We should have seen this one coming, especially after witnessing the shockingly efficient way in which our custom-made race of space-faring lawyer sharks enslaved the Spore galaxy. Boy, those guys were quick, turning over verdicts and shutting every brief case with aplomb.

The plaintiffs of a new class action lawsuit against Spore's publisher, EA, could have found some use for our toothy objectors, as they've alleged that the game violates consumer law by including and installing SecuROM, the digital rights management software responsible for many an outraged gamer. The complaint, which seeks damages for trespass, interference and unfair competition, as well as disgorgement of unjust profits, claims that SecuROM is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations."

We're not sure how EA will respond to the complaint, but we can offer the company some advice, based on the weaknesses we surmised from our aquatic lawyers. Attack with really big space ships.

[Via Gamespot]

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

One of the issues I've been talking a lot about recently has been the concept of crisis management – how companies respond to problems that may impact their relationship with consumers. Crises don't need to be big to matter; even relatively minor issues can grow big enough to cause headaches. And so it was instructive to see the brouhaha over Spore's DRM, and how EA responded.

For those who don't remember the issue, the basic problem was that Spore limited the number of installations allowed per user as well as the number of user accounts per game copy. I'm not particularly interested in debating whether or not this was a good idea (I'm opposed), but am very interested in talking about how EA responded as concerns began to bubble up from the internet. So, how did EA do?

The ability to download movies and TV shows via your game console definitely has its advantages. Like, for instance, never having to leave your couch. Of course, as so many modern conveniences are apt to, it's not without disadvantages. In the case of PS3's video store, one of them is the fact that, should you want to free up HDD space by deleting a video and then attempt to download it again later, you'll quickly find yourself on the phone with a Sony customer service representative. (Plus, you might actually have to get up to call them – ouch!)

Oh, the rep will happily flip a switch somewhere enabling you to re-download the video in question ... but only once. Make the same mistake twice and you're stuck. In this case, whether you actually "own" what you've paid for is more than a little fuzzy.

Of course, you could take advantage of one of the PS3's nicer features and simply install a larger off-the-shelf hard disk by yourself. And, since Sony's been so kind as to provide a PS3 Backup Utility for migrating your data, those videos will transfer right over ... right? Not so fast. According to the utility's documentation, purchased and rented PSN video store content may not play following the transfer process. In this case, you'd better hope you haven't used that one-off "lifeline" call to customer service yet.

[Via Engadget]

Source – PS3 re-download limits
Source – Sony PS3 Backup Utility

Each week Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq, a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:

Digital Rights Management (or "DRM" for short) is back in the news in a big way with the recent Spore fiasco. DRM, much like a Spore creature, is a quirky animal, with legs of technology, a torso of law, and arms of business, but it doesn't always have a head on its shoulders. But like so many other things that potentially put consumers and producers at odds, the viewpoints on DRM are extremely polarized with almost no middle ground. So this week I wanted to take a look at DRM, why it exists from a legal and economic viewpoint, and most importantly, try to get hold of that slippery middle ground.

Thinking back to the days of the floppy disk, piracy wasn't yet an overwhelming concern. Yes, it was easy to bypass the write protection on a floppy, but without an internet, you had to find someone who had an existing copy in real life. For the majority of the population, this wasn't an option. Then we entered the initial CD-ROM phase, and at the time, the CD-ROM was a pretty secure media. The idea of a low cost home CD burner and blank CDs were years off, and the Internet was still in its infancy, so CDs were pretty safe from piracy well into the 1990s. It was the proliferation of CD burners, high speed internet connections, and peer to peer file sharing (Hi Napster!) that made software license security a big issue for all software companies in the late 1990s, and things haven't slowed down since.

Even after the initial buzz has faded, Spore's DRM issues live on. One problem was the inability to have multiple accounts for the game, despite the the manual saying otherwise. EA Producer Lucy Bradshaw writes on the game's official forum, called the Sporum, that users will still have one account, but they'll be able to add five Spore screen names to that account.

These screen names will have separate entries in the Sporepedia, along with their own buddy lists and achievements. It's good to see Maxis and EA loosening its iron grip a little. Moments like this seem appropriate for quoting Princess Leia: "The more you tighten your grip ... the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

[Via Big Download]

Not content with authoring scathing reviews on Amazon, several gamers outraged by EA's approach to DRM in Will Wright's everything sim, Spore, have decided to evolve their line of protest. GameCulture has dug up several amusing, user-created creatures from the game's galaxy, all of them brandishing rather unsubtle traits -- despite lacking traditional faces, it's clear that they frown upon the game's three-install limit.

Regardless of your thoughts on the whole matter, we're pleased to see the promise of user-generated content fulfilled in such an interesting, self-referential way.

[Via GamePolitics]

The latest Spore controversy comes courtesy of some false information printed in the game's manual. The Consumerist reports that despite the game's manual stating purchasers "may have multiple Spore accounts for each installation of the game," they only have one. An EA forum rep stated that the information was a "misprint and will be corrected in future printings of the manual."

Spore has been lambasted in Amazon.com's user review section for its "draconian DRM" measures. There's no clear indication whether Spore was originally meant to allow for more than one account -- did DRM measures put the kibosh on that plan?

