'Spore' evolution computer game spawns lawsuit

Technology / Software

The freshly-launched "Spore" computer game that lets people play God has been hit with a lawsuit accusing its creators of slipping devilish anti-piracy software onto players' machines.

The lawsuit filed this week in a federal court in Northern California contends that players weren't warned about tenacious digital rights management (DRM) software that stays in computers even if game programs are removed.

"Spore" maker Electronic Arts told buyers that there are anti-piracy safeguards but didn't advise people the SecuROM program it used "is essentially a virus that installs itself without warning," the lawsuit alleges.

The DRM software attaches itself to the "command and control centers" of computers and tracks activities, blocks certain operations and even disrupts hardware, according to the suit filed Monday.

A US woman was named as the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which is seeking class action status to represent all "Spore" buyers.

The filing demands a jury trial and wants Electronic Arts forced to pay unspecified damages as well as turn over money it has made from "Spore," which went on sale in Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States this month.

Electronic Arts declined an AFP request for comment, saying it does not discuss pending litigation.

DRM software is commonly used to thwart piracy of videogames as well as digitized music and films. Some videogame DRM consists simply of needing to have an original game disk in a machine to play.

"Spore" is the latest brainchild of game legend Will Wright, maker of the world's top-selling computer game "The Sims."

"You are given this God-like power," Wright told AFP in a pre-launch interview. "You can create ecosystems, biospheres ... We try to make it real science."

Players start as microscopic life forms competing for survival in primordial ooze and work their way onto land, where they evolve into creatures that build civilizations and rocket into space.

Creatures can be made to have scales, fins, wings, claws, extra appendages, additional eyes, or body parts in unexpected places.

Š 2008 AFP

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Posted by Valentiinro 09/25/08 17:18

Rank: 5/5 after 4 votes

The SecuROM software also doesn't stop pirates. I saw the game being played by pirates about a week before it came out in this country (the US).

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Posted by Aloken 09/26/08 06:26

Rank: 5/5 after 3 votes

True and the pirated version is preferable over the legal one since it does not 'infect' your computer with secuROM.

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Posted by earls 09/26/08 12:52

Rank: 5/5 after 2 votes

I've been enjoying the game (DRM Free) very much.

It's a shame this single pathetic issue has virtually destroyed the game's success.

In addition to this woman, Maxis should also sue EA for wrecking their sales with the pointless and empty attempt to prevent absolutely nothing.

EA among others "Simply Don't Get It," they need a very loud and clear message, and this is the first of many to come until they figure it out.

The Customer is King.

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Posted by Decaf 09/26/08 13:28

Not rated yet.

Way to punish the honest consumer! If purging secuROM off my computer keeps Spore from running, then I'm all aboard this lawsuit.

Even without the lawsuit EA should provide a patch to surgically remove secuROM after uninstall, but then maybe that would defeat the purpose of the rich, white men in suits.

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Posted by earls 09/27/08 12:24

Not rated yet.

lol, look like they're tagging Crysis Warhead for SecuROM too.

[Edit, link not supported, Search Crysis Warhead and/or Spore on Amazon]

As you may know they trashed Spore's score on Amazon.

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Posted by Zig158 10/09/08 02:33

Not rated yet.

SecuRom is punishment for those foolish enough to buy a game with EA on the package.