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EMA Suggests Point-Of-Sale Game Activation To Fight Piracy
Posted by
Soulskill
on Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:49 PM
from the new-ways-to-break-things dept.
from the new-ways-to-break-things dept.
Gamasutra reports on a set of standards (PDF) published by the Entertainment Merchants Association to promote the use of technology that would "disable" games and DVDs until they are activated when purchased. "The effort is codenamed 'Project Lazarus,' and the EMA says it's assembled a consortium of retailers, home video companies and video game publishers to see how easily such 'benefit denial technology' could be implemented, and to evaluate possible cost-benefit analyses. The initiative is similar to security tags used in clothing retail that spill ink on garments if they're forcibly removed, thereby destroying the item. In such a situation, shoplifting is discouraged by implementing a solution that only the retailer can remove at the point of sale."
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Study Claims Point-of-Sale Activation Could Generate Billions In Revenue 140 comments
Late last year we discussed news that the Entertainment Merchants Association was pondering a plan to develop technology that requires games and movies to be "activated" when they are sold at retail outlets, primarily to reduce theft and piracy. Now, the EMA claims a study they commissioned has indicated that employing such a system for video games, DVDs, and Blu-ray products would generate an additional $6 billion in revenues each year. Critics of the idea are skeptical about the numbers, pointing out that the majority of game piracy comes from downloading PC games, which this plan won't even affect. There are other problems as well: "In order for benefit denial to work, the EMA would presumably require the three major consoles to have some sort of activation verification function to ensure that games were legally purchased. It will be interesting to see if Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft agree to that. There is also a lucrative market for used video games to consider. After some gamers complete a title, they sell it back to the retailer. How will benefit denial handle that situation?"
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NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:3, Insightful)
Make the games good, remove the damned drm and make them affordable. How is that difficult to understand?
I will buy games after a half year or so, so that there is a good no-cd crack and the price is about half. I can't afford $60+ on a game. $20, ya no problem. I'll wait for the price drop, but drm, shit that's a deal breaker, I won't even bother with a hacked version.
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Call me lame and perhaps not a true enthusiast to the cause, but the DRM I've encountered hasn't really bothered me.
You've apparently not played any game that used StarForce.
LK
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Or odds were that the person didn't have a specialized and very-custom computer.
Try having more than one optical drive in your system, virtual or physical. Watch whichever's the secondary end up disabled or having the firmware totally bricked (Which starforce did)
Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:5, Insightful)
To be fair, activation-requiring games haven't been around very long. You might have a different opinion in a few years when EA decides old games are past their "support date" and turns off the activation servers, or you've upgraded your PC a few times and run out of re-activations.
Many game publishers regularly shut down all online support for their games a few years after release. Services like Direct2Drive and the Microsoft Store limit your activations or remove downloads after a certain period of time. Steam is the exception in this case, as they explicitly state that they will never remove or disable your games, but many publishers insist on adding their own activation scheme on top of Steam's DRM.
Claiming that DRM hasn't bothered you reminds me of the optimist falling from the skyscraper: Every few floors he tells himself "I'm feeling fine, so far!"
Parent
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Everyone I know that got a burned copy of starcraft (and used the 00110011 code) eventually bought it. Why? It was worth the price to get on battle.net
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I wouldn't call what starcraft did activation.
Firstly there was no install limit or anything like that, the only thing it enforced was that each CD key could only be used for one login at a time.
Secondly it only affected play on battle.net which would go away anyway if blizzard took the servers offline. Activation extends this point of failure to single player and lan play.
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Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope you know you can run steam in offline mode, and still have full access to all your single-player content. In fact, when I recently had an interruption in service while I switched providers, all I really played was single-player games I had previously purchased via Steam.
People on slashdot CONSTANTLY complain about that, and I can't help but facepalm. Has it really gotten to the point where the vnboards are better able to understand the programs they use every day than slashdot? FACEPALM
Parent
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What happens when you wake up one day and ask permission to use the product you purchased and no response comes back? Why do you feel it's ok to ask permission to use things you bought? Would you be ok with calling Ford/Honda to ask permission to drive to work? How is that acceptable DRM?
Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:5, Informative)
dude, this is not DRM, this is to stop people shoplifting. You might as well rant and spit about security tags on clothes.
try reading the article before you hit the "OH NOES TEH DRM" button.
Plus who the fuck buys games for $60? The only place I ever see $60 mentioned is by people complaining about not buying them.
Parent
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This has nothing to do with shoplifting. That's why there's those security strips in the packaging.
Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:4, Insightful)
In short, Steam provides a DRM scheme, but it also provides enough of a benefit that it's a worthwhile trade. In fact, many of the restrictions imposed by the DRM scheme are things you would have to sacrifice anyway for the network -- for example, the need to be online all the time, the need for constant updates, and the need to run their proprietary software (a given for any game).
Contrast this to SecuROM games, or even moreso, movies -- in these cases, the DRM scheme provides no value. There is no tradeoff to make me want to deal with the DRM -- and worse, the pirated copy is a better product.
That's the essential difference, I think. A pirated Valve game is worth less than a legitimate copy. A pirated EA game is worth more than a legitimate copy.
Parent
MMO/Online Key Use (Score:5, Insightful)
This sounds like a solution for people who steal keys out of retail boxes.
If the key isn't activated due to a sale, it can't be used online.
I see no problems with this. I hope they don't think it will actually affect single player game piracy.
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I wouldn't necessarily say this is problemless. I've gotten some of my favorite games form a place that buys goods with damaged boxes or whatever. If this is stuff comes prepackaged with the games, it's going to be kinda annoying when customer support tells me I shouldn't have stolen the game I just bought.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
No kidding. This is yet another backward ass "protection" mechanism that won't actually do anything except inconvenience legit customers.
The industry needs to figure out HOW to offer the ease of use and pleasant experience of piracy. Steam is as close as we get right now.
Seriously, are these people THAT deluded that they believe this would do anything to fight piracy?
I am forever amazed (Score:4, Interesting)
at the number of big box stores which don't lock these game cards up. The problem is especially bad at Target, where more than a dozen of different games were obviously "opened" along the seam. Even after explaining it to the the customer service people I swear they didn't care or understand. I did get them to allow for my opening the box in front of them to confirm if it had a game card in it, took three of the ones that looked sealed to get it.
Stores need to understand, these things are as valuable as the gift cards they sell. They are real money.
Any subscription based game should follow the activation method, it will save a lot of grief for the customer. It really helps us more than the stores because it isn't easy to get the store to refund it (I would hate to see what BB would think if you told them the game card was missing and you had left the store already). Yet for stand alone games I don't think it is necessary
Parent
So once again the legit customer is screwed over (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So once again the legit customer is screwed ove (Score:4, Funny)
Remember, no refunds on opened software. Have a nice day, thank you for shopping Super-Duper Mart!
Parent
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So I was mostly kidding, most stores will exchange defective software, they just won't refund you. In this case, they would then activate it correctly.
All the other points of the OP stand, such as the wasted gas, time, and inconvenience.
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alternatively, rm -r.
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actually you are wrong. If a game you bought is defective and you have the receipt (and it's within I think 30 days) the store must replace the game for the same game. It's the law.
Which of course is just boatloads of help when your CD drive isn't compatible with SecuROM, or the game doesn't start up at all due to some odd incompatibility or bug that the publisher may or may not deem worth fixing.
I'll stick with consoles until they fix that, or at least specifically state that returns will be accepted for defective software rather than just defective media (Stardock, and I believe Gas Powered Games, seem to be taking steps in that direction)
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It's the law. perhaps. but not many 'manager'-types at best buy know that. and will argue with you. especially if you come in waving your dick around proclaiming that there is a law they don't know.
