Haibane.info

moving sucks. but we are almost done unpacking. In a week we will have figured out the rhythm of where the stuff is and adapted our routines, but this is gonna be a strange week.

Shamus has long been a gamers’ advocate with regards to prohibitive DRM on computer games, and even has a common-sense 5 point solution to the problem. Unfortunately, since his plan (which treats customers as customers instead of potential pirates) does nothing to actually prevent pirates from pirating games, his solution is likely to be ignored. It seems to me that any solution to ease the DRM load on the end user will need to at least make a token effort to reduce or otherwise inhibit piracy, for it to be taken seriously. Obviously, the common-sense argument that Shamus makes, namely that good business practices which treat customers like a scarce resource instead of a bitter enemy will result in higher revenue despite piracy, is simply not going to penetrate. Even Penny Arcade, a longtime gaming fansite, fell prey to DRM’s allure in their own game, after all.

Somewhat related to all of this is the lesser issue of CD keys, about which Shamus draws a distinction to DRM with. If all DRM was just CD keys, then DRM wouldn’t be that much of a pain, but the problem with CD keys from the manufacturer perspective is that they can be written down, cut and pasted, emailed, etc. I’ll readily admit that I’ve used CD keys for various software in the past that were “borrowed” - its no different (apart from being less annoying) than the old “whats the 10th word on page 4 of the game manual” routine. So, again, as far as preventing piracy, or even mitigating it, CD keys just can’t solve the problem.

However, in considering CD keys, a possible solution to piracy does present itself. What is needed is something that is both dynamic and tied to the specific user. For example, imagine a software download service wherein:

1. game can be downloaded if user sets up an account and registers a credit card for payment. game can also be mailed out on physical media for nominal extra charge.

2. user is asked to set a password to their account. This account is treated like a bank acct password, ie you have the little picture for verification, you have security questions about your mom’s maiden name etc, the whole bit.

3. upon download, game can be activated for installation (not play!) by entering a key that is generated via a standard one-way function in real-time by several inputs:
a. the license number emailed to the user (or printed on the back of the physical disk).
b. the user’s username and password to their online account
c. the current date and time (automatically slurped from public date/time servers).

4. the game itself can be played anytime, but still requires username and password (not CD key).

the advantage of the scheme is that the activation code for installation is not a static string but something that changes in a consistent way. The one-way function should be something very well-known (like MD5). The only way that the game can then be shared would be for the user to share his account password and login, which presumably they’d be incentivized NOT to do, because their account represents private data including payment information for future game purchases.

The user would be happy because the code is easy and really just requires a simple login, and then the game is fully unencumbered for play. The game company would be happy because they are tying each copy of the game to a specific consumer, and they can leverage that for marketing purposes as well (for example, offering good customers a buy 10 get one free deal, or a points system to redeem games, or the option to download exclusive minigames or other freebies). The problem for pirates who want to distribute the game should be pretty clear - especially if the encryption on the actual game software is pretty high.

What do you think? would this work? does it meet all of Shamus’ criteria for a solution to the problem?

Congratulations to Don on his continuing recovery.

Also, the term “kawaii religion” is cool enough that I am stealing google karma for it from Don with this post.

A cool toy at UGO lets you build your own superhero. I gave it a whirl:

I can’t wait to see what Steven comes up with. Otaku dream girl, anyone?

Oprah Winfrey is indeed a semi-divine figure, on the landscape of daytime television. She rules it like Pharoah ruled Egypt. She rises like the sun god Ra in a flame of gold over her talk show empire.

Which is why I find this sculpture by controversy-affine artist Daniel Edwards to be so fascinating:

The artist is known for being provocative in his celebrity-inspired sculptures; he’s crafted one of Britney Spears, giving birth, naked on a bear skin rug. Other targets of his attention are Prince Harry and Paris Hilton. Overall you get the idea that he’s obsessed with celebrity royalty (and royalty celebrities). He claims Oprah is the closest thing America has to a living deity, so he crafted her exaggerated sarcophagus. It sort of makes sense.

Of course the attention the sculpture of Oprah is getting hinges on how it’s supposedly insulting to her, but i actually think on that score that it works as a homage rather than insult. It’s a combination fertility-goddess image with Pharonic qualities. In that sense, as a fertility totem it suggests Oprah as a mother goddess figure which I think is fairly accurate as far as symbolism goes.

Via Google Trends. It seems like the “Facebook Phenomenon” is where the “MySpace Phenomenon” was 2 years ago culturally. My prediction is that 1 year from now you won’t hear much about Facebook, it looks like the buzz is already flattening out, though it will take a little while for people to notice….

Got my first Vista-installed laptop today…OMG!  Very bad.  Very, very, bad.  I haven’t had to deal with blue screens since pre-XP service pack days, but Vista has already been cranky…though I would admit that when it chokes it is elegant.  Why oh why can’t Microsoft hirer UI guys???