🚀 go-pugleaf

On Tue, 26 Mar 2013 04:28:52 GMT, john...@frontier.com (John Lewis)
wrote:

>On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:19:53 -0400, David Lamb <dal...@cs.queensu.ca>
>wrote:
>
>>On 25/03/2013 6:40 PM, Rin Stowleigh wrote:
>>> On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:01:56 GMT, john...@frontier.com (John Lewis)
>>> wrote:
>>>> On Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:06:38 -0400, Rin Stowleigh
>>>> <rstow...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Simple authentication and not DRM.
>>>> Simple authentication used to mean a CD-Key, locking the game to its
>>>> purchased CD or DVD.
>>>
>>> No, you're just confusing matters.  That is a form of copy protection,
>>> not authentication.  Please research these things before discussing,
>>> because a mistake like this so early in the post nulllifies pretty
>>> much everything that follows it.
>>
>>When I first read your post, Rin, I thought, yeah, copy protection and 
>>authentication are different things, and then I started wondering 
>>whether the difference makes any difference and which one CD keys really 
>>were. Do you have technical definitions of both terms that would make it 
>>clear that the difference matters?
>>
>>It has been many moons since I used a CD-key game so I have forgotten 
>>most details. If I recall correctly you'd install the game, but it 
>>wouldn't work until you typed in the CD key; the installed game only 
>>enabled itself for use if it decided the long string of characters was a 
>>valid key. What was it that prevented someone from using the same key on 
>>different machines? Online registration? CD key had to match something 
>>in the data burned into the CD itself and CD had to be in the drive? 
>>something else? If you required online registration of a CD key, then 
>>surely that was authentication. If not -- what was it that prevented 
>>somebody from using the same key on different machines?
>>
>
>David, 
>
>Unlike Rin,  I am quite happy to accepts Amazon's definition of 
>Steam's ... "authentication"  process of locking a game purchase to
>an unchangeable on-line account, access to which is REQUIRED to
>install (or re-install) the game. Amazon labels it Steam-DRM, putting
>it in the same category as Ubisoft's UPlay, Origin and Games for
>Windows all intended to inhibit the sale or re-distribution of PC
>games. In all these cases, to move the game to a party other than the
>original purchaser, the umbilically attached account must be
>transferred as well, and all the EULAs for these schemes specifically
>prohibit the transfers of the associated account.
>
>There are some interesting cases wending their ways slowly through the
>US courts with regard to the disposal of 'virtual assets' belonging to
>a decesed person. The argument that such assets die with the owner
>will not hold water.. the EFF and others are beginning  to take an
>active interest.  The most interesting issues will arise if some of
>the assets are to be divided between heirs and they happen to be
>authentication-attached to one on-line account. 
>
>John Lewis

But do you realize that the "Steam-DRM" in the case you've just
described, regardless of how it is described by Amazon, is imposed by
the publisher of the game, and not Valve?  They are specifically using
a feature that is available to them on Steam that will lock their CD
to that account.  *Steam does not require this for all games*.

That's what I mean by Steam's only mandate is authentication, not
authorization (or DRM).  

Not all games on Amazon that are Steam-enabled use the term
"Steam-DRM", and you seem to be under the impression they do.  Far Cry
3, for example, is available on Amazon with Steam-DRM as a purchase
option, as opposed to using Uplay DRM.  It's a simple choice they are
providing the consumer, you don't have to choose it.

Bioshock Infinite simply says "Requires Steam Client to activate", and
makes no mention of Steam-DRM.

Once again, rather than take a few minutes to do the research, you've
been ranting on here for weeks about "Steam-DRM" to refer to any game
played on Steam.

Now Bethesda, the one company you always cite as the shining
cant-do-wrong, has chosen to use Steamworks-DRM for their games.  The
Steamworks-DRM is a service that Valve provides if their customer
(Bethesda in this case) would like to use it.  They charge for the
service.   Amazon does not always list whether or not a game uses
Steamworks-DRM because it has no bearing on which version the user
should buy (see above about the Steam-DRM vs Uplay DRM option in the
case of Far Cry 3).

Once again, you are recklessly spreading misinformation without doing
your homework first.  You've wasted a lot of folks' time with all of
this nonsense.  The least you could do is start with a bit of a clue
going into each rant.