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I'd like to know when internet piracy and shoplifting became the same thing. It's not like someone swipes a legit copy of the shelves somewhere everytime you download a game.
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It's not the same thing. But this solution is aimed at both problems.
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How is it aimed at all at piracy? Pirates don't use activation keys, they use cracks. It's a shoplifting measure at most, and retailers already keep games and keys behind the counter with empty boxes on the shelves. It's a solution to a non-existent problem that will just cause more hassle for the legitimate consumer and be bypassed as usual by pirates.
Interesting idea (Score:3, Informative)
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You forgot to mention that it only takes one rip of the game to get onto a million hard drives in just a few hours. This 'protection' is just another fancy and useless system to control copying, an effort sure to end in stockholder misery and my personal amusement.
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It'll work better than cdkeys at reducing multiplayer online piracy and resale, and screw fewer people due to stolen/generated keys.
As was said above, they're idiots if they think this will work on single player modes.
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This is highly unlikely to work.
Unless they put more thought into it than you did.
And it only needs to work somewhat better than the current DRM and anti-shoplifting systems. If it prevented 15% of the piracy and worked better than the DRM everyone hates, they'd implement it tomorrow.
awesome idea (Score:2)
" EMA Suggests Point-Of-Sale Game Activation To Fight Piracy"
"...shoplifting is discouraged ..."
"...Piracy..."
"...shoplifting..."
I can only assume that the title of the article refers to the actual "ARRR I GONNA STEEL YER GAMES!" piracy - which i think is a lot more similar to shop lifting than to copying bits.
Now it all makes sense - this isn't about people ripping then torrenting the latest games (bit copying piracy), it is about preventing physical copies being stolen (by pirates...presumably)
Re:awesome idea (Score:4, Insightful)
It's pointless, pirate buys one copy breaks the protection than uploads that to the web. Congrats EA, you've managed one additional sale at the expense of many dozens of sales to people who now are unable to run the software.
Parent
Bad analogy (Score:4, Insightful)
The initiative is similar to security tags used in clothing retail that spill ink on garments if they're forcibly removed, thereby destroying the item. In such a situation, shoplifting is discouraged by implementing a solution that only the retailer can remove at the point of sale.
But it's not similar at all. Similar would be putting an acetone-filled tag through the hole in the CD that only the retailer can remove, to destroy it if it's shoplifted.
The reason the difference is important is this scheme isn't to fight shoplifting, the theft of a physical item. This is to fight copyright infringement, and it's like fighting people who make cheap knockoffs of designer clothes. Admittedly, this is much easier to do on a large scale than copying a physical item, but the scale of it does not magically make it become theft.
And the other part of where the analogy breaks down? I don't need an internet connection to put on my clothes after the retailer takes off the tag.
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The reason the difference is important is this scheme isn't to fight shoplifting, the theft of a physical item.
Actually reading the standards, I think it looks like it's an attempt to combat both copyright infringement AND physical theft/shoplifting. One of the items listed (albeit the last one, in the 'valuable additions' section) is "audible notification at store exit if not deactivated", which reads to me like a normal anti-theft device. Although I suppose it could just be a courtesy thing for the customer to let them know their game has not been properly 'activated' after their purchase, also is it odds with th
Like all DRM, I give it about 2 weeks... (Score:2)
At most, the only
Re:Like all DRM, I give it about 2 weeks... (Score:5, Insightful)
*HEAVY SIGH*
This is NOT DRM The story is NOT ABOUT DRM. DRM is not the issue.
This is about preventing shoplifting.
Is it not possible for there to be ANY story ANYWHERE on-line about games, without people gushing about how they hate DRM, even when the story is NOTHING to do with it?
Parent
Shoplifting is a solved problem. (Score:4, Insightful)
This is about preventing shoplifting.
You prevent shoplifting by putting the games behind the counter and putting the empty boxes on the shelf. It's low tech, reliable, and not a lot more manual than activation.
