CD Projekt fining Pirates who illegally download the Witcher 2 instead of using DRM

[Martimus]

I was looking for reviews on the game "The Witcher 2", since I am kind of excited about it, and I found this article:

http://www.geek.com/articles/games/...gally-and-expect-a-fine-in-the-post-20101123/

It basically says that even though CD Projekt isn't using DRM, they have hired a few firms that speciallize in searching Torrents for pirated software and tracking down people who download them. They then send them a fine of the price of the game plus the firms fee, and if it isn't paid they take them to court.

I have to say that this is awesome!! This is the way I want to see software companies fighting piracy, since it doesn't effect the legitimate customer. If this catches on, I won't have to deal with the crap DRM I had with Dragon Age ever again. I am still bitter about the way that DRM worked (or didn't work in my case), since it took me a week of effort to even get that stupid game to work.

 

[Demo24]

Seems fair to me. You steal, pay the price and us other fair users don't get screwed.

 

[chorb]

I notice that article was written last year, any idea if they followed through with it? of maybe it was more of a scare tactic?

 

[SunnyD]

Hahaha... fun. Good luck to them. I see this failing miserably, but still.

 

[Texashiker]

If this catches on, I won't have to deal with the crap DRM

It wont ever catch on. Selling the game through Steam and having some kind of drm is probably cheaper then hiring lawyers.

Companies have been dealing with warez/torrents for over a decade, and as of yet there does not see to be a clear cut answer. But hiring lawyers and tracking down file sharers is not the answer. The recording industry of america has been suing people who share files for over a decade now, and its not stopped people yet.

DRM is maturing, but its just not there yet. I see software like Steam as the future to software management. But regardless of how un-intrusive DRM is, there will always be people that complain.

Over in the 2kgames forum, there is a thread about Duke Nukem Forever being a Steamworks game. People were posting right and left that since DNF was Steamworks, they would not be buying the game.

I fully understand hating games that makes you jump through hoops to be able to play, or requiring an always on internet connection to play. But some form of DRM is the future, what that future is I do not know.

 

[dpodblood]

I love it. I don't understand why people are going on about "zomfg DRM free it's going to be so easy to pirate!" Just about every game on the market is available in pirated form the day of or day after release regardless of DRM. DRM is nothing but a hassle for those who legitimately bought the game.

 

[Texashiker]

I love it. I don't understand why people are going on about "zomfg DRM free it's going to be so easy to pirate!" <SNIP> DRM is nothing but a hassle for those who legitimately bought the game.

Since I started playing computer games back in the mid 1990s, Steam is the least intrusive system I have seen, and people still hate it.

DRM is like a lock - it keeps honest people honest.

There are people out there that will pirate indie games that only cost a penny - and that is pretty sad.

Where do developers draw the line at? I fully understand doing whatever is needed to protect the investment, but how far is too far? Personally, I disagree with the OP, hiring lawyers does not do any good, there have been several court cases lately where the judge said an IP address is not a person. By the time a lawyer gets a court order, gets the information from the ISP, it could be weeks or even months after the fact.

 

[nanobreath]

DRM is like a lock - it keeps honest people honest.

QFT

 

[Zanovar]

rofl

 

[dpodblood]

Since I started playing computer games back in the mid 1990s, Steam is the least intrusive system I have seen, and people still hate it.

DRM is like a lock - it keeps honest people honest.

There are people out there that will pirate indie games that only cost a penny - and that is pretty sad.

Where do developers draw the line at? I fully understand doing whatever is needed to protect the investment, but how far is too far? Personally, I disagree with the OP, hiring lawyers does not do any good, there have been several court cases lately where the judge said an IP address is not a person. By the time a lawyer gets a court order, gets the information from the ISP, it could be weeks or even months after the fact.

You've missed my point entirely. People who pirate are going to get pirated games regardless of their DRM. Putting DRM into a game is just a wasted investment. So yes a DRM is a lock. A flimsy lock that will break and won't even slow down the intruder.

 

[Texashiker]

Putting DRM into a game is just a wasted investment.

I disagree - putting DRM in a game helps prevent a certain level of pirating. I wish we had some numbers to talk about, instead of grouping people together.

Lets take Witcher 2 as an example, how many people bought the game, how many people pirated the game, how many tried to pirate the game, and ended up buying it anyway.

Since we do not have exact numbers, its easy to say that DRM does not do anything.

Back around 1996, 1997 or 1998 ID software made a CD with all of their games on it, the cd was called the Quake shareware CD. You could buy the CD for $5, and get all of the demos. If you wanted the full game, just call a phone number, provide a credit card number and you were given the access code for the game you wanted.

The problem was, someone cracked the encryption code and then put the crack out on the net. When people found out what was going on, those $5 CDs were flying off the shelves faster then the stores could keep them in stock.

I still have my Quake shareware CD. 2 years ago I bought the entire ID collection on Steam just to have it.

Just a little DRM goes a long way. It sure beats the alternative of people getting the game for free.

 

[Red Storm]

You've missed my point entirely. People who pirate are going to get pirated games regardless of their DRM. Putting DRM into a game is just a wasted investment. So yes a DRM is a lock. A flimsy lock that will break and won't even slow down the intruder.

