Tattle

Yesterday, I saw on Twitter that people were playing Spore.  I’d completely forgotten that it was being released, but had been looking forward to it for months.  I headed over to Amazon.com, expecting to see no Mac version yet.  But to my delight, there was a Mac version available, on the same disc as the Windows version.

But then I read the reviews, and saw a huge backlash.  It turns out that Electronic Arts have put quite aggressive DRM around the game.  The DRM scheme used is called SecuROM, which is a controversial technology as it works in a similar way to malware.  In short, it modifies files in your system without your knowledge, and cannot be removed.  Some also accuse the SecuROM software of installing a rootkit, which has been denied.

This is a game I really want, but I will not buy it for several reasons.

Firstly, I’m unsure what this game will do to my Mac.  (If I had a Windows computer there is no way I would install this.)  I’m just not prepared to take risks with things like this.

Secondly, I don’t want to send a message to EA that practices like this will increase their revenues.  I agree that piracy is a problem for them, and they need to look at ways to eliminate it.  But in my opinion, doing things like this to someone’s computer without their knowledge is not morally correct.  And the actual result will be people pirating a cracked version of the game so avoid the invasive nature of the DRM.  Some are even talking of purchasing the game, but installing an “illegal” copy.  This is just crazy.

So, in a act of solidarity with Windows users, and in making a stand against crazy ideas like this, I won’t be buying this game.  I hope EA sees sense, and then I’ll be first in line to get a copy.  I have no objection to DRM done correctly (although I would question if it makes any difference), but this is an example of a company that has become too arrogant and is taking risks with their customers computers.

I also don’t like the 3 time installation limit.  Something like iTunes’ authorize and de-authorize process would be much better.  But this is a smaller issue I can live with.  The other stuff I can’t.