Provide the dealer with a printed card the size of the jewelbox they can put on the shelf without having to open the game and put the CD into storage like they do now. Problem solved, cheaply.
I hereby donate this idea to the public domain.
Parent
Piracy? (Score:2)
I'm sure the companies losing oil tankers right left and center will sleep well tonight, know that someone's come up with a viable way of fighting piracy.
A solution in search of a problem... (Score:3, Insightful)
I know a number of retailers stop this problem by using locking DVD cases that set off the door alarms. Usually the ones that have another alarm if someone stomps the case open. Shopperinc.com, the first site I hit on Google offers plenty of low cost ways to ensure that either a would-be shoplifter is going to have to be good at sneaking in the key equipment needed, or be able to run through the exit with security guards hot on their trail (and risk robbery charges as well as larceny).
Since effective technological measures are in place for this, why bother with screwing around with CD keys?
It is a *lot* harder to shoplift successfully media in one of these cases than it is to hit the usual sites, download a patch or a torrent. This is the old security adage of why add layers of protection to a door when the burglar can just enter through the window?
Epic Fail! (Couldn't resist) (Score:2)
I'm guessing this is how this idea works:
1) The game is on the shelf and has a CD Key.
2) The store clerk registers the CD key at the time of purchase, making it valid. (Much like a Gift Card)
3) The game won't install without a valid CD key, which it checks over the internet or with an over-the-phone verification (much like the current Windows activation).
Unless they have some much more elaborate plan, this is probably the method they're going to use... Now, what's wrong with this plan?
1) What happens 10 yea
Nothing New! (Score:2)
If you're a game maker (Score:3, Interesting)
Why do few people chip their xbox 360's? Because they are afraid of detection on xbox live. Same with the Wii. The only true, accepted DRM is one that protects online usage.
Not atall saying that there isn't a veritable mass of problems accompanying such a notion, just saying, look at what works, rather than this silly nonsense that makes almost no headway.
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this is to stop shoplifting
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"paying heavily for your does of nostalgia."
That's exactly it. I -do- mind. I bought a copy a long time ago and lost it in a move. If I had backups, they would have been kept separately and I would still have it.
"your kids learning"
Kids will be kids. They aren't born trained. If you never trust them with anything, they'll never learn to take care of it. That doesn't mean I should have to buy a new copy of the game to teach -them- that lesson, though. It's -my- game, not theirs.
Kids aren't the only wa
And Secondhand Game Sales? (Score:2)
I foresee a day when (Score:3, Insightful)
All games have to be played online. There won't be single player games anymore, there'll just be web based games or virtual worlds you can play single player-style or massively multiplayer style, but in either case the data for the game world will only be on the server.
Then there'll be web based word processors where you can only store your data online, and you have to pay for it. No method to download it to your hard drive, but you can email it to people and they have to pay to use the app you need to read the document. If you need to move your data around in other ways, you probably are a pirate (in their mind).
The RIAA and MPAA then pull all their content and make it available only online. For a fee. You'll never touch that data again without the authorization of the server. (I actually see this coming first.)
In short, I could see companies making sure all of their copyrighted data is only available on their servers.
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Post whoring on the back of a frist psot...
So what they're suggesting is that the game dev put something on your computer which will render the game unplayable until you activate it with the game dev? At which point some bits will be flipped on your computer, making the game playable?
How will this not be cracked in like three days?
Who's got the checklist? We need to mail one off pronto to the head of the EMA and tell him that this simply will not work any better than current DRM...
Perhaps they should rename this (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps they should rename it "Project Assfuck" - after all, that's what it's doing to the consumer.
The initiative is similar to security tags used in clothing retail that spill ink on garments if they're forcibly removed, thereby destroying the item.
Uhm... those tags come off if you get a rare earth magnet (say, from an old hard drive [dansdata.com] or something) anywhere near them.
Not that we're supposed to know how things work... after all, knowledge is evil, the almighty corporations want us to be dumb and stupid and [rottentomatoes.com]