EA Releases DRM License Deactivation Tool
Dr_Barnowl writes "Electronic Arts has posted a SecuROM de-authorization management tool. Once downloaded, the tool will search your drives for EA games infested with the draconian online DRM system, and help you download their respective individual de-activation tools. This isn't a perfect solution, since it's still possible to run out of activations in the event of hardware failure or other source of data loss, but since the announcement that this particular DRM system will be dropped for The Sims 3 , it would seem that EA has had a minor epiphany about DRM."
I'm sure EA's hand was forced in part by the FTC's recent warning against deceptive DRM practices. Hal Halpin of the Entertainment Consumers Association commented further on the issue, suggesting to developers that such measures need to be displayed on game boxes, and that standardization of EULAs could be next on the list.
Having a standardized EULA would be a bad thing if it were standardized by the government. They'd be unilaterally agreeing to the terms of the EULA, while right now it is unclear if a EULA is even binding at all.
t
What you don't understand is that EA's DRM was screwing up computers of people who DID pay!
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
The First Congress spent almost six months writing, debating, and rewriting the Bill of Rights, and it was only one page long. Our Congress passed a 780,000 million dollar stimulus bill with thousands of pages and most never read it.
When the Founders envisioned the Congress, they pictured a body of men who would be highly-intelligent, logical (it was the Age of Reason), and careful in their deliberations, to carefully read every word and weigh its effects.
Boy were they wrong.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall