I’ve been holding off from posting about this for a few days – my fault. I’ve just hadn’t had the time. But now that I had a few minutes, I registered on Girard Gibbs LLP for more information on the SecuROM lawsuit. If you have a few spare minutes, please do the same.
Girard Gibbs LLP is currently investigating complaints that certain Electronic Arts computer games, including Spore, Sims 2 expansion packs, Need for Speed, Medal of Honor, and Command and Conquer, automatically install an undisclosed Digital Rights Management program (DRM) called SecuROM on users’ computers. DRM is a form of technology that is used to protect copyrighted material by restricting the consumer’s ability to copy or distribute it.
Some consumers complain that SecuROM, which they are unable to uninstall, disrupts the operation of their computers by interfering with other software, such as anti-virus programs.
If you have purchased Electronic Arts’ computer games, or would like to learn more about the SecuROM investigation, please fill out the form.
If you are looking for more information or would like to contribute your dealings with SecuROM, please visit the site to sign up! After all, I don’t think it would be a good idea to see them use SecuROM on The Sims 3!
Girard Gibbs LLP – Have you purchased Electronic Arts’ computer games containing SecuROM?
Another blog noted Pete Hines has announced that Fallout 3 will ship with little to no DRM whatsoever because they want to trust their paying customers. See http://www.aeropause.com/2008/10/fallout-3-to-ship-on-pc-minus-drm/
If you want to add to the pressure on EA games to unbundle DRM and SecuROM, there’s a campaign that just started to refuse to buy EA games until they remove DRM and SecuROM from their software. Check it out at http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/ea-games-without-drm-and-secu-rom
Figure each game costs $50, and if 500 people sign on, that would be $25,000 in lost revenue. For its loyal customer base, secretly adding DRM and SecuROM in their install is just not the way to treat us.
The three issues are that DRM and SecuRom are being installed without the user realizing it; DRM limits the number of computers you can install it on; and SecuROM has been affecting some people’s computers to the point that they needed to re-format their hard drive and uninstall the game to get their computer returning to normal.
And it takes just a minute to sign up. You can even sign anonymously.