DRM Kills Angry Birds

[gphjr14]

Works just fine on my 3Gs...

 

[Scars Unseen]

Apple has since claimed that the problem has been fixed and wasn't as widespread as first thought

That is so Apple...

If I liked Angry Birds more, this would make me glad I have Android, but I find myself playing more Sudoku, so whatever...

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Thanks pirates! I never realised there was DRM on apps, now there is and its fucking us up because people wont even pay a dollar/59p for a game.

No, this isn't the fault of the pirates, this is the fault of Apple. And don't give me that "Well they have to do something" speech, because EVERY company makes the exact same idiotic mistake when implementing their DRM. If you want to target pirates, then target pirates. 90% of DRM out there doesn't do jack shit about a single person cracking the game and then posting downloadable copies on pirate bay. Damn-near every pirate out there downloads precracked games, so implementing DRM like the way Apple did (as well as 90% of all DRM) doesn't do anything against the very people you're trying to hinder, and meanwhile just provides obstacles for the legitimate customers.

Piracy is a constant. It's always going to be there. You can't really scold "the pirates" for the existence of DRM, because they don't give a fuck if you're tripping over DRM. Instead, scold the company that put it there, because they clearly didn't do any research into how pirating works, and instead of implementing an effective, working DRM, they implemented a mess.

So thank Apple for this.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

DRM: still hurting the average consumer, and not the pirates. Well done.

 

[porpoise hork]

And yet more proof that DRM doesn't fucking work and only punishes the honest people who actually paid for the games....

 

[Frylock72]

Apple, everybody! Just another reason they're a terrible company with a terrible OS.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

what version of the ios is this even affecting people??? I am running 4.2.2 on a gen 2 ipodtouch and all of my apps work great.

 

[CrazyCapnMorgan]

The terms "FairPlay" and "DRM" should never be allowed to exist in the same sentence, let alone a program update.

I know my nickname is "Captain Morgan", but.....

Damn.....

Maybe I should start reconsidering how to treat these companies if this is their preferred method of treating me.

Captcha: the dude abides. This dude ain't abiding, Captcha.

 

[Worgen]

Thanks pirates! I never realised there was DRM on apps, now there is and its fucking us up because people wont even pay a dollar/59p for a game.

DRM isn't really there to stop piracy, its mostly to calm shareholders down. Everyone knows that drm doesn't stop pirates.

 

[Stripes]

Thanks pirates! I never realised there was DRM on apps, now there is and its fucking us up because people wont even pay a dollar/59p for a game.

No, this isn't the fault of the pirates, this is the fault of Apple. And don't give me that "Well they have to do something" speech, because EVERY company makes the exact same idiotic mistake when implementing their DRM. If you want to target pirates, then target pirates. 90% of DRM out there doesn't do jack shit about a single person cracking the game and then posting downloadable copies on pirate bay. Damn-near every pirate out there downloads precracked games, so implementing DRM like the way Apple did (as well as 90% of all DRM) doesn't do anything against the very people you're trying to hinder, and meanwhile just provides obstacles for the legitimate customers.

Piracy is a constant. It's always going to be there. You can't really scold "the pirates" for the existence of DRM, because they don't give a fuck if you're tripping over DRM. Instead, scold the company that put it there, because they clearly didn't do any research into how pirating works, and instead of implementing an effective, working DRM, they implemented a mess.

So thank Apple for this.

There will always be thieves so therefore we shouldnt have burglar alarms. Just because something is innefective doesnt mean it is unjustifiable, this is the wrong tactic but it doesnt make them at fault for trying to safegaurd their products. Pirates brought about DRM because they caused it to be created, therefore this is their fault. You seem to be saying that you cant say someones in the wrong because they wont listen. Why should I be angry at the victims not the perpetrators. Just because DRM is innefective doesnt mean those who use it are at fault. Pirates are in the wrong anyway, why should I not direct my scorn at them for yet another problem they have caused.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Thanks pirates! I never realised there was DRM on apps, now there is and its fucking us up because people wont even pay a dollar/59p for a game.

DRM isn't really there to stop piracy, its mostly to calm shareholders down. Everyone knows that drm doesn't stop pirates.

Exactly, put a wall up and the most talented and athletic will work their way over it, than build a system to life others over it. Putting up "challenges" walls is simply not working.

They'res always gona be one person who can break on through. And all the executives hate him.

 

[WaysideMaze]

There will always be thieves so therefore we shouldnt have burglar alarms. Just because something is innefective doesnt mean it is unjustifiable, this is the wrong tactic but it doesnt make them at fault for trying to safegaurd their products. Pirates brought about DRM because they caused it to be created, therefore this is their fault. You seem to be saying that you cant say someones in the wrong because they wont listen. Why should I be angry at the victims not the perpetrators. Just because DRM is innefective doesnt mean those who use it are at fault. Pirates are in the wrong anyway, why should I not direct my scorn at them for yet another problem they have caused.

But you should be directing your scorn at the companies implementing DRM as well as the pirates.

DRM has been proven time and again to do nothing to stop pirates, and is nothing but an inconvenience and insult to the paying customer. It's like kicking your faithful, well behaved dog because the cat's just shit in the living room.

