DRM limitations (merged with "why DRM sucks")

[Dimwhit]

Someone over at RPG.net mentioned that they tried it out and that when you transfer it to another computer, it asks to repurchase it - not redownload it. This leads me to believe that Adobe's FAQ, and not DTRPG's FAQ, is the real one, and that Steve Weick is intentionally or unintentionally misrepresenting his product's capabilities.

Sounds like that someone over at RPG.net is an idiot. It neither asks you to repurchase nor redownload. You transfer the file, it opens. Period. As long as you've actived Reader 6 for DRM, it doesn't ask you for anything.

People are making this out to be a whole lot more complicated than it is. Granted, people like Hellhound have a very legitimate beef with a computer that's not online. I can totally understand that. For everyone else, you're looking at 10 minutes or so to get a computer set up initially, then about 5 seconds worth of additional steps moving the file from one computer to another.

 

[Steve Wieck]

Someone over at RPG.net mentioned that they tried it out and that when you transfer it to another computer, it asks to repurchase it - not redownload it. This leads me to believe that Adobe's FAQ, and not DTRPG's FAQ, is the real one, and that Steve Weick is intentionally or unintentionally misrepresenting his product's capabilities. .

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my character there Funksaw! Sheesh!

Probably you missed the earlier posts in the same RPG.net thread from people who reported getting it to work just fine on multiple computers? Your cross-post here about the one fellow who ran into a problem and then pronounced it "impossible" before bothering to check with customer service for help is not really representative of the true situation but I can see how you might have thought so if that's the only message in that monstrously large thread you read.

Considering the time I've had with White Wolf in the past, I'm not likely to give them the benifit of the doubt. Even with WoD2 coming up, and even with my Exalted addiction, I view this type of DRM as not only a poor value but just plain immoral (I'm a card-carrying member of the EFF) and I'm boycotting Eden, GOO, and White Wolf in both PDF and Print until such time as they either fold DTRPG or remove the DRM from the products. .

Sorry we've disappointed in the past, we'll miss your business.

It won't be a long wait if the companies involved are shrewd businessmen - it looks like the site itself is as popular as Salmon Rushdie in Tehran.

Well, acutally the site is doing very well and will be around for a long time to come. That doesn't mean that we aren't shrewd enough to take to heart any constuctive criticism potential customers offer us on forums like this.

Steve

 

[Krypter]

Wow, games industry tries to shoot itself in head, misses, then tries to shoot itself in heart instead.

If you think DRM will prevent your files from showing up on Kazaa and DC++, you're quite wrong. It will simply inconvenience your customers to no tangible benefit to yourself. Unless you're marking down your products from previous levels to compensate customers for the inconvenience. I'm sure that your software will work with 90% of your potential customers. But your current PDFs work with 99% of your potential customers.

What e-publisher in their right mind would take a voluntary 9% sales drop in exchange for dubious promises of piracy protection, none of which have worked in the past?

No, this probably won't affect your sales in the short term, but it will stunt any growth you may be dreaming about, and could potentially lead to the same death spiral that killed TSR. They too thought that legal action online was a good remedy to sales problems.

Also, signing exclusivity agreements is an attempt to rig the market, and limiting customer choice will, in the end, hurt you more than it benefits you.

And, as usual, the customer gets the shaft.

 

[Grazzt]

No, this probably won't affect your sales in the short term, but it will stunt any growth you may be dreaming about, and could potentially lead to the same death spiral that killed TSR. They too thought that legal action online was a good remedy to sales problems.

Totally different. TSR's stick up their collective asses was that you basically couldnt post anything about D&D/AD&D, mention AD&D, or whatever without them suing (or threatening to sue) your ass.. Totally different than DRM protecting products.

 

[Cergorach]

If you think DRM will prevent your files from showing up on Kazaa and DC++, you're quite wrong. It will simply inconvenience your customers to no tangible benefit to yourself.

At the moment the secrity seems to be holding, no easy removal of the Adobe DRM. So for the moment the security is good, most publishers say that they have 90% of their sales in the first 90 days, so every day that the Adobe DRM holds against pirates is one more day of customers that can't get your product through pirate means and will be 'forced' to actually buy the product if they want it. I'm guessing this is more then the 9% lost sales due to people not liking DRM...

