I'd hadn't heard about it, but don't really keep up with all the gaming news. But then again, I don't suppose a big potion of the paying customers will either.
Apple Threatens To Shut Down iTunes Store?
- Thread starter Mr. Laser Beam
- Start date
That's not really what they said (DRM doesn't actually bother pirates at all!) but instead gave statistics on how often the game is installed by a single user and the overwhelming majority only ever installed it on a single machine. And even after they did that, they still said that they were working on the deauth tool.
As to being reasonable: they've flat out apologized for how they handled it.
Plus, Apple's DRM is hardly the rootkit malware that SecuROM is. Do you have any idea how much harm something like SecuROM can cause? Do you remember the shit that Sony went through with a similar system? Don't even try to tell me that Apple is on that level. FairPlay is as near to transparent as can be done. It doesn't even affect the system at all - only the songs. FairPlay *is not installed* - it was built-in to iTunes, and the Store, from the get-go. It doesn't alter the system, it IS the system.
And, provided EA's deauthorization tool is legit, who's to say it will even work? Sometimes a rootkit *can't* be disabled.
As for the apology...either it's what I suspect it is, which is corporate BS spin, or it's sincere, in which case it's too little, too fuckin' late.
I know the DRM doesn't bother pirates, or there wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of copies floating around the internet.
I can't find the article that said they'd said that now, but I did read an article that quoted one of the EA people saying that. I guess it could have been misquoted, or paraphrased, but I really don't like the idea of having DRM installed on my computer, without my knowledge, and games I buy being unplayable in 10 years time because they shut down the authorisation servers for one reason or another.
This is factually inaccurate. SecuROM in its current form is not a rootkit, nor is it malware. This meme is repeated pretty constantly and it never has any evidence associated with it. Either prodivide factual evidence showing how installing Spore gets a rootkit on your machine or does any sort of damage to it or stop repeating things that aren't true.
So Jobs posts a whole thing about how he doesn't like DRM despite the fact that his store sells DRM'd tracks that other online stores sell naked and you take him at his word and don't complain. But EA makes a public apology, modifies the restrictions based on user requests and promises a tool to address the still outstanding requests.... and it's "corproate BS". Yeah, that isn't biased at all
Have you ever actually USED something that installs this shit? This might change your mind.The iTunes Store only sells DRM-free tracks that they are allowed to sell. It's not their idea to pick and choose.
Promises will only get you so far. Let's actually *see* this supposed deauth tool, and prove that it works first (which, if you have read that link, is not looking to be likely). Until then, it's basically vaporware.
and it's "corproate BS". Yeah, that isn't biased at all
If I am biased for Apple, then you must be biased against it. Who's right?
Rii
Rear Admiral
SecuROM is a Sony system.
I guess it's my fault that we're sort of on this entirely different topic, but the funny part is that no one bothered to complain when Mass Effect PC shipped with this exact same DRM. Poor Mass Effect. 
Even BioShock got more angst over the issue! 
My question is what happens when a computer is nuked. Can you still deauthorize with iTunes or is that just a missing authorization that's lost in the ether unless you call Apple personally?
What happens if you image an old hard drive and restore it to a new hard drive? Is that still the same computer or did you just lose an authorization that you can't really restore?
The point about DRM locking music to iPods is a good one. I totally forgot that point, but yeah, it's totally in Apple's interest that you not only use their store but only use their music on their players. Sure you can strip the DRM, but they are relying on human laziness to prevent most people from doing that.
Even BioShock got more angst over the issue! My question is what happens when a computer is nuked. Can you still deauthorize with iTunes or is that just a missing authorization that's lost in the ether unless you call Apple personally?
What happens if you image an old hard drive and restore it to a new hard drive? Is that still the same computer or did you just lose an authorization that you can't really restore?
The point about DRM locking music to iPods is a good one. I totally forgot that point, but yeah, it's totally in Apple's interest that you not only use their store but only use their music on their players. Sure you can strip the DRM, but they are relying on human laziness to prevent most people from doing that.
Have you actually read up on this instead of just repeating incorrect things ad nausem? Because it's pretty clear that you haven't used it at all. I, on the other hand, have installed Spore on two machines and have encountered no problems on each.
Iffy claims mar Spore DRM lawsuit. To sum up: no one can actually prove harm from the Spore DRM. This is because.... drumroll... it doesn't actually install a rootkit or malware. The lawsuit looks like a cashgrab and is probably doomed to failure.
It's nice that you take everything they say at face value while at the same time decrying everything that a different company says. Irregardless, if Jobs genuinely finds DRM so distasteful then he wouldn't have opened up iTMS to begin with.
It's nice that you take everything EA says as a lie while at the same time taking everything Apple says at face value.
Uh, no? I'm not biased against them at all. Can you actually support that claim by anything that I've said? Or is this just a more verbose version of "I know you are but what am I?"If I am biased for Apple, then you must be biased against it. Who's right?and it's "corproate BS". Yeah, that isn't biased at all
Hah, that's almost similar to the new Xbox 360 authorization tool. Yay DRM.
On iTunes you can actually unauthorize all the computers you have authorized at anytime. I've done it several times.
Once a year only, if that help menu thing is correct...
Well, at Apple, they wear black turtlenecks. And they're called geniuses. 
No, that's only if you deauthorize all your computers at once. That's the thing you can do only once a year. If you do it on each computer individually, it's as often as you like.
Well, that's the thing, if you lose your install of Windows, you can't deauthorize. Well, unless you can plan for a crash (ie, when your HDD is just about to die).
Which was the same complaint that people have about SecuROM. This came up with Bioshock as well when thanks to a bug keys weren't being properly released on uninstall.
As well with iTMS if you lose your files you have to contact a CR rep to redownload them. Every story I've heard has been a positive one (I also recall a high profile blogger, I forget which, who posted about how he lost all his iTMS tracks and they contacted him to hook him up... obviously not typical) but they still have the right of refusal. Certainly something like Steam is a whole lot nicer as you can download everything an unlimited amount of times. The trade off there is that every time you load it up, you're authing.
As well with iTMS if you lose your files you have to contact a CR rep to redownload them. Every story I've heard has been a positive one (I also recall a high profile blogger, I forget which, who posted about how he lost all his iTMS tracks and they contacted him to hook him up... obviously not typical) but they still have the right of refusal. Certainly something like Steam is a whole lot nicer as you can download everything an unlimited amount of times. The trade off there is that every time you load it up, you're authing.
I will say this, the iTunes Store support people are some of the nicest I have ever dealt with. There have been times that I've needed help and they pretty much bend over backwards to assist.
That was Wil Wheaton that got his songs back.
Starring on Star Trek is the best way to get great tech support.