EA & Spore: DRM + SecuRom = Lawsuit? | ¿Juicio?

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Since its debut on September 7th, Spore has been attracting many people by selling over a million retail copies worldwide. Players have created more than 25 millions creatures and vehicles so far and can be seen at www.spore.com/sporepedia. Those are the very good news for EA and Will Wright. But many people who purchased the game complained because of the DRM (Digital Rights Management) letting only one person per copy to play the game. Most people were not aware of this at first, and EA has seen positive and negative reactions of those people before and after correcting that mistake. Now it seems like EA will have to go to court over the use of SecuROM. While PC games have some sort of copy protection, Spore did not state the fact that software was going to be downloaded and installed permanently into the computer of every Spore gamer.

“Although consumers are told that the game uses access control and copy protection technology, consumers are not told that this technology is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install and operate on their computers along with the Spore download,” stated Melissa Thomas on her complaint.

She also said that Spore “contained an undisclosed, secret, separately installed, stand alone, uninstallable DRM program which would install itself to the command and control center of the computer and oversee functions and operation of the computer, preventing certain user actions, preventing certain user programs from operating, or disrupting hardware operations.”

More info: Courthouse News: http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/09/23/Spore.pdf.

En español | In English || Press Release | Comunicado de Prensa (en inglés)

Desde su debút el 7 de septiembre, Spore ha estado atrayendo a mucha gente por vender más de un millón de copias al por menor a nivel mundial. Jugadores han creado más de 25 millones de creaturas y vehículos hasta ahora y se pueden ver en www.spore.com/sporepedia. Esas fueron las buenas noticias para EA y Will Wright. Pero mucha gente quienes compraron el juego se quejaron por el DRM (gestión de derechos digitales) que permite solo a una persona jugar por cada copia del juego. Varias personas no estaban enteradas de esto al principio, y EA ha visto las reacciones positivas y negativas de aquellos antes y después de corregir ese error. Ahora parece que EA tendrá que ir a la corte por el uso de SecuROM. Mientras que se sabe que juegos PC llevan algún tipo de protección de copia, Spore no declaró el hecho que el software SecuROM iba a ser bajado e instalado permanentemente en la computadora de cada uno de los jugadores de Spore.

“Aunque se les dijo a los cosumidores que el juego usa control de acceso y tecnología de protección de copia, no se les dijo a los consumidores que esta tecnología es verdaderamente un programa autónomo enteramente separado la cuál bajará, instalará y operará en sus computadoras junto con la descarga de Spore”, declaró Melissa Thomas en su demanda.

Ella también dijo que Spore “contuvo un programa DRM no revelado, secreto, instalado por separado, autónomo, sin la capacidad de desinstalarse que se instalaría al centro del comando y de control de la computadora y supervisaría funciones y la operación de la computadora, previniendo ciertas acciones de usuario, previniendo ciertos programas del usuario del funcionamiento, o interrumpiendo operaciones de hardware.”

Más información: Courthouse News: http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/09/23/Spore.pdf.

Press Release | Comunicado de Prensa (en inglés)

Spore Begins With a Big Bang!
One Million Games Sold and 25 Million Creations Uploaded

EMERYVILLE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sept. 24, 2008–Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced that Spore(TM) has sold through more than one million copies at retail worldwide on the PC, Mac(R) and Nintendo DS(TM), since shipping worldwide on September 7th. Spore, developed by EA’s Maxis(TM) Studio, is also available on mobile phones including the iPhone(TM). To date, gamers have used the creativity tools in Spore to populate the universe with more than 25 million creatures, vehicles and buildings available to view in the Sporepedia(TM) at www.spore.com/sporepedia.

Spore has been well received by game critics – with a Metacritic index of: 85.

“Spore is a hit,” said Frank Gibeau, president of the EA Games Label. “Will Wright’s latest delivers an incredibly diverse game that appeals to casual gamers and the core alike. We’re off to a great start moving into the holiday season and believe Spore will deliver a platform of creativity for gamers of all stripes for years to come.”

“We’re humbled by how quickly the community has taken to the creativity tools in Spore,” said Lucy Bradshaw, vice president of Maxis and Spore’s executive producer. “It’s amazing to see the sheer imagination represented in the hundreds of thousands of creatures, vehicles and buildings that have been uploaded around the clock since launch.”

Spore – rated E10+ — gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe filled with creations made by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even spaceships.