NOTE: EA is considerably less cute

After an avalanche of bad publicity in the month since Spore’s release, Electronic Arts seems to have realized some of its mistakes and is trying to mend its relationship with gamers. From easing up on the SecuROM restrictions placed on its games to trying to discourage piracy in a far more benign way (highlighting specific aspects of the game, like the Sporepedia, that can’t be accessed by pirated copies), EA appears to have seen the error of its ways. There’s one particular comment of note, though, from EA corporate communications employee Mariam Sughayer, discussing the effects of piracy on sales.

“Stepping aside from the whole issue of DRM, people need to recognize that every BitTorrent download doesn’t represent a successful copy of a game, let alone a lost sale.” 

Interesting. So someone finally admits the fallacy of the potential sale argument. While EA doesn’t plan on getting rid of SecuROM anytime soon, this is a step in the right direction. Their decision to deter piracy by highlighting aspects of the game not available in pirated copies is also a positive development, because in Softpedia’s words, it shies away from “punishing everyone for the sins of pirates.” Think of it as a kinder, friendlier form of deterrence.

If you think about it that way, DRM and other anti-piracy measures basically throw out the baby with the bathwater and impose all kinds of restrictions on people who haven’t done anything wrong. It’s sort of like somebody misbehaving while the teacher’s back is turned and everyone getting detention as a result; it makes no sense and, once again, only succeeds in agitating the consumer.

Yet at the end of the day, SecuROM still exists, and it’s still needlessly draconian; but I’m not going to begrudge EA for relenting, if only a little bit. If DRM ever goes away, it’s not going to happen overnight.

EA Admits Pirated Copies Do Not Equal Lost Sales [Softpedia]