Overclock.net banner
Cancel

[GamePolitics] Class Action Law Suit Against EA, SecuRom

1814 Views 38 Replies 30 Participants Last post by  TnB= Gir, 
Black Magix
Quote:


GamePolitics has learned that a pair of new class-action lawsuits were lodged against Electronic Arts in October. Both suits were filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and both target EA's use of the controversial SecuROM digital rights management (DRM) software on the company's PC games.

In the first case, a Pennsylvania man, Richard Eldridge, alleges that the Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition secretly installed SecuROM on his PC, a violation that Eldridge terms "deceptive and unlawful." From the suit:

The inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed constitutes a major violation of computer owners' absolute right to control what does and what does not get loaded onto their computers, and how their computers shall be used...

[SecuROM] cannot be completely uninstalled. Once installed it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio...

EA's EULA for Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition makes utterly no mention of any Technical Protection Measures, DRM technology, or SecuROM whatsoever...

In the second case, Dianna Cortez of Missouri, described as "an avid Sims player," makes similar claims against EA over the publisher's alleged inclusion of SecuROM on The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, which she purchased in September, 2007. Cotrez claims that she immediately experienced problems with her PC :

After installing Bon Voyage, Ms. Cortez began having problems with her computer. She had previously made backup Sims 2 game content on CDs, but her computer's disc drive would no longer recognize that content, reporting the CDs as empty. She could not access files that were saved on her USB flash drive or iPod, either...

Cortez alleges that she was only able to get rid of SecuROM by reformatting her PC. She accuses EA of engaging in "unfair business practices" as well as conduct that is "immoral, unethical, oppressive [and] unscrupulous..."

The new suits are the second and third filed recently by consumers in regard to EA's use of SecuROM. A woman named Melissa Thomas filed a similar suit in relation to Spore in September. Thomas and new plaintiff Richard Eldridge are represented by the same law firm.

Article]
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 20 of 39 Posts
R
EA is gonna lose some money on this :x
Reply
Save
Like
T
Rightly, too.
Reply
Save
Like
Black Magix
I was wondering how they got away with that crap of not being able to uninstall the securom BS
Reply
Save
Like
L
A world without SecuROM... What a beautiful image.

Wonder what their punishment will be.
Reply
Save
Like
ElMikeTheMike
Quote:
In the second case, Dianna Cortez of Missouri, described as "an avid Sims player," makes similar claims against EA over the publisher's alleged inclusion of SecuROM on The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, which she purchased in September, 2007. Cotrez claims that she immediately experienced problems with her PC :
Is this a joke? I sure hope there's more to her case than that....

Edit- Hers is a class action lawsuit for only 5 mill. She alledges sercurom was installed on her PC without any consent, which is legitimate. I don't know if she'd have to prove that securom all but ruined her PC though.
Reply
Save
Like
G
Quote:

Originally Posted by RussianGrimmReaper View Post
EA is gonna lose some money on this :x
If it's less than $50 million do you even think they care?
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
corky dorkelson
Quote:

Originally Posted by GeNjii- View Post
If it's less than $50 million do you even think they care?
Yes. EA is not doing very well right now believe it or not. They lost 33 million last quarter alone.

This case will probably settle out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. They will want to keep this one quiet.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
R
Quote:

Originally Posted by corky dorkelson View Post
Yes. EA is not doing very well right now believe it or not. They lost 33 million last quarter alone.

This case will probably settle out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. They will want to keep this one quiet.
Hopefully these guys won't be quiet about this and let the entire public know. You know how the media is, always twisting things out of reality. "EA secretly infects your computer with a program called SecRom which can destroy your CD/DVD drives!"
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
R
GO EA!!! put the little buggers in their place
Reply
Save
Like
M
Quote:

Originally Posted by RussianGrimmReaper View Post
Hopefully these guys won't be quiet about this and let the entire public know. You know how the media is, always twisting things out of reality. "EA secretly infects your computer with a program called SecRom which can destroy your CD/DVD drives!"
I almost fell off my chair laughing at the thought of that headline.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
X
Quote:


Originally Posted by GeNjii-
View Post

If it's less than $50 million do you even think they care?

Give me five dollars right now.
You won't miss that money, its only a cup of coffee a cookie.

See what I did there?
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
Murlocke
Quote:


Originally Posted by Licht
View Post

A world without EA and SecuROM... What a beautiful image.

Fixed.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
A
Maybe I should join this...

I have had 2 DVDROM's go bad after installing Securom. I even double checked with the second one (and both of them were brand new).
Reply
Save
Like
OC'ing Noob
Quote:


Originally Posted by rx7speed
View Post

GO EA!!! put the little buggers in their place

Lol EA is more than a little bugger. EA is like a monster post nuclear apocalypse cockroach mutant.

Quote:


Originally Posted by XFreeRollerX
View Post

Give me five dollars right now.
You won't miss that money, its only a cup of coffee a cookie.

See what I did there?

To corporations as larger as EA, $50 million is something they call "acceptable losses" so it won't really push them to change business practices
See less See more
2
Reply
Save
Like
Opeth07
I wouldn't mind EA too much if they hadn't purchased the NFL license for their madden games. Was so unbelievably chicken **** because 2k was destroying madden in quality until that. This was just another nail in the coffin for me :/.
Reply
Save
Like
S
Quote:


Originally Posted by RussianGrimmReaper
View Post

EA is gonna lose some money on this :x

I doubt it unfortunately.

Quote:


Originally Posted by Murlocke
View Post

Fixed.

No EA= no Battlefield, Crysis Dead Space, Spore, Mirrors Edge, C&C, NFS....You get it. EA makes fine games but their customer support is lacking.
See less See more
2
Reply
Save
Like
Murlocke
Quote:


Originally Posted by Somenoob
View Post

I doubt it unfortunately.
No EA= no Battlefield, Crysis Dead Space, Spore, Mirrors Edge, C&C, NFS....You get it. EA makes fine games but their customer support is lacking.

I might be confused but last I checked EA only publishes games.. they don't make them. Those games would all be out just under a different publisher. Correct me if i'm wrong but i'm 98% sure on that.
See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
A
EA didnt make bf2. Dice did.
Reply
Save
Like
Twinnuke
They give them money to make games.
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 20 of 39 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Overclock.net
A forum community dedicated to overclocking enthusiasts and testing the limits of computing. Come join the discussion about computing, builds, collections, displays, models, styles, scales, specifications, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Hardware News Intel CPUs PC Gaming NVIDIA Water Cooling
Top