Featured Stories
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New Autodesk SketchBook Ink App Delivers Stunning Creative Tools for iPad
24 May 2012 12:59 PM | No Commentsvar AdBrite_Title_Color = '0000FF'; var AdBrite_Text_Color = '000000'; var AdBrite_Background_Color = 'FFFFFF'; var AdBrite_Border_Color = 'CCCCCC'; var AdBrite_URL_Color = '008000'; try{var AdBrite_Iframe=window.top!=window.self?2:1;var AdBrite_Referrer=document.referrer==''?document.location:document.referrer;AdBrite_Referrer=encodeURIComponent(AdBrite_Referrer);}catch(e){var AdBrite_Iframe='';var AdBrite_Referrer='';} document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,83,67,82,73,80,84));document.write(' src="http://ads.adbrite.com/mb/text_group.php?sid=2053203&zs=3436385f3630&ifr='+AdBrite_Iframe+'&ref='+AdBrite_Referrer+'" type="text/javascript">');document.write(String.fromCharCode(60,47,83,67,82,73,80,84,62)); SAN RAFAEL, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) launched Autodesk SketchBook Ink...
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Vegas Tech Start Up Questionable LLC Launches Questionable Friends iPhone App
23 May 2012 4:53 PM | No CommentsLAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Questionable™ today introduced Questionable Friends™ for iPhone®. Questionable Friends lets you send questions to your contacts and provides instant feedback as questions are answered. Answers can be ...
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Sidecar Revolutionizes Phone Calls by Bringing “Smart Calling” to Smartphones
22 May 2012 12:00 PM | No CommentsSAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Launching today, Sidecar (www.sidecar.me) is a new mobile app that brings Smart Calling to smartphones. Smart Calling allows people to share live See What I See video, brilliant ...
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TransCore Launches Mobile iPad App for TransSuite Traffic Management System
21 May 2012 12:00 PM | No CommentsWASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Intelligent Transportation Society of America Annual Meeting – TransCore brings the ease of mobile computing to its TransSuite® advanced traffic management system (ATMS), launching its iPad® ...
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Cellfish Marvel’s The Avengers Live Wallpaper Android App Reaches 1.3 Million Downloads
16 May 2012 2:05 PM | No CommentsNEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Marvel’s The Avengers Live Wallpaper Android personalization app, created by Cellfish, has been downloaded 1.3 million times, driven by the massive success of Marvel Studios’ blockbuster movie. ...
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Drm Archive
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DRM explained
Posted on June 1, 2010 | No CommentsThat’s exactly right. [via Reddit] -
Blizzard: DRM is a waste of everyone’s time
Posted on May 27, 2010 | No Comments"We need our development teams focused on content and cool features, not anti-piracy technology." Thank you, finally! See, Blizzard gets it. The company's co-founder, Frank Pearce, recently told the good folks at Video Gamer that he thinks the fight against DRM is misguided. Not that he supports end-users going around torrenting his games till the end of time, but that the way to "beat" piracy is to embrace gamers and treat them like complete jerks.
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Netflix goes with Microsoft PlayReady DRM for upcoming streaming devices
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Software piracy cost companies $51 billion last year
Posted on May 12, 2010 | No CommentsGot an interesting e-mail a few hours ago detailing software piracy loses from the year 2009, also known as "last year." The big, scary number is 51, as in $51 billion in loses. So says the Business Software Association. Reading the report, which is dripping with alarmist rhetoric, you'd think that Gaia herself were in danger. Don't worry, guys, we'll get through this.
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Australia runs into Ubisoft’s DRM: Does not pass go, does not collect $AU200
Posted on March 30, 2010 | No CommentsI'll keep this short and to the point, if only because I'm sensing the "outrage" surrounding DRM has sorta died down. The movement ran out of fuel, I mean. Anyway, gamers in Australia have been unable to play Settlers 7, which uses that silly DRM nonsense that requires you be to constantly connected to the Internet, because Ubisoft's servers have been unreachable. Who saw this coming? Oh, right: everyone but the Ubisoft executives in Paris. /Le sigh.
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EA fellow bitten by his own company’s DRM in Command and Conquer 4, questions the sense of it all
Posted on March 24, 2010 | No CommentsJeff Green used to work at Games For Windows magazine before taking a sweet gig at EA, but that little fact won't silence his criticism of the DRM found in Command and Conquer 4. He tweeted white-hot rage when, as everyone on the Internet predicted, this "always-on" nonsense worked as intended, and prevented a law-abiding citizen from playing his game.
