Thursday
Sep132007
What is SecuRom?
I must admit it was difficult coming to a proper determination, with a slew of biased and inaccurate information on the internets (*coughForumscough*). But I believe I now understand superficially what it does to your machine. Additionally I've gained a sense of how Sony DADC feels about consumers, and it's not pretty.
SecuRom is a method of ensuring that only a pressed CD or DVD may be used with games that require a CD to play. Such games that use the CD feature, WITHOUT using SecuRom would be Blizzards Starcraft or Diablo series, it's a simple measure on the part of the developer to ensure you actually own the game. What SecuRom prevents me from doing is using a burnt copy, or "virtual drive" software to fake-out the games' CD check. Some ways it does this is by putting superfluous data onto the disc with the same data headers, so a burnt copy would only have the false data, or ensuring that no virtual drive software is running or installed on the computer system. What upsets many people about the latter is its' indiscriminate stance on these virtual drive softwares. Because there are legitimate uses for such software, it's felt by users of virtual drives that Sony DADC went too far to hinder game play (literally) because some alternate software might be installed.
Valves' Steam software has an Anti-Cheating aspect which does check to see if you're using any "illegal" programs that would ruin other peoples fun, but you can also go to non-secured servers and play your cheating little heart out.
SecuRom can (and in the case of Bioshock, does) also limit the number of installations of a specific copy of a game and number of installations you can do on the same machine. The gaming community (PC side, at least) were quite... miffed that a game they spent hard earned money on should have such draconian restrictions in addition to requiring having the disc in the drive to play. "Perhaps," says the amiable gamer, "we should only have one type of restriction instead of all of them on a game, bokay?" Additionally, the gaming community doesn't take kindly to how they think they're treated by Sony DADC AND the game developers. Looking at how they treat us, perhaps we can glimpse some insight into this component to games we often try to forget.
After wading through the market-speak of SecuRoms' homepage a few facts emerge; 1. Sony DADC hates consumers, 2. see purchased content as a means of further advertisement and 3. feel like they have sovereignty over your hardware. Perhaps hate is too strong a word, suffers us grudgingly is more accurate. This is supported by the term used against gamers -- this sentence, taken (without permission) from their securom site indicates just this opinion. (own emphasis added)
Choosing to ignore whether or not copy protection also protects revenue, consider the fact about CDs and DVDs, they carry information and are easily damaged or lost (I should know, I had to buy The Invisible Band twice when I lost it moving). The reasoning for we, the "casual consumer(s)," to backup our video games is because we didn't buy the discs, but the bits on the discs. Our casual tendencies are designed not to rip the system, frankly we love the system. Why else would we buy the video game, listen to the music, see the movie if we didn't appreciate their efforts?
The fact we're actually paying to be ad-views is actually comes from SecuRoms' sister software, n-CD. So while it's not SecuRom directly, bare with me as we delve into the thinking of Sony DADC. The fact I spent $50 on software apparently entitles me to being exposed to "specific premium content designed for your disc customers[,]" instead of leaving me the hell alone. This is not (exclusively) the fault of the developers (for instance, EA or 2K), Sony DADC wouldn't stress the points so heavily in their marketing if they weren't trying to convince EA or 2K they should want this in their games. Talk about failing to consult the end user, or even honour our wishes.
Of course, I say "honour our wishes" like it meant something, bringing us to my third and final point --they don't give a shit whose hardware they're touching. Sony DADC is less concerned with your rights than their money. If they did place any value on our opinions, commandeering some-ones computer to ensure their cash-cow, copy-protection, would never have gotten past the marketing teams, much less developed by the coders (come on guys, where's your white hats?!). Now there seems to be a way to lessen the impact of companies like Sony DADC, unfortunately it requires harming the people we actually wish to support. Without damning the software makers we must convince them they're better off without this in their games. Since this is a commercial state we're in, we should allow our words to flow from our wallets.
The difficulty is convincing our fellow gamers to join this "intrepid" cause. As you might imagine, it's harder than teaching Symbolic Logic to a pack of middle schoolers (in this day and age). Even worse is trying to convince the retailers you're not a dirty disc-copying hooligan pirate. Without government interference, there are three choices at present; you can purchase the games, with the "evil icky" copy protection, refrain from buying games outright in attempts to succeed via attrition, or buy games that are free of the scourge of DRM in order to maintain a proper zen-like state of game-play mentality.
Buying these games loaded with DRM doesn't send a message to the game makers that you're tick'd off about their policies, but you at least have a chance to play some good games without having to wait until you can grab it in the bargain bin (and hack the shit out of the (hopefully) old DRM). Not buying games, period, is a harsh choice and almost feels like (but may not necessarily be) taking care of a headache with a bullet -- sure the headache's gone, but how are you going to enjoy life? With such an extreme choice we're inclined to the final option listed, finding non-DRM games. This can either be checking out which games have what DRM if any and then making your selection from this fine prime-a beefy game library, or switch to a system that has no DRM issues to speak of. I realize that there are distinct differences between PCs and consoles; the environments are different, better network play on PCs, that whole keyboard & mouse fiasco. *ahem* If it were up to me, I'd outright ban DRM systems like SecuRom, however it's not up to me to make a change that way. I'm doing my part by advocating to you, gentle readers, the best ways to show them we mean business! If it's our money they want and can calculate then show them in mathematical clarity they should abandon SecuRom for a more honest approach.