I think DRM is mostly aimed at stopping the "casual intruder" so to speak. Average Joes who may try to copy their own game disc for a friend and give up when it doesn't work; those are the people that DRM stops. You can't stop the dedicated pirates though, and unfortunately some companies just don't seem to get that and would sacrifice the enjoyment of their paying customers to fight a crowd that probably wouldn't pay for the game anyway.

 

[Zanovar]

I disagree - putting DRM in a game helps prevent a certain level of pirating. I wish we had some numbers to talk about, instead of grouping people together.

Lets take Witcher 2 as an example, how many people bought the game, how many people pirated the game, how many tried to pirate the game, and ended up buying it anyway.

Since we do not have exact numbers, its easy to say that DRM does not do anything.

Back around 1996, 1997 or 1998 ID software made a CD with all of their games on it, the cd was called the Quake shareware CD. You could buy the CD for $5, and get all of the demos. If you wanted the full game, just call a phone number, provide a credit card number and you were given the access code for the game you wanted.

The problem was, someone cracked the encryption code and then put the crack out on the net. When people found out what was going on, those $5 CDs were flying off the shelves faster then the stores could keep them in stock.

I still have my Quake shareware CD. 2 years ago I bought the entire ID collection on Steam just to have it.

Just a little DRM goes a long way. It sure beats the alternative of people getting the game for free.

anyone who agrees with drm is a fucking idiout,i boought this game btw

 

[Texashiker]

anyone who agrees with drm is a fucking idiout,i boought this game btw

Call me what you will, but I agree with protecting ones property.

Saying DRM does not stop pirating, is like saying car locks do not stop car thieves. If someone wants to steal your car, their going to - regardless of how many locks you have. But I still lock my truck at night.

 

[Nintendesert]

DRM costs companies business. I was going to buy Fable 3 today for instance on STEAM but noticed it has SecurRom on it. Why would they need to do that when the game is tied to my STEAM account?

Fuck 'em. No sale to me today.

 

[simonizor]

I do not understand how you can possibly use the methods in the OP to prosecute someone for illegally downloading software. They are basically downloading the torrent themselves and then looking to see who they're downloading it from. How can you do something illegal in order to catch people doing illegal things?

 

[dpodblood]

I think even the casual user these days knows how to use bit torrent, and apply a no CD crack. Companies have every right to protect their product using DRM if they wish to. I just don't think it does them a lot of good. I don't have any hard numbers, but I would be willing to guess that if every publisher were to stop using DRM piracy would increase very little. In fact DRM's themselves may be causing more piracy. Why go through a bunch of hassle getting into a game you legitimately paid for, when you can just download it for free? Having a DRM these days is closer to locking your convertible with the top down. Sure you have the right to do it, but it isn't going to stop thieves from getting away with your car.

 

[minmaster]

but are ISPs willing to provide the game companies with names and addresses of their customers?

 

[DangerAardvark]

They've probably prevented more piracy with that bluff than DRM ever could. Hell, if they made one person hover over the "download torrent" button and decide not to click it, they've done that.

 

[Ichigo]

Why complain about this if you can get it without DRM?

 

[mooncancook]

Pirating is kind of like someone cheating in your class, it does not directly lower your score, but it can mess up the curve. It is a problem but DRM is not the solution. I don't mind DRM if it's non-intrusive, but I prefer to support non-DRM version that's why I bought it from gog even though I can get the DRM version for $5-10 less elsewhere.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I doubt they're planning on bringing people to court. They'll probably just be happy with the people that pay the fines. This is a pretty random guess though.

 

[duragezic]

It wont ever catch on. Selling the game through Steam and having some kind of drm is probably cheaper then hiring lawyers.

Companies have been dealing with warez/torrents for over a decade, and as of yet there does not see to be a clear cut answer. But hiring lawyers and tracking down file sharers is not the answer. The recording industry of america has been suing people who share files for over a decade now, and its not stopped people yet.

DRM is maturing, but its just not there yet. I see software like Steam as the future to software management. But regardless of how un-intrusive DRM is, there will always be people that complain.

Over in the 2kgames forum, there is a thread about Duke Nukem Forever being a Steamworks game. People were posting right and left that since DNF was Steamworks, they would not be buying the game.

I fully understand hating games that makes you jump through hoops to be able to play, or requiring an always on internet connection to play. But some form of DRM is the future, what that future is I do not know.

Doesn't surprise me about people bitching about Steamworks. No wonder some devs/publishers abandon the PC. You release a game on a great platform with about the least intrusive DRM possible and you still get whiners. Usually the kind of whiners who go on sites like Amazon and give it the lowest score complaining about "draconian DRM", exaggerating or lying about the DRM so that potential buyers are turned away for no reason.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I like Stardock's approach. Want to be able to patch your game? Want to be able to play it in online multiplayer? Then you need to register a legitimate CD key.

 

[Chiropteran]

It wont ever catch on. Selling the game through Steam and having some kind of drm is probably cheaper then hiring lawyers.

I doubt it. See above, the fine charged to pirates was to be price of game + lawyers fee. Having hired a lawyer before for a personal injury case, he was paid a percentage of damages. If this is anything similar the lawyers could be paid exclusively from the collected fines, net cost 0.