Somewhat old news, but its message is still relevant.
http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/12/spore-drm-piracy-tech-security-cx_ag_mji_0912spore.html
Basically - Electronic Arts is a game company behind the highly-anticipated video game Spore, in which the player takes control of a microbe and helps it evolve, eventually forming an interstellar civilization that can interact with other players' created civilizations online. It was amazingly well-received, save for one fact - in a bid to prevent piracy of the game, EA put a particularly nasty copy prevention method on it. One that prevented installation on more than three computers. Any more, and your game is disabled. You'll have to talk to an EA support staff to get it reactivated.
But isn't this overreacting? After all, you shouldn't have problems with it if you bought the game legally, right? And who really needs to install a game on three computers?
Thing is, software is stupid. It is written by humans, and will always contain bugs. And in the case of copy protection software, they often don't get along well with other parts of the computer. They also don't always recognize when a certain change is a reinstall, or when it's just you upgrading your system or changing the settings. Suppose you were to get a virus that forces you to reinstall Windows. Guess what - you have to reinstall Spore as well. Strike one.
The Internet has indeed made it easier to pirate media, and it is understandable that companies would try to make it harder to pirate their products. After all, less people pirating, is more people buying, is profit. However, it doesn't work for two reasons.
1. It is impossible to create an "unhackable" piece of software. In fact, every single manufacturer releases software knowing that there are bugs in the system - it just isn't a big deal because the Internet also makes it easy for them to simply release a patch and say, "hey guys, sorry about that bug - download this patch and it'll fix everything. We still cool, right?" In Spore's case, a hacked version of the game with the copy protection removed was released on file sharing networks two months before the actual game was released.
2. It doesn't prevent piracy. A customer base can be divided into two groups - those who would pay for the product normally, and those who would pirate. The second is arguably a lost cause. Just as certain spoiled rich celebrities shoplift despite having enough cash on them to buy the store, there are pirates who do it simply because they can. However, the rest of the populace is content with paying money for the product - unless they feel wronged by the company, in which they respond with fury and righteous anger. The kind that prompts them to not only download the game illegally, but also give it low reviews on Amazon. You can still see the effects of that particular campaign on Spore's listing.
The moral of this story? Learn what are acceptable losses. After all, why alienate paying customers in a futile attempt to milk money from those who would not pay anyways?
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