EPTGeoblocking was one of the subjects I wanted to blog about today, the second was something called Digital Rights Management.
For the better half of this decade, we've seen the rise of media (such as videos, music and games) coming to us through the following formats:
- P2P programs like KaZaa, Limewire etc
- Torrenting
- Streaming videos on demand
- Live streams
- Subscription based streaming services.
However, I think despite the while it's taken, copyright holders have finally found a pretty acceptable medium to publish their content and still make money from it, namely VODs and livestreams funded via advertising,or subscription services such as Spotify and Pandora.
However, I wish to raise the first big issue today.
Geoblocking:
I remember my first taste of geoblocking when the South Park Studios website began to allow their viewers to watch South Park episodes for free. I was thrilled, I was willing to watch through advertisements to watch the content I wanted to watch and indirectly fund their new system.
A day later, I got a douchey "Sorry England, new episodes coming soon" with a picture of the Queen. I was livid because they had basically stuck up their middle fingers and said "Fuck you" to any of the 6,000,000,000 or so people in the world that weren't living in the United States or Canada via blocking them from content.
The second example of when geoblocking pissed me off was some home brewed cock blocking as the UK Performing Rights Society basically demanded higher royalties from views on YouTube. How did Google respond to this? By blocking all music video content from record labels in the UK.
Basically, for months, whenever I say.... wanted to view a RHCP video, I'd get the message "This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions" pop up. It angered me so much that I not only stopped using YouTube and switched to Dailymotion (where all the music videos were NOT geoblocked), but I also thought of a new, appropriate slogan for the video streaming giant.
YouTube™ - Not Available In Your Country.
The only thing that drew me back to YT was the fact that Dailymotion kinda sucked in terms of content, had many videos that weren't in English, and had some ridiculously slow load times. Plus so many more people used YouTube for uploading content and it was basically where everything was.
And now onto the third example of what pissed me off about geoblocking. I was watching Fullmetal Alchemist on FUNimation's YouTube channel, because I've heard nothing but praise about the series and was recommended by a few friends to watch it. By the time I had finished Episode 51, I heard about FMA: Brotherhood, how it had stuck true to the anime, and that it was better than the original.
So I tried to watch it. What's that. "FUNimation have blocked this video on copyright grounds?" Oh for fuck's sake.
Why do you think I even turned to YouTube to watch content like anime? Because there are literally no television channels in the UK that actually show anime. As of the moment, I don't know of any UK TV channels that have actually aired FMA or FMA: Brotherhood.
The final example has to be games like MapleStory. I was lucky enough to get a GMS account before they closed the floodgates to new European players and forced them to play on a European version that is over a year behind in terms of updates. They at least had the decency to let existing Europeans continue playing.
However, some regions (i.e. Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, Brazil etc) haven't been so lucky and have basically been told to gtfo and start anew. No character transfers, no reimbursement of their lost time. Nothing.
It;s called the World Wide Web for a reason, and I think when content owners upload their content, they should keep that in mind instead of discriminating viewers via geography.
And now the second issue that pisses me off.
Digital Rights Management:
Why does DRM piss me off? Well it's not the aspect that it's supposed to stop piracy that pisses me off because pirates are undoubtedly stealing the game and leaving that avenue wide opening is obviously a huge concern to game publishers.
However, is that a good excuse to fuck over the legitimate customer?
Okay, let me see if I can give a few examples.
Example A: The typical legit DVD you buy is an inferior experience to a pirated DVD
Now here's an image that has been reposted many times around the internet that perfectly describes this example.
![[image loading]](http://www.lauexplorer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/legal-dvd-vs-pirate-dvd.jpg)
Source: http://www.lauexplorer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/legal-dvd-vs-pirate-dvd.jpg
Basically, when you buy a legit movie or go see one nowadays, you are greeted with the following:
- Several commercials for products such as Blu-Ray which provide a better movie experience for the user.
- Several unskippable trailers (around 3 - 5 minutes each) that you may fast forward over if you're watching on VHS (who honestly uses VHS now) or DVD.
- Several unskippable copyright warnings. Which basically makes you feel like you're bring treated like a criminal.
- FINALLY, the fucking movie.
What are you greeted with when you pirate the movie?
- Just the movie.
Example B: Starcraft II (I know this is going to sound like blasphemy on a SC2 forum.)
As some of you may know, Starcraft II doesn't have Local Area Network support, and for some of you who have watched offline LAN tournaments like MLG and seen the following message appear "CONNECTING TO SERVER", it makes everybody give out a nice, collective facepalm at Blizzard.
While LAN isn't really utilised nowadays for anything but local LAN events whether it be a LAN party or an offline tournament, it makes the game far less playable for professionals who may be affected by latency and a bad connection to Battle.net. Furthermore, until 1.4, privacy concerns were actually real with Battle.net.
Semi-recently, a LAN hack for Starcraft 2 was released. I will not link it here to avoid any rule conflicts. I don't know the reliability of it nor how hard it is to install or use, but basically, the pirates have won by cracking the game somewhat, while the legit customers have been left disgruntled.
Or should I say the spectators of major tournaments, who are pissed off with seeing "CONNECTING TO SERVER" all the bloody time.
Example C: Recent Ubisoft PC titles and Diablo 3.
As some of you may know, the Ubisoft U-Play system, particularly for games like Driver: San Francisco and From Dust enforce a method of DRM where you have to always be online in order to play. Basically, if you disconnect, your game also disconnects and you cannot play.
The first time this was used was Assassin's Creed 2. What happened immediately after launch? DDOS!!!!!
Then Ubisoft tried to defend their crappy system by arguing the advantages, including the following:
- Unlimited installs. Well guess what, a normal fucking PC game that isn't DRM'd to shit has this.
- The ability to save your game online. Well haven't they heard of Steam Cloud? A much superior system for that?
After more "DDOS attacks", and pirates finally releasing a playable PC version of AC2 a month later, Ubisoft responded by removing and patching out the DRM, but have since tried reintroducing it in newer titles....
Just going to say this bluntly. SINGLE PLAYER GAMES ARE NOT FUCKING MMORPGS AND SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS SUCH. There, I said it.
What happens when your internet connection goes down (A common occurance these days)? Well if mine goes down and I'm playing an MMO or an online multiplayer game, I usually try to fix the problem or play an offline video game if that problem cannot be fixed.
"If I cannot have a permanent connection, how the fuck will I be able to play your game?" basically. And what about when you're travelling with a laptop? How will we play your game then?
Publishers seem to act with such disregard towards the customer's experience that sooner or later, one internet boycott might finally work and make a game a failure.
NOTE: I do not condone piracy. In fact, I say support the official releases and buy legitimate copies of things. I am merely making an irate rant about digital rights management
Anyway, if you made it this far through my rant, well done. And now I ask you, the readers these questions:
1. What is your opinion on geoblocking?
2. What is your opinion on DRM?
3. What should I blog about next? I cannot think of new ideas that well.
Peace out.
