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DRM Promotes Piracy

Published on September 14, 2008 by admin

DRM is a term that stands for Digital Rights Management. It is suppose to keep digital media e.g. music files, films, and software, from being pirated. In reality it promotes piracy. And, in reality DRM stands for Digital Restrictions Management. Game cds, movie DVDs, and even audio cds can be so restricted that even normal consumer use can be a problem. At one time Sony’s audio cds would install a DRM program that often crashed the computer.

It is so easy and tempting to pirate, just check out Mininova or The Pirate Bay. All you need is a good BitTorrent program (utorrent is recommended) and you can pirate. Just be warned, the RIAA and the MPAA will be out to get you. The risks are small but there is a chance that you will be their headlined example.

EA (Electronic Arts,) unintentionally, is promoting piracy. The DRM on their just released game SPORE is so “Restrictive” that many gamers after buying the game, download the pirated version that has no DRM. A good article has been written about SPORE and DRM by TorrentFreak.

Spore: Most Pirated Game Ever Thanks to DRM
Written by Ernesto on September 13, 2008

Spore was without doubt the most anticipated game of the year. The game itself has blown away the people who have played it, but the DRM encouraged thousands to get their copy illegally. Already Spore has been downloaded more than 500,000 times on BitTorrent, and this number is increasing rapidly.

Most critics agree that Spore is a great game. However, the users aren’t too happy with the absurd DRM restrictions that come with the game. EA decided that people who buy a legitimate copy of the game, are only allowed to install it three times.

The idea behind DRM is that it will stop people from pirating the game, but in reality, it often has the opposite effect. As Forbes points out, many commenters on various BitTorrent sites now legitimize downloading this game because the official copies include some heavy and intrusive DRM.

Read the full article here.

If you are an internet pirate, you should subscribe to TorrentFreak’s email updates. They will keep you aware of what the RIAA and MPAA are doing to prevent piracy, what torrents are being downloaded the most, which sites are most popular, artists who support piracy, and more.