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In announcing its first major patch for Mass Effect: Andromeda last week, BioWare highlighted fixes to the game's much-maligned facial animations, as well as gameplay tweaks like larger inventories and skippable cutscenes. One thing BioWare forgot to mention in its patch notes, though, is an improved version of Denuvo DRM that is forcing pirates to use an outdated version of the game... at least for now.
[...] It's unclear why Mass Effect: Andromeda didn't feature the latest version of Denuvo in its initial release. In any case, the updated DRM leaves pirates stuck with a much less polished version of the game, and it could keep them away from months of further patches that are already in the works. It's a situation that reminds us a bit of Game Dev Tycoon and other games that intentionally make pirated versions inferior to legitimately purchased copies.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 12 2017, @06:17PM (5 children)
You are never entitled to a game, just because you want to try it.
If you want to tell the publisher how much money they lose by being hard to buy from, or how their DRM scheme would brick your PC, go ahead.
That still doesn't entitle you to the game, or give you the moral right to play it against the wishes and without rewarding the people who made it.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday April 12 2017, @07:48PM (4 children)
While US copyright law (Section 107) may not have a specific exemption for that, the UN declaration of human rights [un.org] does:
"Moral ... interests" is subsection 2 probably refers to "moral rights": The right of the author to attribution, and to preserve the integrity of their work (including the right to refuse attribution).
"Material ... interests" probably refers to royalties from copyright law. It appears that US copyright law takes the view that "fair use" should not impact the market for the original work. That brings us to the debate about whether unauthorized copies are "lost sales" or "free advertising".
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 12 2017, @09:38PM (3 children)
Playing a game without paying, when it's still actively sold, is not fair use. Period.
Unauthorized copies are not all lost sales, but a variable fraction of them is, depending on the game.
Unauthorized copies are only advertising to the extent that someone will eventually buy the game or its sequel ... which is an even smaller fraction.
Is there really a debate, or are people just trying to rationalize the fact that they'd rather not pay for their entertainment?
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Wednesday April 12 2017, @10:47PM
I had actually checked. As I mentioned in my other comment, it would count as fair dealing, if not for the DRM.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @12:27AM (1 child)
Playing a game without paying, when it's still actively sold, is not fair use. Period.
Does it count as "actively sold" if you can't buy it because you live in the wrong country (aka region blocking)?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday April 13 2017, @01:11AM
Legally, yes.
"Fair use" has an actual definition. It's not just some kid looking at a toy they want, being told no, and claiming "It's not fair".