EA sued over Spore

I just received Crysis Warhead this week and left it installing in the background when all of a sudden a securom install popped up with no way to cancel (that i could see, was done in 3 seconds). It would have been nice to know my computer was going to be infected with this virus.

From reading around, other EA games like Red Alert 3 are going to have this as well. With EA owning such a large market share they can basically do what they like now with hardly any consequences the only way to make them listen is pirating. 

What happened to the good old days of direct I.P multiplayer games as well? Now its all through a server which in 5 years time won't exist and your game is a brick.

Rant Over,


Shaun


Spores EULA makes no mention of SecuROM, doesn't say it's going to deviously install some software you can't remove which will modify the operation of your machine. 

You can't give consent because you haven't been made aware that it's installed in any documentation anywhere. As a rootkit, you wouldn't notice it without specifically looking.

Clearly a breach of the Computer Misuse Act 1987.

Those that aren't happy should be contacting the police.

Well done Missy. Corporates who really think that they can push around people, however and much as they like, need to be taught a lesson. A swift kick on the derriere serves the purpose very well. Let us hope, the judge(s) agrees with this. Also, here's to hoping that we wouldn't have put up with the shabby treatment meted out to us, when we are paying customers.

This is not to say that companies shouldn't have a right to protect their works, just that there ought to be a better way. Unless there is, makes little sense to annoy people who support your company by paying for stuff.

Hooray for the suers.
And I hope a precedent is set (and not just one in which they start to hide in a large EULA that it installs crap please).

"Piracy, the better choice!"(TM)(R)(C) 
'nuff said

Again, gotta love the irony in their desperate attempts to control what users do with their legally purchased software simply having the opposite effect by causing more folk to pirate the bloody things. Idiots.

This is more likely to be self defeating. I would like to play Red Alert, but not with the "additional software" installed along with it. I suspect some would find a cracked, ripped & most likely pirated version. Would that count as an own-goal?

I'm not buying any more EA games until they remove any and all protection schemes from their discs.
Given that it is now official that 99% of gamers have no use for DRM restrictions since they will only install one copy and always have the disk in to play, I see no reason why said 99% should be saddled with an uncontrollable virus that eats away at their privacy and liberty.
EA should pay indeed.

Simple copy protections defeat 95% of the users out there who would pirate if it was easy. It also allows 99% of the people who actually paid for the product to enjoy it without all this BS that installs behind our backs. Still cracked in hours or less.

SEVERE copy protections defeat 95% of the users out there who would pirate if it was easy. HOWEVER, a crapload of people are going to be PISSED over invasive protection schemes when they paid for the game. Still cracked in HOURS or less.

SPORE was released by RELOADED on 9/2. What day was the game releasead?...LOL. You can check nfohump.com (nforce.nl) if you'd like EA. You stop NOBODY with this crap that REALLY wants to steal it (they'd never pay anyway). So why piss off your user base? I don't buy your games anymore for this reason (yeah, I even skipped orangebox for this same type of crap). I read complaints before I buy, find out if it's a protection I can't live with on my machine and buy something else. 

At least the pirates give it to you without the protection problems. If you want the game that bad buy it, pirate it and install the pirate copy. You won't have to endure the pain then. Or just wait until it's a year old, they dump the DRM (not worth paying to have it on the "GOLD EDITION" that comes out in a year) and enjoy the game.

Way to go lady, sue their A$$E$ off. I hope people boycott the game until they repackage it and fire securom :)

why cant they bee smart like id software, they have had to deal with piracy since before EA thought about it. ID has been an exceptional company bringing out hit games and not hurting consumers from what i can tell. I can still play my original copy of quake3 or star trek. Even though the multi player servers are stil up, they dropped the key check on all quake 3. Besides revolutionizing the industry, they still manage to give back to the community. Games like ET Wolf and IOquake (urt) are a good example.

Honestly- it is common knowledge that securcom is a separate program. and it is also common knowledge that it sends encrypted data to the EA servers- but the data is so they can keep in check how many copies of the game have been installed by the same person.

Like the windows error reports- the EA people shouldn't even be able to read them- since it is all authenticated by a pc. 

honestly IMO there is no real grounds for this lawsuit- since securcom isn't a hidden installation. There are several games that use securcom- and TW is not the earliest game to use securcom. i have been using securcom for the better part of 7 years when it comes to my pc games. If EA is in trouble for this- then every other gaming company should get lawsuits filed against them too- for not wanting people to abuse copyright on the game. 

handing out unprotected games is like giving a serial killer a loaded gun with the safety off. It is just begging for piracy 

Well I agree with you all the way Shaun. Unfortunately I will be acquiring my copy of Spore, Red Alert 3, and countless other titles form the 'bay'...
I buy my console games and I can do with them as I wish... so why not pc games. SecureRom? How about f*ck off?

5 installs? I thought that they had removed the limit?? Even if the limit was 50 it is not the point! People pay for and expect to OWN the software - not lease it. If I fork out 50$CA I expect that I can install the damn thing on any PC any number of times over the lifetime of the disk.

