Topic: Hehe, Hey Nem...

[Sirgod]

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[Nemesis]

A good illustration of how some corporate leaders seem to think.  They can't understand how selling for less can result in more profits by selling more units.

Way back one of the Lotus executives explained why they took copy protection off of 123, it cost them more to develop/maintain the protection then it did on 123 itself. 

[Sirgod]

I do remember that with Lotus . That was a big story way back when.

Stephen

[Nemesis]

DRM is one of my pet peeves (as you may recall). 

Why can't companies understand that when they block their legitimate customers from using their purchase without hassles they drive them away?  Pirates often can use software easier than legitimate purchasers.

[Sirgod]

Exactly, Pirates will always break DRM.

look at badlands, for example. It took a hit in sales because of there DRM thingie, many others have also.

Stephen

[Rod ONeal]

I wonder if software manufacturers actually think that their copy protection and registering software, keys, etc... are actually going to work? Then they release the new version of their software and someone cracks it the 1st day it's out. Nah, there must be some other explanation on why they waste their time.

[Nemesis]

Sometimes the executives making the decisions to do this are MBAs not computer savvy.

Look at the whole RIAA vs Napster saga.  Napster came along and RIAA profits went up.  RIAA killed Napster in court, their profits dropped.  Yet they blamed Napster and pirates for killing their profits.  After they killed Napster and their profits declined they cut back on how much they spent on new material - profits declined again.  It had to be piracy that killed their profits not bad publicity and lack of reinvesting that harmed them.

Look at the fortunes they have spent suing people for downloading music (over 20,000 lawsuits started last I heard).  Bad publicity, especially when they sue the dead, the homeless and little old ladies without computers.  None of this of course gets any blame for declining profits it is all those evil "pirates".

[marstone]

Sometimes the executives making the decisions to do this are MBAs not computer savvy.

Look at the whole RIAA vs Napster saga.  Napster came along and RIAA profits went up.  RIAA killed Napster in court, their profits dropped.  Yet they blamed Napster and pirates for killing their profits.  After they killed Napster and their profits declined they cut back on how much they spent on new material - profits declined again.  It had to be piracy that killed their profits not bad publicity and lack of reinvesting that harmed them.

Look at the fortunes they have spent suing people for downloading music (over 20,000 lawsuits started last I heard).  Bad publicity, especially when they sue the dead, the homeless and little old ladies without computers.  None of this of course gets any blame for declining profits it is all those evil "pirates".

Back in the Napster day it was nice.  I liked to be able to try before I bought.  Check out songs from an album.  If they were good, pick up the album. (okay, CD no one gets albums anymore)

[Nemesis]

Back in the Napster day it was nice.  I liked to be able to try before I bought.  Check out songs from an album.  If they were good, pick up the album. (okay, CD no one gets albums anymore)

I never used Napster myself.  I've also never had much of a music collection.

One of the related issues that the RIAA forgets is that compared to the mid 20th century the music buying public now has more entertainment options.  Buying DVDs and video games competes for the same $$s as music.  The pie is the same size but there are more people eating it so your individual slice gets smaller.

Given the ability to buy individual songs rather than "albums" also means that the RIAA cannot just bundle 1 or 2 saleable songs with 12-15 pieces of junk.  The RIAA unfortunately want to roll back time to where they had no competition and could do as they liked.

Of course if the ACTA treaty gets passed they may get closer to their wish than the public would like.  It seems pretty draconian.  One of the things that shows how bad it is is that the RIAA and MPAA and similar bodies had input into it but it has been kept secret as a "national security isssue", private industry could know but not the voting public. 

Provisions... include policies to terminate subscribers in appropriate circumstances." That means a three-strikes rule would apply to anyone who was accused of violating copyright in any way; ISPs would be required to terminate the user's account after three complaints from the content owner.

Finally, the treaty includes a ban on circumventing DRM and other copyright-protecting measures in hardware and software, as well as a ban on the manufacture, import and distribution of circumvention tools. Again, this ban is irrespective of circumstance or content ownership and is inflexible.

So if the DRM causes the program to fail in your case you can't remove it or bypass it legally to use what you bought. 

[Bonk]

Ah, takes me back to grade school days, making mixed tapes off the radio for my walkman and recording Good Rockin Tonight with Terry David Mulligan on the VCR.    I wonder why they never sued us back then? Times were good so there was no need to establish additional revenue streams? When was the RIAA founded?

What about the recordings in my head? I have some pretty high fidelity copies of some songs stored entirely in my skull. Is there a tax on that? 

[Nemesis]

I wonder why they never sued us back then? Times were good so there was no need to establish additional revenue streams? When was the RIAA founded?

The RIAA was founded in 1952. 

The problem with the "It's bad times and they need the revenue stream" idea is that when they started the "Piracy is killing us" crusade was when the RIAA was at its peak.  They were making money hand over fist and like the cartoon that started this thread they couldn't stand the idea that others made money too.  They seem happier making less but fighting the "evil pirates" to stop everyone else from making anything.

What about the recordings in my head? I have some pretty high fidelity copies of some songs stored entirely in my skull. Is there a tax on that? 

They are working on it.

[Commander Maxillius]

"The tighter you squeeze, the more systems will slip through your fingers." -Princess Leia

[Nemesis]

"The tighter you squeeze, the more systems will slip through your fingers." -Princess Leia

I wonder if Apple has heard that?

Link to full article

Apple has filed a patent for an operating system that effectively freezes a computer and forces the user to watch adverts.

And don't think you nip off and make a cup of tea while the ads are playing either, because Apple plans to check if you've been watching. "The method can further include determining whether a user pays attention to the advertisement," the patent states. "The determination can include performing, while the advertisement is presented, an operation that urges the user to respond; and detecting whether the user responds to the performed operation."

Input devices can also be disabled during the advertisements, preventing users from closing the ad window or getting on with a task in the background.

[Dash Jones]

I've always bought my games legitimately and used the authentic copy.  I do admit I have made backups, but these were all games I owned.  I could say it was school that has me PC gaming less, but overall it's because I don't want to deal with the new draconian security measures (like internet authorization...sure they say I can just call, but you try being an international traveller explaining why you are using the european copy in the US or vice versa...it get's to be a PAIN) that have basically killed my PC gaming habit.

I'd say that there's been a drastic decline in PC gaming over the past 5 years, and I think a LOT OF that has to do with them being so scared of piracy that they've made their security measures so drastic as to kill the PC gaming market except for MMO's...

PC gaming isn't dead, but it's far more niche than it used to be IMO, killed because they couldn't grasp that if you make it harder for your customer to use your product, your going to drive them away.  Even if you drive the pirates away...cutting off your face to try to save your nose is really stupid.

[Sirgod]

Very good points Dash, very good. I can imagine what it is like with all the travel you do.

One thing I would suggest, to get around all that DRM crap, is things like Direct2Drive, Impulse, GoG.com, and even EAgames has there own downloader.

This completly eliminates DRM, if you look close. I didn't mention Steam, as there sometimes is a DRM, it varies.

Of course all of this means nothing if they keep rehashing the same ole boring crap. I did the digitial version of Bioshock for instance. Only interesting thing about it, was the Ayn Rand references. Outside of that, It's as boring as doom 3, Mass Effect, etc. etc. They need to look into story telling as innovation, rather then forcing people to keep on buying new and better Gadgets to play there games.

Bring back Wasteland, or the bards tale, Don't even need new flashy graphics. Those games gave hundreds of hours of play and enjoyment, because of the story they told.

Don't even get me started on MMO's.

Stephen