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FTC To Look at DMR Software - Gamers Rejoice

Written by Mark C. Barlet

Published on 06 January 2009

Is your PC riddled with destructive software that gaming companies put there to "protect" their content? If you have installed one of many of the hottest titles in the last few years, you bet there is. EA and many other gaming companies use DRM (Digital Rights Management) software to keep you from doing something illegal with their game... Fundamental flaw with this strategy; the only people that suffer the wrath of poorly designed DRM software are those that have no intention to make and distribute copies of the games. Fact is, almost all DRM strategies are easily circumvented by those that pirate these games, and those that download the "cracked" game get to enjoy it DRM free! I pay, the cheater, nothing!

Well the federal government may be stepping into the issue. The FTC has taken on the issue, and on March 25^th they are planning to have a town hall meeting on DRM, with the help of Technology Law and Public Policy Clinic at the University of Washington School of Law.

What is on the agenda, well at the moment it is still in flux, but here is what we know now.

Opening remarks (blah blah, we hear you... blah blah)
Demonstrations of DRM-related technology, that is right, they are going to show off how fast that DMR software can hose your PC.
Panel discussions regarding burdens on, and benefits for, consumers, and other market and legal issues involving DRM - Again, the only people that are punished by DMR are the ones that legally go buy the game.
Review of industry best practices - Yah, show the FTC how you damage our PC's
Consideration of the need for government involvement to better protect consumers. - YES!

How does this effect disabled gamers? Well there has been some reports out there of some input devices designed for our community has been negatively impacted by some of the poorly written DMR software out there. Some devices, like some the products from GoodWorks System have internal memory, and I have had DMR software see those devices as external media, and disabled them. I am PC savvy and was able to fix it, but some are not PC freaks and this can render there gaming setup dead in the water!

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Comments

0 #3 COMMENT_TITLE_R E FTC To Look at DMR Software - Gamers Rejoice — BlazeEagle 2009-01-25 06:12

I hope the FTC's investigation is fruitful in a positive manner for all consumers.

Obviously, A company deserves fair & reasonable compensation for their products but not at the cost of consumer fair use rights.

I heard once that some in the industry want to have a tax on blank media like CDR's. There are legitimate uses for blank media.