 

[WaysideMaze]

Wow... I am surprised that so far there has only been one post bashing apple just for the sake of bashing apple. I would have expected all of the anti-fanboys to be out in force here bur most posts have been rightfully discussing the broken DRM rather than the "broken" company!

[Insert "My faith in humanity has been restored" image]

I'm guessing it's because it's a gaming website, and gamers have far more hatred for DRM than they do for apple.

I'm sure that somewhere out there, on a microsoft site, the apple haters are having a field day with this.

 

[scorptatious]

Strange, Angry Birds seems to be working just fine for me. At least for now. Note that I'm using a 3G iPhone.

Looks like the pigs are going to have an extended holiday for those who can't play it though.

 

[TheCommanders]

There will always be thieves so therefore we shouldnt have burglar alarms. Just because something is innefective doesnt mean it is unjustifiable, this is the wrong tactic but it doesnt make them at fault for trying to safegaurd their products. Pirates brought about DRM because they caused it to be created, therefore this is their fault. You seem to be saying that you cant say someones in the wrong because they wont listen. Why should I be angry at the victims not the perpetrators. Just because DRM is innefective doesnt mean those who use it are at fault. Pirates are in the wrong anyway, why should I not direct my scorn at them for yet another problem they have caused.

Your analogy is fundamentally flawed. Burglar alarms are meant to prevent people from entering houses. A more apt analogy would be to say that someone is selling bootleg VHS tapes (remember those). Anyway, to prevent this from happening, they have encoded the VHS tapes so that it can only play on one device (just pretend that could work with VHS for a sec). However, someone else just broke the code, and re-recorded a whole bunch of VHS so that they would no longer have the code, and sold those. The company that put the code on the original VHS tapes is now only inconveniencing their own customers, because people getting it illegally are getting a different version anyway. DRM is not just ineffective - it literally does less than nothing: it inconveniences the customers so much that it encourages them to get cracked copies from pirates. It's encouraging the problem it's trying to solve, and therefore should be done away with.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

There will always be thieves so therefore we shouldnt have burglar alarms. Just because something is innefective doesnt mean it is unjustifiable, this is the wrong tactic but it doesnt make them at fault for trying to safegaurd their products. Pirates brought about DRM because they caused it to be created, therefore this is their fault. You seem to be saying that you cant say someones in the wrong because they wont listen. Why should I be angry at the victims not the perpetrators. Just because DRM is innefective doesnt mean those who use it are at fault. Pirates are in the wrong anyway, why should I not direct my scorn at them for yet another problem they have caused.

/facepalm

So did you not actually read my post, or are you just an idiot? Never did I say "We shouldn't have DRM because it doesn't work", I'm saying "their DRM doesn't actually target the very problem they claim to be targeting, so it's a waste of time/money". To use your analogy, it'd be like a burglar alarm that only goes off when you get home from work because you forgot the key to disable it at work (or the bar, or where ever you were). So now you're being arrested and hauled off to jail for not even breaking into your own house. As for burglars breaking into your house? They have forged keys. So they're able to get in and out of your house no problem.

Sounds like a pretty shitty burglar alarm, right? Yet this doesn't stop companies from having this burglar alarm installed in every house they build. And that's basically what all these companies are doing. They're installing a DRM that does nothing to stop people from pirating it, but does everything to inconvenience the legitimate customer. The DRM doesn't target pirates, it targets customers, and THAT is why it's a waste to have it in the first place. I'm not saying we "shouldn't have burglar alarms", I'm saying that our "burglar alarms" should actually target burglars.

 

[Stripes]

There will always be thieves so therefore we shouldnt have burglar alarms. Just because something is innefective doesnt mean it is unjustifiable, this is the wrong tactic but it doesnt make them at fault for trying to safegaurd their products. Pirates brought about DRM because they caused it to be created, therefore this is their fault. You seem to be saying that you cant say someones in the wrong because they wont listen. Why should I be angry at the victims not the perpetrators. Just because DRM is innefective doesnt mean those who use it are at fault. Pirates are in the wrong anyway, why should I not direct my scorn at them for yet another problem they have caused.

Your analogy is fundamentally flawed. Burglar alarms are meant to prevent people from entering houses. A more apt analogy would be to say that someone is selling bootleg VHS tapes (remember those). Anyway, to prevent this from happening, they have encoded the VHS tapes so that it can only play on one device (just pretend that could work with VHS for a sec). However, someone else just broke the code, and re-recorded a whole bunch of VHS so that they would no longer have the code, and sold those. The company that put the code on the original VHS tapes is now only inconveniencing their own customers, because people getting it illegally are getting a different version anyway. DRM is not just ineffective - it literally does less than nothing: it inconveniences the customers so much that it encourages them to get cracked copies from pirates. It's encouraging the problem it's trying to solve, and therefore should be done away with.

Im not in favour of the DRM but the guy I was quoting was telling me that because we cant get rid of pirates I shouldnt be angry at them and should instead be angry at those they steal from for trying to stop it. I know it doesnt work, they clearly dont, that doesnt mean they are wrong to try and stop people stealing from them.

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

"FairPlay"
. . . and it's not fair, and you can't play it.

Alternatively, it's being Fair and stopping everyone from Playing. Letting nobody play is just as fair as letting everyone do it, after all.

No one but the pirates, anyway.