Progress on Point
Release 14.2 February 2007
Periodic Commentaries on the Policy Debate
Copy Protection and Games: Lessons for DRM Debates and
Development
by Solveig Singleton*
Technical protection measures for copy protection for music, movies, and books
are sometimes controversial. Digital rights management (DRM) may allow consumers to
use content as they became accustomed before digitization and before the Internet. But
it might not. It is tempting for policymakers, like consumers, to take a backwards-looking
view of what the media consumption experience "should" be like, particularly with
regards to fair use. But this would be bad policy. The market landscape is just too
complex and fast-moving. And it offers plenty of protection for consumer interests
without legal interference. Content producers want and need to reach their audience;
and consumers do not care about the right to make backup copies at any cost.
The history of computer and console games illustrates this need for forbearance
very well. This paper compares the evolution of better-protected console games with
that of the somewhat less well protected games developed for the personal computer
(PC). The history of games shows that the vision of protected content as automatically
less desirable or as being used to foist other undesirable features on consumers is a
distortion. Competition among protected and unprotected formats is alive and well, and
consumers have a wide array of products at different price points from which to choose.
Also, the technological picture changes with astounding rapidity in the face of changes
to the distribution or storage media. Any top-down mandates are likely to be outdated
almost before they are written.
One piece of the puzzle that is missing from the history below is, exactly how much
did game file size, distribution media, and other factors affect piracy and industry
revenues over time? The extent of piracy is difficult to measure even today, and early
game produ