Spore was cracked around the same time it was released right?
After which point, pirates suddenly had a "easier" product than legitimate users, the DRM was now suddenly useless and a nuisance to legit customers.
Although this entry may lean towards software and games in particular, it is relevant to the entertainment industry as a whole, as well as utility industry, and business in general.
A SOLUTION THAT IS A PROBLEM
Obviously legit users have some online content stuff in addition, but that could easily be served by a initial serial tied to a registered user account.BioWare did this with Mass Effect, you got extra down loadable content if you where a legit customer. (Luckily the other DRM stuff on the game hasn't hurt me and my copy, "yet".)
In the case of Spore it's possible the copy protection/DRM prevented earlier leaks. But once cracked, EA really has no reason to still have it. (they could have released a tiny patch removing it for example).
The odd thing is that most copy protection and DRM prevents a customer from casually making copies to friends and families,
while commercial pirates and "underground" file trading networks/groups always circumvent these measures and can do as they please.
THE REAL CRIMINALS
I have no love for commercial pirates, those "are" genuine thieves as they steal actual sales. These are assholes trying to sell software but take all the money themselves, or relabel/rename software or re-wrap software and sells as if they made it. Not only do they screw the publishers but they screw the customer as well as they do not get the real product as they believe, good luck with company product support on those "fakes".ARR YE SCURVEY PIRATES
Trading networks/groups, and your average downloading web surfer (aka what most media and publishers calls Pirates these days) fall into the "lost potential sales" category, which after all these years there still does not exist any empirical statistics on whether it does affect sales or not, nor by how much.THE REAL PROBLEM
The latter is a giant group, but there is no proved direct loss due to them. (they are basically non-customers, in limbo) but publisher execs see those huge stats and think that 1 download = 1 physical shop sale, which is obviously way wrong. And then try to force them to become customers, instead of luring them by showing all benefits a real customer gets. Threats or Incentives, what do you think is best in the long run for our society?If there was less media focus on this latter group, then the "average" customer would still be mostly unaware of this, but with all the media attention (thanks to the RIAA and MPAA in large parts) today "everyone" knows about this. How many "pirates" has the industry itself created due to this? At least when this was mostly underground/hush-hush the "scene" was smaller.
ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER
Is there a true solution to this though? Nah, I doubt there ever will be. Even with the DRM "chips" that are in/will be in most new motherboards. Again legit users will get the drawbacks while the "pirates" will only be slowed by a few weeks, then a crack or something is available and the software is "liberated".For years I've bought games and then fetched a no-cd crack. If I'd never had the annoyance of cd-protection I probably would never have needed to look for a workaround and thus never discovered no-cd cracks and that part of the "scene".
It's a Catch-21, the more DRM or copy-protection publishers add, the more aware people become, and the more knowledgeable they become in getting rid of it. I'm sure there are grandma's out there now who know how to get no-cd cracks.
THE IDEAL SYSTEM / A SOLUTION THAT WORKS
I've always been in the belief that you buy the product, you get a serial (kind of like a receipt, ideally this serial is generated on purchase thus "keygens" will be almost useless.) This serial is then tied to your user account with the company you purchased from, after this the serial have been "used". (again making keygens even more useless)All that is needed now is a friendly periodical check, long periods of offline is handled gracefully, can be done with the version check update for example or during downloading of extra content, during login when asking for support/support tickets. Owners only forum section, exclusive chats with the developers, wallpapers, art, music tracks, community stuff, etc.
All that adds value, all that makes being a legit user rewarding, and registering your game and tying the serial permanently to your account is worth it. And if someone should steal your serial or misuse your account, you can (depending on the system used) either self block, control, re-issue a new serial, or have the company do it, in other words the system also helps protect your investment as a customer.
And should you ever loose the install media, or if it's download only, then you can re-download the software from the company. Remember you want the customer to not only return, and buy other products and services, but also show brand loyalty, grow the brand or product community, spread the word to others, persuade others to get the product and much more.
DON'T BE GREEDY!
Impossible idealism? Maybe, but it's surprising how many of these things under "THE IDEAL SYSTEM" actually seems to match for most of the software I like and use, and that's even without them trying that hard really. So imagine what just a little effort could do.Google has the slogan: Don't Be Evil!
Maybe publishers should have: Don't Be Greedy!
Treating the customer as the actual valuable itself, or a nuisance on your path to the money.
Which is the better road taken?
Remember, you as a publisher and especially a developer, the ultimate goal is to earn enough to cover costs and help finance the next project, and doing work that you like doing. If you want to "get rich", become a criminal instead, I hear they do well in politics and executive positions these days.
DRM or Quality of Service, Pirate or Customer?
Publishers please, Don't Be Greedy!