shered in with the recent release of Will Wright’s Spore, the term DRM has entered a renaissance of popularity. Splashed across both digital and print headlines, it seems that everyone is sharing their thoughts on the digital rights management process.

On one end of the DRM spectrum we have those who defend the industry, arguing that producers and developers have a right to protect their intellectual property from the mounting throngs of pirates. On the other side are the animated consumers, who feel that they are treated like criminals without cause and given lower quality products as a result.

While there is no obvious answer to the DRM controversy, there is still much room for discussion and dialogue about possible solutions. For this reason we sat down with three staff members from Arxan Technologies – an IP protection company – to discuss their take on the current Spore controversy. Read on to get a breakdown of all things DRM.

Digital Rights Management
DRM is in no way a new notion. For those foreign to the concept, DRM is an umbrella term that relates to access control technology used in a digital capacity. The goal in implementing a DRM device is to keep unauthorized usage or copying of the particular media form to a minimum.

DRM is not a title of a specific application or control technique. For this reason, DRM technology is an element in most industries that have a digital component – including the gaming, music, movies and online literature industries.
 
In some capacity or another, DRM technology has been in use for over two decades and has been implemented by companies and products such as Windows Vista, Blu-Ray Discs, Sony BMG, iTunes, Napster Music Store, Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Reader. While the exact implementations of the technology are diverse, they are all united under the term DRM.

The Spore Controversy
The Spore controversy began in full this past May, when it was announced that two anticipated PC titles – Mass Effect and Spore – would include a DRM technology called SecuRom. It was revealed that SecuRom would force the user to validate ownership online every 10 days, or the titles would cease to function. The move was made in an attempt to circumvent the expected piracy, but instead caused an immediate and intense negative reaction via online gaming communities. The outrage was enough that EA relented only a few days later, announcing that the validation would only be necessary upon the initial installation and with new content downloads.

Still, vocal gamers had beef with additional SecuRom restrictions, which included the notice that the game would only be allowed to authenticate on three separate computers. Once the three authentications were used up, the consumer would have to call EA customer service to have the issue addressed on a case-by-case basis.

The arguments against this restriction were many. Gamers disputed the limit, claiming that that once purchased, the game should be theirs to authenticate as many times as needed. They also voiced concerns about losing sale and trade value if all the keys are used on a single consumer.

The response to this DRM restriction was as massive as its predecessor. More than 3,000 individuals protested the limit on Amazon.com by rating the game one out of five stars. Once again, EA stepped up to the plate and relented, upping the number of authentications from three to five.

Unfortunately, the mass of soured consumers were not placated. In a move many consider retaliatory, swarms of potential consumers decided to download pirated copies of the game instead of purchasing them legitimately. Many individuals claim to have downloaded the pirated copy because the DRM in the non-cracked copy made the game a lesser product to the illegal one. It has been estimated that over 500,000 copies have been downloaded illegally since the release. The staggering number has been quite a blow to Spore’s reputation – enough so that EA openly admitted to the LA Times that the launch was poorly handled. The company also announced that it is currently working on a fix that will allow users to de-authorize a computer in order to install Spore on a different box.

Despite these steps, many believe the damage has already been done. With Spore on track to becoming the most pirated game in all of history, according to the Washington Post, EA has acknowledged that the DRM issue caused much misunderstanding and ill will towards the product. It has also hit the company hard financially with the lost retail revenue. However, it still argues that IP protection is vital to its ability to keep investing money in the PC market.

To add insult to injury, EA was recently slapped with a class-action lawsuit due to the DRM technology. However, the lawsuit did not come in the capacity that one would expect. Instead of arguing over ownership issues, the lawsuit instead attacks the nature of SecuRom. The plaintiff, Melissa Thomas, argues that the inclusion of SecuRom was not disclosed to the consumer. She believes that because of its rootkit-like nature, which installs on the computer at a near permanent level, the DRM should have been made public. The surprising factor about the claim is that SecuRom has been used previously on many high-profile PC titles including BioShock, The Sims 2, Mass Effect and Crysis Warhead. The claim was filed Sept. 22, and no new news has been generated since its announcement.