[Via GamePolitics]

The Digital Rights Madness around Spore has started an internet war. After demonstrating their power earlier this year with the "Mass Effect Sex-box" author, a gang of ruthless Amazon reviewers have struck Spore (and to a lesser extent the Galactic Edition) down to a paltry 1.5 out of 5 stars. Here's what those Negative Nancies are saying:

• Dumbed down experience and draconian DRM
• DRM is a show stopper
• Spore: I Refuse to Buy Until DRM is Patched Out
• No Way, No How, No DRM
• drm makes me a sad panda
• $49.99 too much for game rental

Notice a trend here? The Spore DRM, so far as we know, works exactly like Mass Effect's system: You have 3 activations for installation, and after that you will reportedly have to call EA for more (and uninstalls won't work to raise that number). Of course, those reviews haven't stopped Spore from being #1 in video game sales on Amazon (Galactic Edition at #12), and we doubt any negative reviews will. As Will Wright aptly told MTV Multiplayer, "We would rather have the Metacritic and sales of Sims 2 than the Metacritic and sales of Half-Life."

If you love classic games but feel the need to own things in order to bring some sense of stability to your life, GOG.com (that's Good Old Games) could be a good alternative to GameTap for you. The company recently announced that you'll be able to find out for yourself if you sign up for the beta before Sept. 8, at which point the gates will be opened to the masses, or at least the masses that signed up.

We love GOG.com's approach, with $5.99 and $9.99 DRM-free releases that you can download as many times as you want and don't need an internet connection to play, but we wish the selection was a bit better. But who knows? With a beefier roster GOG could be a real Steam contender.

In a world where video providers seem to be adding increasingly disruptive digital rights management into their video streams, you can always count on video game accessories to provide a hole for unprotected video to break through. First it was the Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive, whose component output allowed for DRM-free copying of the now-defunct high-def discs. Now it's Sony's European PlayTV digital video recorder add-on for the PS3, which CVG reports can "export [recorded] videos to your PS3's XMB menu as MPEG-4 video" for free use on other devices.

At a time when everyone from Tivo to Microsoft seems to slap some sort of protection on digital video recordings, it's frankly a little baffling that Sony (itself a major video producer) would leave this hole in its digital recorder. Not that we're complaining, we're just waiting with trepidation for the other patch shoe to drop.

[Via Evil Avatar]

Curious how Microsoft's now available Xbox Live DRM tool works, but don't want to futz through it on your own? Well, we've got two solutions: first, sift through our gallery of the service's various screens by clicking on the above image; second, have the affable Major Nelson hold your hand through the entire thing, in video format after the break. Two great tastes that taste great (or at least show you how to fix DRM-isses on a video game console) together.

Maybe it was our constant pestering, week after week, month after month, asking everyone at Microsoft what was going on with the DRM situation on Xbox Live – read: some consoles which had been repaired or replaced had lost the ability to play certain XBLA games or view some Xbox Live video content without being signed into Xbox Live – but sometime after announcing the pending release of the DRM tool, we were given the opportunity to speak with Microsoft's Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live, about some of the outstanding questions we had. Anything we missed? Leave your own questions in the comments and we'll try and get the best ones answered.


Joystiq: What took so long? And how long has Microsoft been cognizant of the problem and did the RRoD situation exacerbate this situation?
Marc Whitten: This update is in response to the requests for this from our community. Xbox LIVE members have been asking for an easier way to transfer licenses, and we've been working hard behind the scenes to make this happen. We know the license transfer process has been difficult... I experienced it first hand when I upgraded to an Xbox 360 Elite, but we think this new DRM tool will be great and worth the wait.

How does the tool work? Can we reauthorize content from console to console, or enable on multiple consoles (ala PS3)? If so, how many consoles?
The process is really easy. The Xbox.com DRM tool lets you consolidate all of your downloaded content licenses to one console. So let's say you downloaded UNO from Xbox LIVE Marketplace and an episode of South Park from the Video Store on your Xbox 360, and then upgraded to an Elite down the line and downloaded more games and videos on the new console. In this scenario your content would be licensed to two consoles, and by using the DRM tool you could then download your older content licenses to your new console. With this tool you can transfer licenses from multiple consoles to a single console.

In lieu of your regularly scheduled "Spring" Dashboard update, Microsoft promised to release a DRM tool that would "allow you to better consolidate your licenses for downloaded content to a single Xbox and allow you the freedom to be able to play your content both online and offline." In other words, this is for the sad saps whose Xbox 360 red-ringed, only to have it returned with Xbox Live Arcade titles that required you to be signed into Live to play. Now instead of jumping through a series of customer-service related hoops, this new tool – available immediately at Xbox.com – will allow you to quickly manage that content.

If you're looking for some more info on how the DRM tool works, check out our exclusive Q&A with Microsoft's Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live.

When we first reported on EA's reworked DRM scheme for Mass Effect PC – one that removed the onerous 10-day re-validation process but now only allows a maximum of three activations – we teased that we were ready to "pick up our torches and pitchforks and join the mob outside."

Now, a little over a month later, that mob has grown to some considerable size, spurred on by a forum thread on BioWare's site being referenced on consumer-advocacy blog The Consumerist. The problem: some confusion over whether or not uninstalling the game reinstates one of your three activations. After some wrangling (you know how support centers can be) EA confirmed that "unfortunately, you will not gain an activation by uninstalling the game." So, be stingy with those installs, gamers.


[Via Consumerist; thanks, Eric]