I can (to a certain point) agree with "activation" for a game - after all I login to Steam, but I am happy to do that with Steam. Steam makes my life easier and doesn't tend to get in the way and there are no install limits (except for the Bioshock fiasco which wasn't a Steam issue but a Take2 effort).

Limiting installs though is just stupid! Especially when un-installing does NOT return an installation. Computers seem less reliable these days, hell my machine is in need of another reinstall of *cough* Vista *cough* and that would be my third install of Bioshock and my second of Mass Effect. I normally re-install my rig every 9 - 12 months. So in "normal" usage I would use up those few installations in a relatively short time (ignoring disk failures or hardware upgrades) and that is through perfectly legitimate usage.

I know that piracy is (or can be) a problem, but draconian DRM that has ALREADY been defeated is not the answer, nor is silently installing it, nor is using something that actively interferes with other programs (e.g. Securom prevents games running if SysInternals process explorer is or has been running). DRM through obscurity: which does make you wonder what exactly it *IS* doing.

Are they ever going to learn this lesson?
Half-Life didn't have anything printed on the box that indicated the required internet activation (which was followed by several law suits in Europe and America). Bioshock limited the number of installations/activations but of course users had to find that out the hard way, as it wasn't mentioned on the box, not in the manual and also not in the EULA.
There is a long history of companies annoying users with DRM and I seriously hope that this time a court rules that a clear message/sticker has to be on the box to inform the potential buyer about the nature of DRM used to "protect" the software.

Good for her, I wrote to EA and told them to keep there game because of the Securom crap infested on the disk.

The game companies are so retarded trying to fight something they can easiy win. I'm pissed when I drop $60 on a game that sucks, and when I go to return it cause it sucks you can't. In the end the game companies are making the consumer pay for a product that blows chunks. To end piracy you take a page from Microsoft's book and drop the price to something reasonable. Not only will you sell more product, but it will not sting as much if the game is no good. $20-40. It's not like SecuROM hasn't been hacked already. Freaking TARDS!!!!

EA=Electronic Assholes

they arent doing it for the customer, they are doing it for themselves.
they dont give a damn about the customer, only the customer's cash

listen to the critics EA or your fate is sealed. fascism doesnt work!!!!

it will just cause an exodus towards piracy

@dave-
you really have to rethink your computing habits if you're reinstalling the OS in less than a years time. My w2k, (yeah, that's right, W2K) machine has been on the same install of the OS for three years, and it still chews up and spits out whatever i throw at it. and i'm no average consumer-i throw a lot of crazy shi*e at it. learn how to maintain your machine, and give up the righteous indignation.

I just buy the game, then hop on a Torrent site and download the image file so that I can install it on my terms. I'm not out to give the game out to my buddies, but dammit if I buy a game, I want it to work on my PC. I won't have someone many miles away telling me that my choice of gaming attitude won't fit his bottom line.

If you think people pirate unDRM'd stuff, look at Stradock/Impulse's take on their stuff, Sins of a Solar Empire/Galactic Civ 2/etc., #3 best seller of the year and I don't have to put up with the DRM crap, if I lose the disk I can download it again free. 

My company started with video DRM and then after awhile and about 90% complaints that it never worked correctly we dropped it. Now the users are happy, we don't pay the licensing fees to the DRM company and people can enjoy what they purchase!

If something is done with quality versus quantity people WILL buy it versus pirate it anyway!

Seriously this makes purchasers feel violated. I had ordered it. When I found out about the DRM I got an RMA and sent it back. I then went on a tirade across the internet for a week. Emailing all the email addresses at EA I could find, The Inquirer, CNN, Newegg, Amazon, and more. I mean I kinda lost it on this issue. It seems petty you know its "just a game' while there are wars and economic issues going on as well. I just feel this stuff causes thousands of headaches out in the real world for people who paid money for this piece of crap. Its got to stop consumers have to stand up to this practice that leaves honest people feeling violated. It just has to be stopped. I can't believe Will Wright let this happen. He has been my favorite game developer since I was a kid. I am just ashamed of his ignorance of this issue.

I dont know why she didnt do what most people did and downloaded the Crack that bypasses the DRM. its the first thing i did after i brought my copy and ive installed it plenty of times on lots of computers :D

DON'T TRUST SOFTWARE THAT DOESN'T TRUST YOU.

If nobody buys DRM-infested, copy protected software, it will CEASE TO EXIST. Simple as that. There's no money to be made selling something that nobody is willing to buy.

If we don't stick to our guns then it will be just a matter of time before we are denied the ability to use media and software for which we paid our hard-earned money.

Don't believe me? Just ask anyone who bought media from MSN Music. Suckers. And Yahoo! Music Store is following suit in a few days.

hello people, just look at these 2 forums link to see trough what i have to pass to have my STALKER CLEAR SKY game reactivated :

http://www.gsc-game.com/main.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr2&thm_page=1&thm_id=19855&sec_id=19

and :

http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=24557

...and DRM is the worst way to (try) to prevent piracy

I downloaded Spore primarily because a friend of mine bought it, and SecuROM screwed his system over.

I'm glad I never payed a cent because it was a horrible game that I uninstalled before I even finished it anyway