We all have a pretty firm grasp on all the things that the gaming industry is doing wrong. Their expectations on profit-per-box-sold are growing faster than the actual quality of their product. And to feed this habit, they're clamping down on the wrong folks.
The problem is that we, the consumers, are not communicating this fact to them. We're arguing in circles, and the responsibility is on US to fix it--with our voices and our dollars. If we're going to establish this dialogue, we've got to change our understanding of a few key terms (and eliminate more than one false dichotomy).
1) "Right," "Wrong," and "A Bad Idea"
We throw around the words "right" and "wrong" more than we should. The problem is that their accuracy depends on what you're MEASURING by. When I come up against a problem with DRM, I feel "wronged," but did the company actually do anything morally wrong?
No. If I buy a season pass to most amusement parks, and it rains on one of the days I show up, they don't refund the whole pass. I can try another day. If I buy a lifetime pass to a gym, and that gym closes down after a couple years, they don't refund the whole pass. Some of these are things we deal with as consumers, and it's not WRONG.
Now, with overly-restrictive DRM, we can argue that it's "a bad idea." It represents stupid choices on the part of the company, there are better ideas out there, and it will cause them to lose business... but it's not WRONG from a moral or legal standpoint. It's like stamping out a kitchen fire with a bag of money--bad idea, costs you more than you're saving, but it's not "wrong."
2) "Rights," "Privileges," and what you're REALLY buying.
Be very careful how you use the word "rights." If something is truly a "right," it has no conditions--it is afforded to you in all situations. You have the right to a fair trial, no matter how guilty you look or how heinous the crime was, for instance. An unconditional entitlement.
Anything that has any sort of condition is a privilege, plain and simple. Your ability to go where you will is a privilege, the condition being that you obey the laws of the land. Otherwise, that privilege is revoked and you're kept in jail.
As a consumer, you have the right to get what you have paid for, and you have the right to choose what you will and will not buy and from whom. That's it. Those are your rights. They're very few, but very important. Where we go wrong is a misunderstanding about how these work.
When I go to Busch Gardens and buy a ticket for admission, that is what I am buying--a ticket for admission. I'm not buying "a good time." I'm not buying "a ride on coasters X, Y, and Z." I'm buying a ticket that allows me to enter the park during normal business hours. Anything else that I expect is not something that is necessarily guaranteed (unless such a guarantee is expressly posted at the time of purchase).
So, if I go in there and half the rides break down, or the guy that does the caricatures is out sick, or there is no more Icee stand, that's my own tough luck. I can either try to enjoy what's there, or I can leave and maybe REQUEST a refund. And if I'm not satisfied with the park's handling of things, I never have to come back again. But at no point in this transaction did Busch Gardens ever cheat me--I received the product for which I paid: a ticket for admission to the park.
Now, if I buy a box of cereal and it says there's a prize inside... and I go home and open it to find there is no prize inside... now my rights as a consumer HAVE been violated. I did not get what I paid for, as per the packaging. I can DEMAND that the company address this--and they can choose to do so by giving me a refund or by providing the missing prize at their own expense.
When you buy a game, even one with restrictive DRM, you're purchasing a box filled with a working copy of the software. You're not purchasing a gameplay experience. You're not purchasing a trouble-free installation. You bought the disk. If the disk works and installs the game presented on the package, you've gotten what you've paid for. If an EA-style DRM keeps you from playing it, or your ISP interferes, these are all unpleasant. But your rights are not being violated, unfortunately. You bought a product. You didn't buy "enjoyment" of that product. Most importantly, you're not buying the RIGHT to do anything--your rights are as a consumer, not a user.
Think of it this way--you bought a helicopter, but that doesn't mean it automatically comes with permission to use the airspace anytime you like. Weather, air traffic control, fuel costs, all of these things can interfere... but your rights aren't being violated.
Now, if in all of this you feel you are not getting your money's worth, you can REQUEST a refund, and perhaps most importantly you can withhold your dollars from that company in the future.
THE PROBLEM HERE:
You don't have a right to play the game. If the ONLY company that makes the game you want is a company that you can't stand to do business with, your choices are two: suck it up and play, or forgo that game in the interest of principle.
You see, the companies have a right, too. They have a right to receive payment for products and services rendered. If you installed the game, they have the right to payment. If you're unhappy with your game experience, that's a bummer. As long as you received those things which were advertised, you have not been stolen from, cheated, lied to, or wronged.
So, if you're pirating to "teach them a lesson about consumer rights," the only one violating any rights is YOU. Go ahead, do it, whatever--but be HONEST about it.
"I stole this game because I wanted it, but I did not want to pay for it." Period. However noble your reasons for withholding the cash, the result is the same. You stole it. And in doing so, you lost any credibility you could have had in the argument to do away with overly-restrictive DRM.
