The Problem of Piracy

Some readers may well be familiar with the acronyms SOPA and PIPA, both of which have been bounded about in the news over the last few months or so. They stand for the Stop Online Piracy Act and the closely related Protect IP (Intellectual Property) Act. Both are bills that are currently being considered, respectively, by the US House of Representatives and the Senate. As their names suggest, they are aimed at combating online piracy. The issues surrounding these proposed laws are both numerous and complicated in nature, as are the arguments wielded by its supporters and critics; if you’re spurned into action by this piece then there’s a wealth of information that can be found in the very medium the bills will impact – namely, the internet.

At the time of writing, SOPA has lost most of its momentum following a statement from the White House claiming that, whilst internet piracy needs to be curbed, “we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.” This, along with the hugely negative response from internet giants such as Google, Twitter and Wikipedia, has effectively clipped SOPA’s wings. That is not the end of the story however. PIPA still exists, and there is nothing to say that modifications of SOPA will lead to it being passed silently by Congress. This is not an issue to be ignored.

Spore, shipped with aggressive anti-piracy protection, became one of the most pirated games in history.

But why are these bills so dangerous? Why did they prompt Wikipedia, Reddit and other sites to co-ordinate a shut down on January 18? Surely they only aim to combat piracy that is, at the end of the day, an illegal activity. There are laws at the moment, such as the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects copyrighted material, but SOPA and PIPA would target sites hosting the material. It would allow the US Justice Department to target overseas sites committing or facilitating piracy, as well as force US internet companies to cut ties with said websites and block them from searches. Theoretically this could target and shut down sites with a single link to any site deemed to be violating said laws. This could potentially affect large sites such as YouTube and Facebook.

The ambiguous wording of the bills and their worryingly broad nature has come under fire, and a major worry is that large corporations will have the power to sue smaller start-up companies whom they believe aren’t filtering their searches well enough, start-up companies who could have gone on to be the next Facebook. Entertainment companies already have the power to take down copyrighted material. The major concern is that a precedent will be set-up, leading to the empowerment of the entertainment industry online and increased censorship.

Paradoxically, the answer to piracy lies in doing away with anti-piracy protection.

So what do SOPA and PIPA have to do with gaming? Quite a lot as it happens. Many game and tech companies, who you would initially assume to support the bill, have spoken out against it. Mojang, creators of Minecraft, underwent a site blackout on the 18th in protest, and NVIDIA blogged that “…we oppose piracy … However, we do not support SOPA. We don’t believe it is the right solution to the problem.” Other companies echo this sentiment.

The question remains however: if piracy is something to be combated, but SOPA and PIPA are too Draconian, then what is the solution? The answer does not lie in sweeping, misguided legislation. The internet is full of very intelligent people, and blocks, takedowns or other anti-piracy measures can be easily navigated around. Information spreads quickly; soon enough, any measure enacted will be counteracted and the battle will begin anew. Legislation, certainly poorly worded and such broad legislation as SOPA or PIPA, is akin to applying a bandage to an axe wound.

DRM (Digital Rights Management) is often used by media distribution companies such as game publishers to protect their property from being pirated. Put simply, DRM is an umbrella term applied to any technique that stops films, music and games from being copied (or ‘ripped’) and distributed freely. The problem is that it’s not all that effective at what it’s supposed to do.

As mentioned previously people are clever. Pirates have found, and will continue to find ways around DRM restrictions, forcing companies to continually upgrade their protection if they want to stay ahead of the game. ‘Cracking’ DRM protection costs time – updating it costs both time and money and forces companies into a battle that they cannot possibly win. Another issue with DRM lies with format and standard changes. DRM-restricted content is not always perfect, and often content that the owner has paid for is lost in the changeover. It’s just not a good anti-piracy system, as proved by the now infamous game Spore.

Spore, a single player God-game, was released in 2008 by EA Games. The game featured an overly Draconian DRM system, requiring internet activation and a limit of only three installations. Any more than that and you had to contact EA for an added activation, which they were not obliged to grant you. The result? Hilariously, with over half a million downloads across various BitTorrent sites, Spore became one the most pirated game in history. As if to rub salt on the wound Spore also became one of the lowest rated games on Amazon, mostly down to its DRM system. If there’s ever a case for aggressive DRM failing to do its job, Spore is the one.

One solution to piracy comes from Gabe Newell, cofounder and CEO of Valve, the company responsible for the digital distribution platform Steam. Newell claims that piracy is predominantly “a service problem and not a pricing problem,” and has to be combated by providing a better service than the pirates. A pirate, who can provide a copy of a game ²⁴⁄₇, globally and digitally, is going to be taken up on his offer far more often than a company who requires you only buy it from a store, three months after its main-region release. By providing such a well thought-out service such as Steam, giving users access to regular updates, chat functions and achievements amongst other features, Valve has reached the point where piracy is “basically a non-issue.” Regular readers may have noticed my slight bias towards Valve in the past. This bias is not without good reason.

The answer to piracy lies in doing away with DRM, not passing bills like SOPA or PIPA. To some this may seem counter-intuitive, but as the Spore study shows DRM alienates many players and causes them to turn to piracy; it’s the online equivalent of flipping the bird. People lose respect for companies that support DRM, and crack their protection and distribute it simply because they can. “So what?” the line of arguing often goes, “They’re big companies, they make too much money anyway.” Enter the Steam service model. Valve is just as big as many of its competitors, yet commands more respect than most. The result is that their games are pirated far less frequently, and Steam continually rakes in massive profits and millions of players.

In a digital age companies need to focus on good customer service to keep existing customers and turn around pirates. Services like Steam and Netflix already operate in this manner, and moves by Apple to start relaxing its DRM protected music on iTunes are a good way forward. At the end of the day piracy will always exist no matter what you do, but it can be curbed in a way that benefits everyone. As for SOPA and PIPA? They’re complicated bills, and this article can only hope to spark up your interest in them. Educate yourself, and tell others.

Currently PIPA is planned to undergo a procedural vote in the Senate on January 24. One can only hope that it does not pass.