Video Games and Piracy

Video Games and Piracy

1. Piracy

   • Online Piracy
     • 1980s FTP and IRC protocols created
       • 1990's - WWW (1990), MP3 (1991), Winamp (1997), Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998), Napster (1999)
     • Napster: pioneering p2p file sharing
       • Numberous attempts to shut down by artists, killed by DMCA
         • Piracy moved to BitTorrent and Limewire
         • Torrent sites like Pirate bay are legal to stay open under swedish law cause they dont host copyrighted material
   • Peer-to-Peer file Sharing
     • BitTorrent trackers identifies the swarm and helps the client trade pieces of the file you want with other computers
   • Prevalent due to technological advance
     • Pre-digital: Lack of tech exoertise, High risk/small gains/low quality

2. Piracy and Games

   • Good or Bad?
     • Some argue that piracy is legitimate reaction to high cost of games and corporate greed
       • Pc games are usually cheaper than console equivalents
         • Developers suffer loss of income; indy developers can go out of business entirely
       • Piracy drives up cost of games for legit customers
         • Fewer PC exclusives; delayed releases; bad ports
   • In 2011, for every 1 game sold 4 pirated. Loss of £1.45 billion in 2010, 1000's of fewer jobs
     • UKIE runs 24-hour IP crime unit
     • Global piracy is estimated to have cost the US games industry over $3 billion in 2007
   • PC market particularly vulnerable
     • The Witcher 2 pirated around 4.5 million times. Sold 1m legit copies in same period
       • Consoles can be "modded"
         • Ubiquitous internet connections help Sony et al. stay one step ahead

3. Anti-Piracy measures

   • DRM
     • Online passes (and bonus content)
     • "Feelies" (physical content included in the box)
     • Deliberate bugs and other issues into pirated games
     • Raising consumer awareness
     • Access control technologies that can be used by publishers to limit the usage of digital content and devices
     • Describe any technology that inhibits uses of digital content not desired or intended by the content provider.
     • Does not refer to other forms of copy protection which can be circumvented without modifying the file or device, such as serial numbers
     • Prevents games being played or installed at all e.g. SecuROM
       • Can be "always on" or one- off checks
     • Bad?
       • DRM controls what you can and cant do with the media and hardware you've purchased
       • Bad: Can punish legit customers, poor user experience arguably drives users to piracy
       • When DRM stops working, your game stops working
       • BAD: Adds to the cost of games
       • Bad PR for games companies
       • ALL DRM CAN BE CRACKED (eventually)
       • Good?
         • Online Passes (and bonus content)
         • Especially effective (it is believed) for games with large multiplayer component e.g COD, MASS EFFECT
         • Also aimed at curbing the second-hand market
         • Highly unpopular: Ubisoft and EA have discontinued theirs, banned on PS4 (due to PS+ requirement)

4. Preserving Gaming Heritiage