| Developer(s) | Sony DADC |
|---|---|
| Type | Optical disc copy protection, Digital rights management |
| Website | www.securom.com |
SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management product developed by Sony DADC. SecuROM aims to resist home media duplication devices, professional duplicators, and attempts at reverse engineering software. It is most often used for commercial computer games running under the Microsoft Windows platform. The method of disc protection in current versions is Data Position Measurement; this may or may not be used in conjunction with online DRM components.
Many opponents, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, believe SecuROM, like many DRM applications, is used to restrict one's fair-use rights.[1][2] The use of SecuROM has generated controversy because it is not uninstalled upon removal of the game. In 2008, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Electronic Arts for its use of SecuROM in the video game Spore.[3]
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SecuROM 7.x was the first version to come with SecuROM Removal Tool, which is intended to help users remove it after the software with which it was installed has been removed.[4] Most titles now also came with a revoke tool to de-activate the license (revoking all licenses would restore the original activation limit).[5] As with Windows activation, a hardware change may trigger another activation, as the system perceives it as another computer.[6] Forgetting to revoke before formatting the computer may not lead to another activation quota being consumed, subject to the Product Activation servers successfully detecting it is a re-installation on the same set of hardware.[7]
To sum up, SecuROM limits the number of PCs activated at the same time from the same key, but does not prevent the user from reselling the product, if the product is fully revoked (but subject to EULA, etc.). Moreover, on a case by case basis, the limit of the activations may be increased if the user has proved he reached the limit after several hardware triggered re-activations on the same PC.
Consumers have accused BioShock of installing a rootkit. An official announcement was made denying the use of any type of rootkit.[12][13] Furthermore, no evidence of rootkits or Ring 0 access have been found.[8]
The game required consumers to activate the game online and originally set a maximum of two activations before they would have to call to get more activations. This was raised to five activations because an incorrect phone number had been printed on the manual and call centers were only in the United States. Users also found that the game had to be activated for each user on the same machine.[14][15]
In 2008, 2K Games removed the activation limit, although users are still required to activate it online.[16]
In May 2008, EA announced that Mass Effect for the PC would be using SecuROM 7.x requiring a reactivation of the software every 10 days.[17] Due to complaints, EA removed the 10-day activation while keeping SecuROM tied to the installation. SecuROM's product activation facility was still used to impose a limit of three times that a customer is allowed to activate the copy of Mass Effect once purchased. The game becomes unplayable "as is" after the activations are used up, until EA's customer support is contacted to reset the activation limit. Unlike BioShock, uninstalling the game does not refund a previously used activation.[18] More recent versions of Mass Effect on budget prices (those available on EA classics and Steam) have SecuROM omitted.
On September 7, 2008, EA released Spore, which uses SecuROM. Spore has seen relatively substantial rates of unauthorized distribution among peer-to-peer groups, and with a reported 1.7 million downloads over BitTorrent networks, it was the most-pirated game of 2008;[19] journalists note that this was a reaction from users unhappy with the copy protection.[20] However, TorrentFreak's "Top 10" list shows that the presence of intrusive DRM appears not to increase piracy of a game.[21] Many of the games on the list use basic SafeDisc copy protection with no install limits, no online activation, and no major reports of protection-related issues.[21] Furthermore, several popular games which do use more intrusive DRM such as BioShock, Crysis Warhead and Mass Effect are absent from the list, indicating that intrusive DRM is not the main reason why some games are pirated more heavily than others.[21]
EA requires the player to authenticate the game online upon installation.[22] This system was announced after the originally planned system met some opposition from the public, as it would have required authentication every 10 days.[23] The product key of an individual copy of the game would only be authenticated on up to three computers.[24] In response to customer complaints, this limit was raised to five computers,[25] however only one online user can be created per copy, which is required to access user-generated content.
As a result of its inclusion with Spore, a class-action lawsuit was filed by Maryland resident Melissa Thomas within U.S. District Court against Electronic Arts.[26][27] The lawsuit has been followed up by several others.
Red Alert 3 included SecuRom until February 19, 2009 when it was removed from the Steam version. Non Steam editions still include SecuRom.[28]
In March 2011, reports began emerging that EA's Dragon Age 2 was being distributed with SecuROM despite assertions from EA that it would not be.[29] On March 12, 2011, a BioWare representative posted a message on the official Dragon Age 2 boards that the game does not use SecuROM, but instead "a release control product which is made by the same team, but is a completely different product".[30] This later turned out to be Sony Release Control. However, this identification has been challenged by Reclaim Your Game, the consumer advocacy group, based on their analysis of the files in question (16th March 2011)[31].