No, this probably won't affect your sales in the short term, but it will stunt any growth you may be dreaming about, and could potentially lead to the same death spiral that killed TSR. They too thought that legal action online was a good remedy to sales problems.

Yeah... Right... You wouldn't be part of one of those doom sayer cults that predicts the end of the world every year, and every year is quite wrong?

Also, signing exclusivity agreements is an attempt to rig the market, and limiting customer choice will, in the end, hurt you more than it benefits you.

I have yet to see any contract that the folks at DTRPG signed, but my guess would be that they aren't actually barred from selling their pdfs elsewhere, they're just barred from selling their pdfs elsewhere without Adobe DRM. Which in the current situation creates an exclusive agreement. This of course all gues work, because no one who's seen a signed contract is talking (and rightly so)...

 

[Dimwhit]

At the moment the secrity seems to be holding, no easy removal of the Adobe DRM.

Actually, it's easy to crack, though not in an ideal way (new PDFs are about 5x as large and not as good a quality). So probably just as well.

 

[Tsyr]

At the moment the secrity seems to be holding, no easy removal of the Adobe DRM. So for the moment the security is good, most publishers say that they have 90% of their sales in the first 90 days, so every day that the Adobe DRM holds against pirates is one more day of customers that can't get your product through pirate means and will be 'forced' to actually buy the product if they want it. I'm guessing this is more then the 9% lost sales due to people not liking DRM...

Actually, the Adobe DRM is so flimsy as to be meaningleess when applied in the fashion this place has done so. People were reporting cracking it on the forums the same day they came out.

Likewise, I found a security document detailing early attempts at this this that says that in as early as '01 there were ways around it.

 

[DanMcS]

Actually, it's easy to crack, though not in an ideal way (new PDFs are about 5x as large and not as good a quality). So probably just as well.

There are no bragging rights in cracking pdfs. Game-crackers like to be able to do 0-day cracks of released games, the guys who turn it around fastest get to brag; but there are many more players of computer games than there are RPGers, I'd imagine.

If your crack is 5-times as large, that just means it hasn't been optimized yet- there's nothing intrinsic in it being a crack that makes it big. Once the DRM-pdf gets cracked, it would be straightforward for someone who makes pdfs to optimize it again. I would guess that the skill-sets of professional pdf publishers are not all shared by the people that crack them, though.

 

[Dimwhit]

So the question then becomes, who cares about DRM? Buy the pdf if you want it, and if you don't like the DRM, remove it. I'm probably not even going to bother. Too much hassle, and they work fine as is. Might be nice to burn a cracked copy to a CD in the event the DTRPG goes out of business or something. But really, once that happens, the PDF will likely be obsolete anyway.

But I agree, DanMcS...no bragging rights in cracking a PDF. It's really not even cracking. But people sure are up in arms about a technology that just isn't that big a deal, all things considered.

 

[Krypter]

Totally different. TSR's stick up their collective asses was that you basically couldnt post anything about D&D/AD&D, mention AD&D, or whatever without them suing (or threatening to sue) your ass.. Totally different than DRM protecting products.

Actually, the situation is almost exactly the same.

TSR was attempting to restrict use of its trademarked (ie: legally protected) material through a technological solution that restricted their customers' rights. Remember mpgn.com?

You are attempting to restrict use of your copyrighted (ie: legally protected) material through a technological solution that restricts your customers' rights. DRM.

Granted, TSR's position was much more drastic than yours, but the tactic is similar. You are treating your customer as the enemy, when he should be your best friend (until the sale is concluded). The ill will generated by poor treatment will significantly erode your customer base in the long term. This is why customer service is so important to major corporations, RIAA notwithstanding.

In lieu of giving customers good products and good choice of vendors, you are attempting to restrict supply, restrict vendors, and restrict what your customers can do with products they legally purchased. All of these are legalistic solutions to a sales problem.

Also, you are not going to stop piracy any more than the dongle stopped computer game piracy in the 1980s. Now, did the computer game industry disappear because of piracy?

No, but you will, to be replaced by companies that don't handicap their customers or pry into their business too much. Or you'll change your policies. I suspect the latter, once you realize what a problem this will be in the long run. You're all smart, flexible fellas.

Don't let the lawyers dictate your business model. Fastest way to bankruptcy.