Imagine this scenario: you plop down your hard-earned money for a video game. What you don't know is that there is a second-party piece of software that comes with your game: "SecuROM," which is DRM technology, which some people consider malware.

Ostensibly the purpose of SecuROM is to prevent software piracy, but you are not told that SecuROM becomes a permanent, "unremovable" part of your system and may disrupt, damage, or prevent certain hard drive functions that have nothing to do with the game you purchased.

On September 22nd, the plaintiff, Melissa Thomas of Maryland, filed the five million dollar lawsuit on behalf of all customers who purchased and installed Electronic Arts' (EA) newest release, Spore. Spore is described as a "massively single player online PC and Mac game" which shipped with SecuROM included. Spore is not the first game to use SecuROM, but the game is in worldwide release and has already sold over a million copies.

There are other issues surrounding SecuROM. Not only does SecuROM appear to be uninstallable for the "average" user (more on that later), hogs system resources, takes up space on the hard drive, and according to the text of the lawsuit:

SecuROM installs itself to The Kernel of the computer (the administrative command and control center of the computer). Once installed, SecuROM then allows itself to access to all parts of the computer.

This is dicey for a couple of reasons. The manufacturer of SecuROM, Sony, has a history of problems with user privacy and software "phoning home" with user information gleaned from one's hard drive. According to Reclaim Your Game, a watchdog group which asks "for all gamers throughout the gaming world to join and
help us in our quest to stop companies such as Electronic Arts from
installing unwanted and invasive software on the games that we play and
enjoy," SecuROM has been attempting to report information "home" via its installation on The Sims 2 game series:

There are also serious concerns about Securom attempting to steal your personal information and send it to Sony. From the earliest introduction of Securom into the Sims 2 games, it was noted that the Sims 2 exe was attempting to independently dial out to Sony. This is of great concern because when it attempts to dial out, it uses what is called ssl [secure sockets layer] connection, which means the connection is secure and it encrypts the data it sends to Sony so no-one is able to read the information Securom is sending home. This transmission is of great concern because the Securom website states clearly that Securom can be used to collect marketing data from customers. 

The second reason the way SecuROM installs itself is problematic is that it may seize control of other parts of your system and prevent them from functioning:

Why is it dangerous to have something write itself to the Kernel of your PC? Writing itself to the kernel of your PC allows Securom to shut down other programs on your PC that it shouldn’t be allowed to shut down. This includes equipment that you’re legally allowed to have. There’s a famous video on YouTube where a Gamer who owns a large number of games, shows how Securom won’t let him play a game because he’s got two cd/dvd drives on his PC. The inference that is drawn from this is that Sony DADC assumes that anyone who has more than one cd/dvd drive only has both drives in order to pirate games. This assumption is incorrect, many people have two drives for many different reasons, including my parents who are in their sixties and only use their PC to check their emails, who have two drives because when they got a dvd drive they kept the cd drive they originally owned.  

I should also mention that another issue that has people up in arms is the three-computer-install limit imposed by SecuROM. The Spore manual states that up to three user accounts can install the game, but EA was forced to recant after it was discovered the system just doesn't work. Customers are very concerned about what may happen if they reinstall the game to improve functionality and reduce errors (reinstalling software is common troubleshooting advice). The Amazon review for Spore includes a picture of the message users get when they exceed their install limit.

Customers are reacting in a few ways. Some are making formal complaints to EA, or participating in the lawsuit. Others have learned that despite the claim in the lawsuit that SecuROM is permanent, some clever users have figured out how to remove SecuROM from their hard drives. Many enraged Amazon customers took out their ire over the inclusion of SecuROM by "hate-rating" Spore on its release. (As of today, 2,567 players have rated Spore with one star, for a total rating of 1.5 stars.) Still other users have turned to downloading illegal "cracked" copies of software that have been altered to work without SecuROM phoning home, funneling profits away from EA.

Have you or has a gamer you know been affected by SecuROM?

Related Spore/SecuROM links:

Zero Punctuation's review of Spore (humor)

How to join a class action lawsuit

KamberEdelson, the law firm that is heading up the Spore lawsuit.

Is a game you installed on this list? List of games that come packaged with SecuROM

"Ars [Technica] Puts Spore DRM to the Test--with a Surprising Result"

More activism: SecuROM Must Be Destroyed!

A visual step-by-step guide to removing SecuROM from XP and Vista systems

When Super Jive was a wee gamer she used to "hella pwn" Raid on Bungeling Bay and now writes frequently at I, Asshole.