UK Anti-Piracy Campaign [Aug 20, 2008, 07:43 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Times Online has news that five developers, Atari, Topware Interactive,
Reality Pump, Techland, and Codemasters, are serving notice to 25,000 UK
families demanding they pay a settlement, or risk being taken to court over
software piracy (thanks
Edge Online). Here's a portion:
The computer games industry has launched an unprecedented assault on illegal downloads, demanding payment from thousands of families who obtained the latest releases over the internet without paying.
Five of the world’s top games developers will serve notice on 25,000 people across the UK, requiring each one to pay £300 immediately to settle out of court. Those who refuse risk being taken to court. The companies will target their initial legal actions on 500 people who ignore the letters.
The companies involved – Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters – make some of the popular games, including The Lord of the Rings, the Colin McRae Rally series and Operation Flashpoint. It is estimated that as many as six million people in Britain share games illegally over the internet. The aggressive action marks a dramatic change in the approach to copyright on the internet. The British music industry, hit hard by illegal file-sharing, has taken action against just 150 people in ten years.
The game makers have appointed the law firm Davenport Lyons. This week Isabela Barwinska, an unemployed mother of two, became the first person in the UK to be ordered to pay damages to a manufacturer. She must pay more than £16,000 to Topware after downloading Dream Pinball through a file-sharing site.
And your solution is to just invest more money in it because we're obviously on the right track and we should just keep going in the direction that is not working...My argument is that if DRM systems are to be used - which is currently the case - then more money is needed because the current systems don't work. Manipulating my point doesn't get us anywhere.
DRM won't prevent piracyIt doesn't currently but it's entirely possible for it to do so. Hardware dongles have already been used to eliminate piracy with Cubase 4 and iLok does the same for many others, so there are some DRM schemes that work - those schemes currently revolve around a piece of hardware that is a target for theft / at risk of damage so aren't suitable for the consumer world but it demonstrates that it is possible. The TPM is around the corner and we have already had indications that publishers intend to use it - it has the potential to eliminate piracy, though it remains to be seen.
Same with DRM, if the only solution to stopping piracy is to lock down everything so consumers have no say in how they use the software then we're not going to support it.I agree, hence my point. DRM that restricts users is bad. DRM that protects publishers, eliminates piracy and doesn't impact upon legitimate users is good. We're not there yet but that doesn't mean it's unachievable.
DRM is one solution. Another is to trust users and other more incentives to legitimate users. However, if DRM works then it prevents piracy, whereas you're effectively accepting some degree of piracy if you rely purely on trust.
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This comment was edited on Aug 20, 23:41.
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