All Spore (PC) Users Should Sue EA

Oh, I hate to rant but today is a day that it needs to happen. I hope that this message spreads out to everyone on the internet. I feel as though I’m obligated to inform people when injustices such as this arise. This will probably be the only time I ever talk about PC gaming on Wii Blog, and it will hopefully be the last.

Very few times in life do I feel violated. I don’t think any girl could ever sexually harass me, as I’ve deemed it impossible. I couldn’t name a particular instance that I’ve ever been offended either. EA has put that streak to and end, as they’ve left me feeling violated, and offended. They’ve done what I thought could never be done.

For anyone who’s downloaded/installed Spore onto their computer, I urge you take up a lawsuit against EA. I hate the way lawsuits have been thrown around in our country, but in this case it is deserved. EA has gone to the extreme in protecting their product from illegal pirating.

Whenever you install Spore onto your PC, another program called SecuROM is installed alongside it. The program is a security measure in which EA can regulate how many times Spore is installed on the PC. The original cap was set at three installs, then was bumped up to five due to fan’s complaints.

It has now been learned that SecuROM does more than just that. The program scans your computer and relays information back to EA, which is how it knows how many times you’ve installed. So when you’re done with Spore and are ready to uninstall, SecuROM leaves along with it, right? HA, instead of taking that common sense measure, SecuROM can’t be deleted in any other means than reformatting your hard drive, or buying a new drive. This to me makes it even more dangerous than spyware. Atleast with a spyware program, unwanted programs can be removed. With SecuROM, it’s completely free from being deleted.

As someone who downloaded and played Spore, I can say I feel as though I’ve been completely violated. I’ve always been on the fence when it comes to DRM practices. I can understand companies protecting their brand from piracy. This goes beyond the DRM argument though, as this is invasion of privacy. If I don’t want the government to be able to get inside my computer with out reasonable cause, what makes EA think I want them there as well?

Luckily, there has been one case where someone has stood up to EA. Melissa Thomas filed a suit against EA, stating that SecuROM violated the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law. Her along with other Spore customers in the area will try to be compensated back their $49.99 along with damages. I hope to see other cases like this pop up around the country. Until we let companies know that practices like this won’t be tolerated, they will continue to happen.

Source: Cnet