Brain Candy

Purchasing and Purchasing a Right to Use


You go out to a store, and you buy something you want. Let's say it's a book. You buy this book, holy shit, you've been looking forward to this book for a year and a half now. It's the second book in the series, and after reading the first, you're hooked. So you take this book home, but as it turns out, you have some plans, and they're important to you. While you're out, you say, "Man, that author sure picked a crappy publisher to team up with." When you come home, your book is gone, with a note left by the publishers.

Have you just been robbed?

When you purchase something, you own it, correct? Well, a Bioware forum use, "v_ware", had this happen to him. He bought an online copy of Dragon Age II and posted a question: he asked if Bioware had "sold their souls to the EA devil?" Bioware and EA responded by hitting him with a 72-hour ban. Not just any ban, however, they got him with a community ban. This means that anything to do with EA, for 72 hours, he was totally stopped from using. When he went to install Dragon Age II, he wasn't allowed to.

Has he just been robbed?

Yes, in short. This person paid about $60 for a game, meaning he owns it (or at least a 'license to play', some smart-asses will say), but either way he has a right to play and own his copy. His activation code was in his possession before he was banned, so he should have had access to it. Regardless of whether or not he broke forum rules, that should not cross over into his purchase history. He bought rights to play the game, and taking those rights away (and essentially stealing $60 from him), regardless of what amount of time, is illegal.

This all rolls back around to piracy. Time and time again, we're pegged by absolutely ludicrous DRM to prevent pirates from taking games, but legitimate customers are treated like shit. Sure, he didn't pirate the game, but what's stopping him now? He paid money, and in return he was restricted access to his purchase. People who didn't pay money for this game get to it without developers interfering, not to mention they get all of the DLC and extra content for free, too, without any hassle.

Look, publishers, if you want people to stop pirating, just be nice to us. Don't ban us from our rights, don't take our money and don't bludgeon us into unconsciousness with your unreasonable DRM and policies.