Is copy protection fair?

[Keygen]

I can understand the need for protecting intellectual property from illegal use but with what cost?

Civilization IV utilizes a copy protection system that prevents legal owners from creating a workable backup copy.

It blacklists several CD/DVD emulation software so that running an image of the game locally is impossible. These programs are legal. Making a backup copy and burning it in a blank CD/DVD won't work either. It forces you to put the original CD/DVD all the time in order to play. Frequent use of the CD/DVD though can damage the disk beyond repair. You can't exchange your disk with a new one if broken.

So do I actually buy the game or the medium? How legal this practice is?

I've come to the conclusion that copy protection only harms legal users , piracy actually does not decreases, and I believe in some extend it is illegal

PS. Please don't post ways of bypassing copy protections as this is not the purpose of this thread, thank you.

[jbp26]

necessary evil, the creators have every right to protect their investment. the way civ4 does it isn't that bad, you just have to be careful with the disks. other games are definitely over the top. neverwinter nights 2 for instance- my legallypurchased copy requires 10-15 start ups before it will allow me to play, with about 2 minutes of scanning time for each. terrible.

[Keygen]

Originally posted by jbp26

the creators have every right to protect their investment.

They do, but they actually fail. What they succeed however is to bust our nerves

Again, not sure how legal is to pay for the content but on the same time being bound by the medium in order to access the content any time you want to play...

[Solver]

Well, it is a necessary evil of sorts. I don't think CD checks help much against piracy. Any game becomes available in a pirate release, which already has all protection bypassed. Given how that can be done in a matter of hours by people with the right knowledge, it's sort of useless.

What it does accomplish is tick off legit users. I think that unfortunately, pirates often get a better product than legit users. They get games that don't need a CD, don't refuse to run if you have certain software installed, etc.

I've recently come to appreciate companies that remove CD checks. Stardock has a policy of not having any checks, and I really like it. Valve decided to remove checks on their games.

Still, Keygen, remember that you're not buying a game - you are, essentially, buying the legal right to use one copy of a game. You don't own it, as most EULAs will specify.

[Morrissey]

By forcing you to put the cd in the drive each time, it stops you from installing it on friends and family members computers as they'd need the disk too. It's the most effective way of stopping one copy going to ten, for example, different people. This is what used to happen a few years ago, I've done it myself.

It is annoying, but what can you do? I'd rather just enter a cd than have a program connect to the internet to make sure everything's nice and valid, like Steam does. What if my connection's down? What if the Steam server is offline? No game.

[Keygen]

Originally posted by Solver

Still, Keygen, remember that you're not buying a game - you are, essentially, buying the legal right to use one copy of a game. You don't own it, as most EULAs will specify.

Even worse for them as once the medium is gone they should be forced to replace it since you have bought usage rights.

But even if EULA was specifying that you are buying the medium I am not sure if that would still be legal. Companies that declare they're making/selling video games should sell games not mediums, and that is the essence.

[Keygen]

Originally posted by Morrissey

By forcing you to put the cd in the drive each time, it stops you from installing it on friends and family members computers as they'd need the disk too. It's the most effective way of stopping one copy going to ten, for example, different people. This is what used to happen a few years ago, I've done it myself.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. Piracy has not been reduced so what is the point?

People who simply don't want to pay for a game they will find the way not to sooner or later so should those paying for their games be punished too?

[Common Sensei]

Originally posted by Keygen


Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. Piracy has not been reduced so what is the point?

People who simply don't want to pay for a game they will find the way not to sooner or later so should those paying for their games be punished too?

There's always going to be money lost to a city maintenance cost, so why bother building a Courthouse?

[Solver]

Well, no one can be definite about how much piracy it reduces. Surely, CD checks DO reduce piracy somewhat. The question is by how much. I personally believe it's a very small amount, which is probably not worth the trouble. But I do not pretend to have any knowledge as to the actual amounts.

[Common Sensei]

Originally posted by Solver
Well, no one can be definite about how much piracy it reduces. Surely, CD checks DO reduce piracy somewhat. The question is by how much. I personally believe it's a very small amount, which is probably not worth the trouble. But I do not pretend to have any knowledge as to the actual amounts.

I think it's more of a threshold of effort. For the more computer savvy people who know how to "aquire" PC games, it's not much effort, and CD checks do nothing to those kinds of people.

The more mainstream popularity a game has, the more there will be people wanting to play it who are beyond that threshold and do not have the technical know-how or desire to learn how to do it. This is the type of people CD checks do prevent from getting illegal copies of. The number of people beyond this threshold tends to be underestimated, and the number of people who are bothered by CD checks tends to be overestimated. Even if requiring CDs only recover, say, 5% of potential lost income, you better believe software companies will implement it (the courthouse example).

I'm not against removing the CD check for a legitimately purchased copy, mind you. Registering the game or having some sort of proof of purchase should allow access to some kind of patch that removes the need for the CD, or release one after the game has been out for some time like Neverwinter Nights when that (arbitrary) 5% is against a much smaller number.

[Solver]

Heh, over here, you don't need to know how to "acquire" games, even. Already cracked versions are openly sold for around 5 USD. Three years ago, it was much harder to find a legal version of something in the city.

But yeah, for mainstream games, I think there is some measure of success. Mostly casual gamers who don't spend too much time online, and maybe people who haven't even really thought about whether circumventing such protection is possible and/or commonly done.

[Keygen]

People with little knowledge can always ask others with better knowledge and everyone has at list once heard the words software piracy

But this is not the essence. This is not a discussion about piracy but how fair copy protection is to legitimate buyers and even if the concept is actually legal. What do you think?

[Solver]

It's certainly legal, as far as I understand. EULAs can not overrule local law. Therefore, if an EULA specifies something that is illegal under local law, that clause doesn't apply. For example, if local law entitles you to a backup copy, you may legally make one even if the EULA forbids it. That's my understanding.

As for copy protection being fair, I don't think there's any doubt that it isn't very fair to legit users. The essence is simple - legit users get something that inconveniences them because others pirate the software. In my mind, though, it's similar to how many of the security-centered restrictions when travelling by air aren't really fair because they inconvenience most people because of a few who are terrorists.

[Kloreep]

Simply annoying. I own legal copies of them all, but every CD game I have that I can find a crack for is now running off the HD.

[Keygen]

Not sure, the law isn't always clear that is why more than often lawyers have to convince judges and jury (wherever available) with arguments and the law constantly is renewed.

The copy protection system prevents me from making a backup copy using legal methods, so that I won't have to buy the game again if the disk gets damaged making legitimate buyers feeling they're buying the medium and not the content (or right to use content if you prefer). In the very essence, how legal is bounding the content - which the company is actually selling - with the medium and restrict access to the content when the particular medium isn't present?