM'd up to the eyeballs. I don't pirate software either, but I resent the implied customer=pirate attitude that seems to be prevalent among software houses these days.

So I won't show up on their sales statistics, but ultimately I do matter - since my refusal to buy their product has cost them real money. I don't care if I'm in a minority or not - I will just say this: If the pirated version continues to be better than the original, why buy the original? The case for buying original software is getting weaker and weaker - especially as I consider my PC as my property, not EA's.

In the past, people pirated because they weren't willing to pay for the software. These days, I reckon the pirates could realistically charge for their warez, because there are enough people out there who are fed up to the back teeth with DRM, they'd actually pay. Well done EA et al, for creating yet another compelling market for the pirates. Are you done shooting yourself in the foot yet, or would you like some more bullets?
Anyone who's been on this planet for a decent length of time know that only 1% of people complain publically.
The rest quietly and meekly moan and mutter to themselves only slowly getting riled up to boiling point.

The trick is to ensure your product's ineptitude is fixed or replaced by another before boiling point is reached.

:-)
Of course it only affects a minority of users! The legion of Amazon.com reviewers giving Spore a 1 star review just because it's the lowest available rating are all disgruntled pirates who are unable to pirate the game! Because Spore hasn't been pirated within a day or two of release, you know.

Except that it has. The pirated version is supposedly absolutely DRM-free. I personally wouldn't know as I am still playing Sim Earth, which is supposedly Spore without all the dumbing-down-for-the-masses. Again I wouldn't personally know because I refuse to install such draconian DRM on my PC under any circumstances. Trusting that the pirated version is indeed DRM- and other malware-free frankly brings images of frying-pans with huge fires under them to my mind.

But you know, the PR people are not telling such a huge lie when they say "only a minority of users are affected". After all, they only dropped one small word: "not".
How can EA think that DRM is a solution to Piracy, when some of the most common games on bit-torrent sites are EA games with DRM removed!!! EA are Corporate Idiots. WAKE UP.

Here is an example of what EAs "Happy Customers" think about DRM...oh dear...and it's not even released yet!!!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Command-Conquer-Red-Alert-DVD/dp/B001G0N1VS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1224155277&sr=8-1
Most people dont care about DRM, thats true. UNTIL it comes and bites them on the ass and then they do and they dont want it anymore. Thats what EA and others just dont get.
Especially when someone goes to a mate for help and he downloads what they paid for, for free and fixes the problem with a hacked copy.
If that isnt a WTF moment nothing is!.
"I think I can, I think I can" comes to mind but after reading the article I know exactly whats on his mind.

"Wishfull Thinking" or in his most perfect wet dream a self fullfilling wish.
Take it for what it's worth, but the game studios position on DRM only encourages piracy. Also, fyi. Sony is the maker of secuRom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securom).With all of the money and talent at their disposal, you'd think that they could come up with a better way than this DRM stuff.
Well sorry EA and all the other DRM fanatics out here but it's like this. When I buy it, it's mine, I will install it and run it on what ever I please whenever I please. All of your road blocks and lame DRM schemes are cracked and it's sad that you are so contemptuous of your customers. The EULA? Give me a break, who knows who clicks the mouse at install time could even be a Chimp!
Of late it has been my observation that every time a title does poorly the game companies like to blame piracy like FarCry vs Crysis. Doesn't seem to dawn on them that just maybe FarCry was a far better game in it's day than Crysis. AND FarCry is (was) much more easily pirated the Crysis.
So like so many others commenting here EA I will not purchased WarHead, Spore or FarCry2. The last while I have been using STEAM for games, don't really like it but I can load my games on the computer(s) of my choice and play them with no cd or other DRM sh*t running in the back ground. All game files can be backed up locally so no need for lengthy installs or limits on different machines.
So lemme rephrase this in voting terms:

0% for
98% abstain
2% against

The end result is against.
Yes I don't care about DRM so much that I won't buy Far Cry 2, Crysis Warhead, Spore, Bioshock, Mass Effect because SecuROM is on those games.

EA,
Don't, don't you want me (money)
You know I can't believe it 
When I hear that you won't see me
Don't, don't you want me (money)
You know I don't believe you 
When you say that you don't need me
It's much too late to find
You think you've changed your mind (on DRM)
You'd better change it back 
Or we will both be sorry

(thanks to "Human League")
I play WoW with my two kids. WoW employs some rather intrusive techniques in preventing particular activities that they deem improper use. Those techniques, however, do not make it hard for me to play the game nor do they otherwise interfere with my use of my computer. EA's techniques go well beyond that. Too hard. Even though Warhammer looks like it might be interesting, I am not a criminal nor are my kids. We'll keep playing WoW thank you. Once EA, if ever, figures out that the people who pay them are not the problem, we may look at them again.
soon as all this stuff about Spore and all other future EA games have DRM i started a boycott of all EA products not just PC titles.
yes this has been hard to enjoy a few good console games. but i will stick to my guns.
and i think anyone who is pissed about this stuff should join me in this boycott
Dear David:

http://xkcd.com/326/

Effect an effect :)

you should learn the meaning of "effected" and "affected" so that you don't look such a plonker in the future! XDDDD
Because it's my damned computer!

Keep your DRM's hands off!

It's my PC.

MINE.

You, as an application provider, have no right whatsoever to do anything to the functional status of my PC outside of what is absolutely necessary to make your application function properly when I have decided to activate it, or following the schedule I have assigned to it.

You have no right to look at anything outside of your install folder, nor do you have any right or justification to write anything outside of the location I have graciously given you.

You have no right to check what else is running in my RAM.

And you most certainly have absolutely no right to take down any other application I have decided to run, whatever your board of directors may feel about it.

Some day, my rights as owner of my own computing platform will be enshrined in law, and it will be a federal offense to ignore them.

For now, go on with your DRM nonsense and consumer-unfriendly attitude. I hope your bottom line chokes on it.

The more of us you continuously piss off, the faster that law will be passed.