GOG Drops IP-Based Location Check

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
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GOG Drops IP-Based Location Check


GOG [http://www.gog.com] has announced that it will no longer use IPs to determine the location of its customers because it trusts them to correctly report their location and thereby comply with the censorship laws of their country and/or region.

A lot of online services use IP addresses to determine an individual's location, which ensures that people in one part of the world cannot purchase content that would be inappropriate for them from a different, perhaps more liberal-leaning part of the world. But it's an imperfect system, fraught with flaws, and so GOG has decided to drop it and go with locational self-reporting instead.

"GOG.com has always been about trusting the user," said GOG.com Managing Director Guillaume Rambourg. "We've come to the conclusion that there are a number of issues with using a customer's IP address to determine what offer they are being presented with from GOG.com. A good number of users can find themselves negatively impacted by a policy of using geo-IP to set their region."

"For example, customers may be traveling when they want to purchase or download a game from GOG.com. In this case, automatic IP address capture might change the price or the content of the game they're ordering (such as the default language of the installer)," he continued. "Further, geo-IP data collection is not always right. IP addresses are not a perfect or unique identifier of location, and can report the incorrect region of users, particularly ones who are not using standard Internet connections. Finally, we're always very sensitive of our users' privacy. Effective privacy protections for our users means that any data that we don't need to collect, we shouldn't."

GOG explained that users who are having difficulty with the site's offerings due to incorrect location reporting can make necessary changes and updates by going to "My Account" and selecting "Account and Settings." "We only need to know the country that you're making this purchase from, so although we originally planned to use geo-IP to determine user's location, we've decided to trust our users and let them inform us as to the correct region for their purchase," added Rambourg.

As expensive [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/05/10/er-australia-gog-drops-geo-ip-check/] for gamers in Australia than for those who live in other parts of the world.


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Vie

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Nov 18, 2009
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I salute them for this.

Not that I'm likely to use their store though... ..sorry guys.
 

Tzekelkan

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Dec 27, 2009
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Fuck. That's amazing. That's just incredible. Man, I'll probably buy something from them soon despite my self-imposed Steam monopoly, just to encourage them. That's just superb.
 

googleback

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Apr 15, 2009
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Tzekelkan said:
Fuck. That's amazing. That's just incredible. Man, I'll probably buy something from them soon despite my self-imposed Steam monopoly, just to encourage them. That's just superb.
I buy most of my older games on there (ususally cheaper than steam) and they've been optimized for newer operating systems.

GIVE ME DOOM 3 GOG.COM
 

rembrandtqeinstein

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Sep 4, 2009
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hah, thats a big screw you to government censors....

good for him, while I have not patronized their store yet this makes up for their disgraceful publicity stunt
 

TheComfyChair

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Sep 17, 2010
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They can say 'trust' to avoid the wrath of censors, but all it really means is that they're saying 'oh! Aussi gamers! you can buy the US versions from us now!'.

Sounds good.
 

teebeeohh

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Jun 17, 2009
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first they modify old games to run on modern system than this, i may just build a shrine to gog out of old newspapers, egg cartons and my vault boy bobble head.


edit: omgomgomgomgomgomg how could i not have found battle isle until now
 
Apr 28, 2008
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I'm gonna just quote RPS...

RockPaperShotgun said:
It?s great that GoG are employing trust in their customers this way, because it means they know that no one in Australia would ever dream of breaking this bond by using the lack of IP geo-tracking to purchase a game that?s been censored by their country?s government. It?s arguably a big risk they?ve taken, but I?m sure that not a single Aussie will let them down in this way, by taking advantage of the honour system by entering another country as their location when pre-ordering or purchasing the DRM-free version of the game from www.gog.com.
This whole thing has a sense of "its totally because of this reason, and not the one your thinking of.

...

*wink*"

Not saying that its bad though. Its good that they're not tracking IP's. Yeah, thats the reason I like this.
...

*wink*
 

Woodsey

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Aug 9, 2009
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SomeLameStuff said:
Oh... just as I went ahead and preordered Witcher 2 on Steam. DAMMIT!
If you contact Steam support you should be able to get it cancelled and refunded.
 
Feb 13, 2008
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Andy Chalk said:
As expensive [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/05/10/er-australia-gog-drops-geo-ip-check/] for gamers in Australia than for those who live in other parts of the world.


Or rather, what they did there.
 

CM156_v1legacy

Revelation 9:6
Mar 23, 2011
3,997
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Well, this about settles it: I'm going to have to get some of their games now.

*Checks out store*

Wait, they have Fallout 1 and Fallout 2? And Demon Stone? How have I missed this?

See ya'll in about a week or so!
 

brunothepig

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May 18, 2009
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Tzekelkan said:
Fuck. That's amazing. That's just incredible. Man, I'll probably buy something from them soon despite my self-imposed Steam monopoly, just to encourage them. That's just superb.
I would advise it. First, you get freebies. Then, super cheap hard to find games. Mate of mine recommends Arcanum, there's Serious Sam and Baldur's Gate and XIII and stuff. Then, DRM free, so you can easily add it to your Steam list, it's like you never left Steam. Then again, GOG gives you a visual representation of your games on a shelf, if you're into that.
OT: We love you too GOG. You and your trust. I wonder if this is motivated by the censorship... I'll admit, if I were interested in Witcher 2, I'd be very tempted to buy it "in" the U.S.A or something. Not even the price, it's the censorship that bugs me. Meh, all hypothetical. I should play the first game first.
 

Tzekelkan

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Dec 27, 2009
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googleback said:
Tzekelkan said:
Fuck. That's amazing. That's just incredible. Man, I'll probably buy something from them soon despite my self-imposed Steam monopoly, just to encourage them. That's just superb.
I buy most of my older games on there (ususally cheaper than steam) and they've been optimized for newer operating systems.

GIVE ME DOOM 3 GOG.COM
brunothepig said:
Tzekelkan said:
Fuck. That's amazing. That's just incredible. Man, I'll probably buy something from them soon despite my self-imposed Steam monopoly, just to encourage them. That's just superb.
I would advise it. First, you get freebies. Then, super cheap hard to find games. Mate of mine recommends Arcanum, there's Serious Sam and Baldur's Gate and XIII and stuff. Then, DRM free, so you can easily add it to your Steam list, it's like you never left Steam. Then again, GOG gives you a visual representation of your games on a shelf, if you're into that.
OT: We love you too GOG. You and your trust. I wonder if this is motivated by the censorship... I'll admit, if I were interested in Witcher 2, I'd be very tempted to buy it "in" the U.S.A or something. Not even the price, it's the censorship that bugs me. Meh, all hypothetical. I should play the first game first.
I will. I promise I will. I just have too little time, even for newer games. But I plan on someday playing Planescape: Torment, and GoG's the place I'll have bought it.
 

Casimir_Effect

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Aug 26, 2010
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People may ***** at Steam, but there is no way anyone can have a problem with GOG. They do no wrong and a lot right.