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Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

torrentfreak.com

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Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#71

Post by harha »

Spivak wrote: post #40
harha wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Not a lawyer) You could probably sue in some jurisdictions, since a main aspect of the contract was not clearly advertised. If it has a buy button for game xyz you should assume you’re buying the game, not a license, even if the fine print says otherwise. For multiplayer games it would probably be ok to not perpetually run the servers, for single player the server isn’t an aspect that is crucial to the functioning.…

These kinds of arguments don't make any sense to me. You can't buy copyrighted works[1], only licenses to them. So Steam changes the button to "Buy License" and literally nothing changes. Are you happy now? Of course not. Because that's not the issue. The thing you have issue with is the terms of the license, not the license itself. [1] Okay fine you can but nobody who buys Skyrim thinks they are buying the rights to…

You buy a copy of the game that is expected to run with the hardware defined - no end date.

If they’d change the button and add an explanation that the license can be revoked at any time without notice or reason, then my argument would be invalid, but users might not be willing to pay as much any more.

Edit: because they now openly know the significant terms and know they’re potentially being screwed. It’s already bad enough to pay full price without the ability to resell or pass on (not sure how games are right now, but that’s why I don’t use a kindle, along with it being tied to my other Amazon account and everything that goes with it)

Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#72

Post by acdha »

toxik wrote: post #53
Izkata wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just one point, but I started pirating games during college because of DRM, after whatever they used in Spore destroyed Windows so badly I had to do a full reinstall and lost a bunch of stuff. Before that I reliably bought all my games. I don't pirate games anymore, but that's only because I stopped playing computer games entirely and stick to consoles, to avoid DRM screwing with my stuff.

I’m not trying to be rude here but going from PC gaming to consoles because you dislike DRM is like buying a sports car because you think trucks pollute too much.

It depends on whether you object to the concept on principle or to the negative impact on your computer. In the latter case, his actions make total sense.

Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#73

Post by acdha »

lostcolony wrote: post #45
tialaramex wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I agree that it's overwhelmingly likely that someone ran the numbers about using DRM at these companies. I wouldn't even go that far. It's very rare for anybody to run the numbers. Humans are too lazy. At most they'll eyeball it. Unless somebody requires hard numbers and they start digging up your process so that it's easier to actually do it than to fake it, no "running the numbers" will happen.

I'd go one further (in the other direction). If someone "ran the numbers", I'm quite sure they would have made them public. Because no consumer wants DRM (some are ambivalent, some hate it, but no one is like "oh, thank goodness, DRM"), and the inclusion of DRM by other companies does not threaten your market share, a company has nothing to lose, and only to gain (good will) if they were to release those figures and…

It’s not that simple because there’s no objective way to get a number for the most important question: how many people would have bought if they couldn’t pirate it? The publishers have quoted estimates which basically assume 100% conversion and I’d be quite surprised if there weren’t senior managers who wholeheartedly believed that because if your job amounts to “sell more” that’s a very tempting way to say that not hitting your targets wasn’t your fault. This is especially what you tell politicians when saying you need police investigations into pirating and various legal protections, too.

These numbers are, of course, wildly optimistic but it’s harder to say exactly how far off they are.

Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#75

Post by LadyCailin »

bool3max wrote: post #15
kayson wrote: post #12

Has anyone ever done an a analysis on whether Denuvo (or DRM in general) is actually a wise investment of capital? I imagine it probably does have some impact on early sales in that it will prevent early customers from pirating to try it rather than buying it. But at the same time, you have things like Steam's return policy, the general dislike of DRM, and the publicity/image cost when something happens preventing ev…

If it wasn't a vise investment, publishers and developers of AAA titles wouldn't invest in it. But they do.

There are plenty of market failures out there. Why would this be necessarily any different?

Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#77

Post by Fnoord »

agilob wrote: post #59
stiray wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. "The European Commission paid €360,000 (about $428,000) for a study on how piracy impacts the sales of copyrighted music, books, video games, and movies. But the EU never shared the report—possibly because it determined that there is no evidence that piracy is a major problem." TLDR: https://gizmodo.com/the-eu-suppressed-a-300-page-study-that-... Study: https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_…

>But the EU never shared the report I remember the day it was published, it hit some news, I made a backup of that PDF from EC domain (still have it!), 2 or 3 hours later the PDF was 404.

Wisdom of the crowd. Thank you for your service!

Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#78

Post by Izkata »

arcticbull wrote: post #54
Izkata wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just one point, but I started pirating games during college because of DRM, after whatever they used in Spore destroyed Windows so badly I had to do a full reinstall and lost a bunch of stuff. Before that I reliably bought all my games. I don't pirate games anymore, but that's only because I stopped playing computer games entirely and stick to consoles, to avoid DRM screwing with my stuff.

Consoles are all about DRM aren't they?

Sure, but more importantly: consoles aren't the computer I do everything with.

Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#79

Post by secondaryacct »

actually_a_dog wrote: post #55
stiray wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. "The European Commission paid €360,000 (about $428,000) for a study on how piracy impacts the sales of copyrighted music, books, video games, and movies. But the EU never shared the report—possibly because it determined that there is no evidence that piracy is a major problem." TLDR: https://gizmodo.com/the-eu-suppressed-a-300-page-study-that-... Study: https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_…

You left out the money quote from the Gizmodo article: > The report found that illegal downloads and streams can actually boost legal sales of games , according to the report. The only negative link the report found was with major blockbuster films:“The results show a displacement rate of 40 percent which means that for every ten recent top films watched illegally, four fewer films are consumed legally.” (Emphasis ad…

But then it s not piracy anymore. I often transform a pirated game I like into a buy on Steam later that I never touch, but almost never pay again for a game I got for free legally - what matters to me (but that s just me) is the convenience and comfort of the legal offer, not the support to companies I assume have planned for my consumption behaviour. If I learn they put on torrents willingly, I ll probably swallow the lack of convenience and assume I m doing the right thing.

The only thing I feel annoyed by is that I could be buying a game I pirated at a sales price, displacing cost for something I shouldn't have been able to, but again if prices were more aligned with perceived value and risk of mismatch between marketing and realized quality, I d hesitate less sending money their way.

Re: Denuvo-Protected Games Rendered Unplayable After Domain Expires

#80

Post by krageon »

White_Wolf wrote: post #30
Mindwipe wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely would not be because that ruling does not overrule other bits of legislation, such as the prohibition against distribution or importation of tools to circumvent technical protection measure that all EU countries have.

it does if the software is not working(like in this case). "the legitimate purchaser of a program is entitled to decompile that program in order to correct errors affecting its operation" https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f5b1193c-f423...

The main point here is to figure out if it no longer working is actually considered an error or whether it might be a planned feature.
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