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Oh, neat: Command & Conquer 4 requires a constant Internet connection, too
Posted on March 18, 2010 | No CommentsLet's make one thing clear: I wouldn't play Command and Conquer 4 if it was the game on Earth. It's just not "me." So pardon my blase attitude while I drop this bombshell: the game uses the same stupid DRM that Ubisoft now uses, which I complained about on CNN. Add this to your list of games not to buy, then.
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EA removes SecuROM DRM from Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Posted on March 16, 2010 | No CommentsSince we're your go-to source for complaining about DRM, I figure we should mention the latest development regarding EA's Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Dice, the game's developer's, have removed SecuROM DRM from both the retail version of the game as well as the digitally distributed one (i.e. Steam). Why a Steam game even needs SecuROM in the first place (it's merely a disc check, so...) is a question I cannot answer. It's probably like a contractual thing or something.
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EA servers crash as Ubisoft gets back online
Posted on March 9, 2010 | No CommentsWhen will this nonsense with online DRM stop? Ubisoft’s authentication servers were apparently attacked and therefore offline, but now they’re back. Now EA servers crashed for an hour this morning, locking players out of numerous gamings including Bad Company 2. This is crazy. DRM isn’t going anywhere but this current implementation simply isn’t stable enough. Suggestions? -
Ubisoft tries to spin DRM server crash, says the games are just too popular for their own good!
Posted on March 8, 2010 | No CommentsOh, Ubisoft. You so quickly went from the guys that brought us Splinter Cell (young people: Splinter Cell used to be cool in the early to mid 2000s) to the guys that have created the stupidest DRM known to man. Oh, and you're also incapable of telling the truth. The authentication servers for Assassin's Creed II (I thought that comes out tomorrow?) and Silent Hunter V were completely inaccessible for a number of people yesterday. Why? Ubisoft claimed it was because of "exceptional demand," but the real reason is that some punk kids (I assume it's punk kids) decided to launch a denial of service attack. I suppose, technically, a denial of service attack involves, on some level, demand...
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RealNetworks settles RealDVD lawsuit: Has to cough up $4.5 million, stop supporting the software
Posted on March 4, 2010 | No CommentsRight around the time the world's financial markets started to collapse, back in 2008, RealNetworks, the folks behind RealPlayer, released RealDVD. It was a short-lived piece of software that made making DVD movie backups fairly painless—too painless for Hollywood, which immediately took RealNetworks to court, claiming all sorts of copyright infringement hokum. That's all in the past now, for RealNetworks has settled with the six "major" Hollywood studios to the sum of $4.5 million. Ouch.
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Because of leaks, we need to immediately implement DRM on console games
Posted on February 5, 2010 | No CommentsIt's time we start implementing DRM on console games. I mean, look at this nonsense. The Xbox 360 version of BioShock 2 leaked yesterday, a full five days before its official release. The same thing happened with Mass Effect 2, which leaked something like six days for the Xbox 360 before its official release. Since publishers are so keen to treat PC gamers like filthy thieves, I say we start implementing annoying DRM on console games, too.
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What’s it going to take for PC game publishers to drop DRM altogether?
Posted on January 28, 2010 | No CommentsFor all of its stupidity, the music industry should be commended for relaxing its DRM requirements. Every single song on iTunes is DRM-free, as are the songs on Amazon MP3 and electronic music specialist Beatport. The Zune Marketplace works a little differently, but many of the downloadable songs there are DRM-free, too. But PC game publishers? They're still bat-shit crazy, as evidenced by the DRM requirements of BioShock 2 and presumably every single one of Ubisoft's upcoming releases. What's it going to take for PC publishers to step back and realize that DRM does absolutely nothing to prevent piracy? Not only that, but that it encourages piracy because the pirated version of the game ends up being superior to the legitimate copy?
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Ubisoft’s new DRM scheme requires you to be online whenever you’re playing its games
Posted on January 27, 2010 | No CommentsIn other, non-Apple news: Ubisoft has lost its mind. Its latest DRM scheme—the first game to use it will be The Settlers 7, curently scheduled for a Marchrelease—will require that you always be online in order to play its games. That's not a good idea for many reasons. For example, look at poor ol' Devin. He's been fighting Comcast for God knows how long. Needless to say, he'd be SOL if he ever wanted to play the PC version of a Ubisoft game ever again.
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BioShock 2 DRM madness: Once again, publishers make pirating a game more attractive than buying it legitimately
Posted on January 22, 2010 | No CommentsLooks like we have ourselves yet another DRM-related controversy for your amusement. The star this time is BioShock 2, the upcoming FPS developed by various 2K studios. The usual suspects abound: SecurROM, limited installations, and Games for Windows Live.