SecuRom is a method of ensuring that only a pressed CD or DVD may be used with games that require a CD to play. Such games that use the CD feature, WITHOUT using SecuRom would be Blizzards Starcraft or Diablo series, it's a simple measure on the part of the developer to ensure you actually own the game. What SecuRom prevents me from doing is using a burnt copy, or "virtual drive" software to fake-out the games' CD check. Some ways it does this is by putting superfluous data onto the disc with the same data headers, so a burnt copy would only have the false data, or ensuring that no virtual drive software is running or installed on the computer system. What upsets many people about the latter is its' indiscriminate stance on these virtual drive softwares. Because there are legitimate uses for such software, it's felt by users of virtual drives that Sony DADC went too far to hinder game play (literally) because some alternate software might be installed.
Valves' Steam software has an Anti-Cheating aspect which does check to see if you're using any "illegal" programs that would ruin other peoples fun, but you can also go to non-secured servers and play your cheating little heart out.
SecuRom can (and in the case of Bioshock, does) also limit the number of installations of a specific copy of a game and number of installations you can do on the same machine. The gaming community (PC side, at least) were quite... miffed that a game they spent hard earned money on should have such draconian restrictions in addition to requiring having the disc in the drive to play. "Perhaps," says the amiable gamer, "we should only have one type of restriction instead of all of them on a game, bokay?" Additionally, the gaming community doesn't take kindly to how they think they're treated by Sony DADC AND the game developers. Looking at how they treat us, perhaps we can glimpse some insight into this component to games we often try to forget.
After wading through the market-speak of SecuRoms' homepage a few facts emerge; 1. Sony DADC hates consumers, 2. see purchased content as a means of further advertisement and 3. feel like they have sovereignty over your hardware. Perhaps hate is too strong a word, suffers us grudgingly is more accurate. This is supported by the term used against gamers -- this sentence, taken (without permission) from their securom site indicates just this opinion. (own emphasis added)
SecuROM™ protects your intellectual property - and thus your revenues - better than any other copy control solution on the market. It's the most powerful and highly advanced way to keep your ideas safe. Its compatibility rate is unmatched, and SecuROM™ 's easy implementation (which can be completed in minutes) allows for extremely fast turnaround times. Sony DADC´s engineers are constantly working on further enhancements to keep you ahead of casual consumer copying and professional piracy.
Choosing to ignore whether or not copy protection also protects revenue, consider the fact about CDs and DVDs, they carry information and are easily damaged or lost (I should know, I had to buy The Invisible Band twice when I lost it moving). The reasoning for we, the "casual consumer(s)," to backup our video games is because we didn't buy the discs, but the bits on the discs. Our casual tendencies are designed not to rip the system, frankly we love the system. Why else would we buy the video game, listen to the music, see the movie if we didn't appreciate their efforts?
The fact we're actually paying to be ad-views is actually comes from SecuRoms' sister software, n-CD. So while it's not SecuRom directly, bare with me as we delve into the thinking of Sony DADC. The fact I spent $50 on software apparently entitles me to being exposed to "specific premium content designed for your disc customers[,]" instead of leaving me the hell alone. This is not (exclusively) the fault of the developers (for instance, EA or 2K), Sony DADC wouldn't stress the points so heavily in their marketing if they weren't trying to convince EA or 2K they should want this in their games. Talk about failing to consult the end user, or even honour our wishes.
Of course, I say "honour our wishes" like it meant something, bringing us to my third and final point --
The difficulty is convincing our fellow gamers to join this "intrepid" cause. As you might imagine, it's harder than teaching Symbolic Logic to a pack of middle schoolers (in this day and age). Even worse is trying to convince the retailers you're not a dirty disc-copying hooligan pirate. Without government interference, there are three choices at present; you can purchase the games, with the "evil icky" copy protection, refrain from buying games outright in attempts to succeed via attrition, or buy games that are free of the scourge of DRM in order to maintain a proper zen-like state of game-play mentality.
Buying these games loaded with DRM doesn't send a message to the game makers that you're tick'd off about their policies, but you at least have a chance to play some good games without having to wait until you can grab it in the bargain bin (and hack the shit out of the (hopefully) old DRM). Not buying games, period, is a harsh choice and almost feels like (but may not necessarily be) taking care of a headache with a bullet -- sure the headache's gone, but how are you going to enjoy life? With such an extreme choice we're inclined to the final option listed, finding non-DRM games. This can either be checking out which games have what DRM if any and then making your selection from this fine prime-a beefy game library, or switch to a system that has no DRM issues to speak of. I realize that there are distinct differences between PCs and consoles; the environments are different, better network play on PCs, that whole keyboard & mouse fiasco. *ahem* If it were up to me, I'd outright ban DRM systems like SecuRom, however it's not up to me to make a change that way. I'm doing my part by advocating to you, gentle readers, the best ways to show them we mean business! If it's our money they want and can calculate then show them in mathematical clarity they should abandon SecuRom for a more honest approach.
by 
Chris
Chris 
Reader Comments (3)
Thanks for posting this--it makes much more sense of SecuRom than anything else I've come across.
I've heard Sony eventually admitted it did include a rootkit on their cd-based software, but blamed it on their subcontractor. Do you know if that holds true to their games version?
I completely agree with you. What right do software publishers have to tell me whether or not I can have burning software installed on my PC? Last time I checked, making backup copies is perfectly legal in the UK and most other countries and any company who chooses to take that right away from me is not worthy of my hard-earned cash! I fully agree that a boycott of securom-infected products is the only way to get the message home, but as adults, that won't really work, because the kids will always buy the games regardless - 'I really MUST have that game, Mummy!'. What these publishers dont realise is that securom and its ilk actually ENCOURAGES piracy, because it pushes frustrated genuine customers away from buying legitimate - but infected - software, and towards getting the warez version which at least doesnt screw up your PC. Too bad for publishers I guess :)
Sad to say, the current trend for aggressive DRM does discourage buying PC games. The message seems to be that some companies value money more than honest customers. Ironically DRM is reducing the size of the games market right now.
... Talkjack