A few days ago, I pondered about a potential for Microsoft to require product activation to games, and the implications it has.
When I was a young'un in school, trading/borrowing PC games was all the rage, we borrowed friends' games for a few days, either completing the whole thing in a single sitting or raiding our piggy-banks for the full thing later on (that is, if we really liked
it)
Just now, Sven's told me that Flight Simulator X has indeed, got product activation.
Would someone please like to explain how this helps Microsoft? I can understand activation for operating systems, and to a lesser-extent, office software, since those are bound to a single machine. But computer games? That's just stupid. I install most of my
games on more than one machine (my main desktop, my laptop, sometimes my dad's machine for LANage). Valve's Steam lets you install and play your games on any machine with Internet access too. So what's the justification here?
Discuss.
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W3bbo
Work hard; increase production; prevent accidents, and be happy.
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Sven Groot
I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favourite store on the Citadel.
Here's an article about it.
It appears it replaces the requirement for the CD (DVD) to be inserted while playing. -
Angus
.
I'm by no means an expert on the matter (I know little about it infact), but aren't they just trying to stop one person installing their copy on all the computers belonging to their friends, thus making Microsoft lose out on however many friends the person has multiplied by the price of the product?
Angus Higgins -
ZippyV
Fired Up
Sven Groot wrote:It appears it replaces the requirement for the CD (DVD) to be inserted while playing.
Trainsimulator didn't require a cd nor activation. -
Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
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W3bbo
Work hard; increase production; prevent accidents, and be happy.
Guy0510 wrote:Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
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W3bbo wrote:
Guy0510 wrote: Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
Nice. And it sounds like you just admitted you are a Pirate who broke the EULA. (I should clarify, I mean that as a joke
)
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W3bbo wrote:
Guy0510 wrote:Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
You do realize that this behaviour is one of the major reasons we suffer under the threat of DRM today?
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Sourcecode
Whatever it is, I didn't do it.
JasonOlson wrote:W3bbo wrote: Guy0510 wrote: Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
Nice. And it sounds like you just admitted you are a Pirate who broke the EULA. (I should clarify, I mean that as a joke
)
Naw.. Jason ; he’s a pirate. A foolish one, but a pirate just the same.
(j/k)
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W3bbo
Work hard; increase production; prevent accidents, and be happy.
JasonOlson wrote:
W3bbo wrote: Guy0510 wrote: Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
Nice. And it sounds like you just admitted you are a Pirate who broke the EULA. (I should clarify, I mean that as a joke)
The UK has no concept of legal "post-sales" agreements, once the money has exchanged hands the EULA is meaningless.
Anyway, computer game piracy is nothing compared to console game piracy. "Locking down" computer games really does hurt the consumer. FSX only allows up to 2 re-installations, is Microsoft really naive enough to think people only reformat their computers once between FS releases?
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W3bbo wrote:
JasonOlson wrote: W3bbo wrote: Guy0510 wrote: Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
Nice. And it sounds like you just admitted you are a Pirate who broke the EULA. (I should clarify, I mean that as a joke)
The UK has no concept of legal "post-sales" agreements, once the money has exchanged hands the EULA is meaningless.
Anyway, computer game piracy is nothing compared to console game piracy. "Locking down" computer games really does hurt the consumer. FSX only allows up to 2 re-installations, is Microsoft really naive enough to think people only reformat their computers once between FS releases?
Interesting legal question. Even though the UK may have that, since you are accessing an online service that resides in the US, as a user of that service, aren't you still subject to the laws of that service (that's the way it would work in mind no matter where you are in the world since the service itself resides in the US). Of course, this may show my total ignorance about Steam
. For all I know, Steam has servers/services in each major country.
It's similar to this: if you traveled to the US as a tourist, and bought the product in the US, wouldn't you be subject to the US laws then? Similar to if I broke the law while in another country, I would be subject to their laws of punishment for that crime, no matter what country I came from. Just because you're "virtually" in the country doesn't make a difference, in my mind.
According to the laws of the US, you are still breaking the law. And your explanation to me sounds like you just trying to justify that behavior.
Just my two cents. And I will keep it as personal opinion since it will most likely show my severe ignorance in internationalized legal affairs .
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Sourcecode
Whatever it is, I didn't do it.
W3bbo wrote:
JasonOlson wrote: W3bbo wrote: Guy0510 wrote: Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
Nice. And it sounds like you just admitted you are a Pirate who broke the EULA. (I should clarify, I mean that as a joke)
The UK has no concept of legal "post-sales" agreements, once the money has exchanged hands the EULA is meaningless.
Anyway, computer game piracy is nothing compared to console game piracy. "Locking down" computer games really does hurt the consumer. FSX only allows up to 2 re-installations, is Microsoft really naive enough to think people only reformat their computers once between FS releases?
Arrrggg matty, I AM THE PIRATE KING !!!!!
<que singers and chorus./>
Your head goes well on just about anyone
This one is gonna be framed
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W3bbo wrote:
JasonOlson wrote: W3bbo wrote: Guy0510 wrote: Steam lets you install the game on multiple machines but you can only be logged into one at a time.
Not necessarily true, I worked around that pretty easily.
Nice. And it sounds like you just admitted you are a Pirate who broke the EULA. (I should clarify, I mean that as a joke)
The UK has no concept of legal "post-sales" agreements, once the money has exchanged hands the EULA is meaningless.
Anyway, computer game piracy is nothing compared to console game piracy. "Locking down" computer games really does hurt the consumer. FSX only allows up to 2 re-installations, is Microsoft really naive enough to think people only reformat their computers once between FS releases?
Also, if this were true, wouldn't that also mean that the EULA for Vista wouldn't mean jack-squat to users in the UK? For some reason (probably because I'm most likely naive on the subject), I can't imagine that the UK has _no concept_ of legal "post-sales" agreements. If it's true, damn, I want to move to the UK.
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W3bbo
Work hard; increase production; prevent accidents, and be happy.
JasonOlson wrote:According to the laws of the US, you are still breaking the law. And your explanation to me sounds like you just trying to justify that behavior.
No, if I was trying to justify it, I'd be pitching a case about fair-use (I purchased it under US laws, no? ) and how it's a per-user license, not a per-machine license.
Here's a better question, let's make the software publishers justify themselves: Why should I buy a game three times so I can play it on devices that only I use?
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W3bbo
Work hard; increase production; prevent accidents, and be happy.
JasonOlson wrote:Also, if this were true, wouldn't that also mean that the EULA for Vista wouldn't mean jack-squat to users in the UK? For some reason (probably because I'm most likely naive on the subject), I can't imagine that the UK has _no concept_ of legal "post-sales" agreements. If it's true, damn, I want to move to the UK.
You're right, but last I heard it was an EU thing, not a UK thing. I'll go check.
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HumanCompiler
Now with more program management
W3bbo wrote:"Locking down" computer games really does hurt the consumer.
I'm with you. It's crappy, but...it helps Microsoft (and whoever else will do this in the future) prevent piracy while only hurting a small percentage of people. Can anyone show me some hard numbers that anything, but a small percentage of gamers install their games on more than one machine? I used to install UT2K4 on more than one machine (and that's it...never have installed games on more than one machine other than that one...and no...not on my friend's machines). Pretty much all the PC gamers I know personally are about like that too. If I'm wrong in my assumption and most PC gamers DO install most of their games on mutliple machines, then I'm completely with you that this SUCKS.
But from the aspect of preventing you from sharing games with your friends, then I'm completely for it. You shouldn't do that. If it's such a great game, they should buy it. If it's not that great of a game, then don't buy it. Simple. -
W3bbo wrote:
JasonOlson wrote: According to the laws of the US, you are still breaking the law. And your explanation to me sounds like you just trying to justify that behavior.
No, if I was trying to justify it, I'd be pitching a case about fair-use (I purchased it under US laws, no?
) and how it's a per-user license, not a per-machine license.
Here's a better question, let's make the software publishers justify themselves: Why should I buy a game three times so I can play it on devices that only I use?
I'm just willfully practicing non-compliance to protest the unjust laws enforced upon me by The Man. They shouldn't question my behavior, they should question their own. Greedy american pigs.
Okay, I corrected that for you.
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Sourcecode
Whatever it is, I didn't do it.
Sourcecode wrote:
Arrrggg matty, I AM THE PIRATE KING !!!!!
<que singers and chorus./>
Your head goes well on just about anyone This one is gonna be framed
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