Last year it seemed like DRM for music was on the way out. Sony created a huge mess when Sony music CD's installed rootkit on people's machines without telling people. Steve Jobs wrote is famous DRM letter and Amazon started to sell DRM-free music.

"Fallout 3" poisoned by DRM

While DRM has been losing power in music it has been gaining power in game software.

There are a ton of great new games coming out this quarter but Ive been more focused on a different issue: DRM. The industry has a bee in its bonnet about software piracy and they are punishing customers with dangerous DRM software.

I was surprised but happy to see users on Amazon give EA's Spore a 1-star rating for choosing offensive DRM software. The same thing is happening now with Bethesda's Fallout3. Both are games I would love to play but refuse to buy because of their DRM schemes. (I am particularly disappointed with Bethesda because I loved Oblivion and it did not use SecuROM. It only made me keep the DVD installed.)

To make matters worse, companies and game reviews (hello 1Up), are saying that anyone like myself who dislikes the current DRM schemes is a pirate. I just dont understand companies that insult their customers and this line of insult is getting more and more blatant.

A pirate? Well screw you EA. Any company that insults its customers doesnt understand the first thing about customer satisfaction -- and should not be supported by consumers. If you continue to follow the RIAA path, you will only find that the more you abuse customers, the more motivated they will become TO steal your software.

I am not a pirate and I am more than a little pissed off about being called one. PC's are hard enough to keep running. The last thing I want is to have a game hork my PC... Again.

It happened to me a few years ago when DRM software decided my CD/R drive and software was for piracy and it stopped various things from working. To fix my PC, I had to reinstall my OS. After a few trips to websites around the world to figure out what had happened in the first place.

I dont mind DRM.

I do mind invisible software you cannot see or uninstall.

I do mind software that is not supported by the company that made me install it.
I do mind software that conflicts with unrelated programs and can even ruin your PC.

DRM per se is not the problem. The problem is DRM schemes like secuROM and StarForce.

As I have said before, companies should use a system like Steam and iTunes. Force users to register their software online to use it. Online systems dont hork your PC nor do they affect other programs on your PC.

Quit calling users pirates and move to a DRM system that works without compromising your customer's computers.