Adios Bioshock

Last week, I posted about some of my dislike for DRM. Just when I think things can't get any worse, this happens.

So what happened? Basically, one of the buyers of Bioshock installed it on his PC. This guy has several users on the same PC and so, in accordance with PC best practice, he installed it as an admin. The problem arose when another user on the same PC tried to run the game. At this point, the game asked for the serial number again. Before proceeding, the guy went back to the forums and asked if this would count as 2 of his 5 activations.

Just in case that last statement wasn't clear, 2K games has put an install limit of 5 on this game (actually, it was 2 but the outcry on the forums was so bad that they upped it to 5). What this means is that you can install the game 5 times - if you want to install more, you have to properly uninstall once and get a reinstallation key.

So in summary, the question was whether 2 guys using the same PC, but under a different profile, would count as having installed the game twice. Reasonable question.

This was the answer from 2K Tech JT:
The other way to view this, is one USER has purchased the game. Not the whole family. So why should your brother play for free?

So in other words, if you want your entire family of say 5 people to play the game, you should buy 5 copies. Even if they are all using the same PC. This is so fucked up it defies belief (and if you can't understand why, please jump in front of a bus so that we can remove you from the gene pool).

2K have since said that he wasn't actually an employee of 2K - he was just a tech guy they outsourced technical support to. Furthermore, the guy has been suspended pending the results of an investigation (I have no idea what they are investigating - this is just what they said).

First off, if 2K Tech JT honestly believes in his above statement, then he fully deserves to be fired and publicly pilloried.

However, another point to consider is whether 2K Tech JT was simply toeing the company line. Although his comment was indelicate (and stupid), it seems to be a fair summary of the way that 2K are implementing DRM for Bioshock. Importantly, I note that although 2K are distancing themselves from 2K Tech JT, no one has actually said that the above situation does not count as 2 installs (although admittedly, the thread is soooo long that I might just have missed it).

Indelicate as his statements may have been, has 2K Tech JT nailed down in a nutshell the view taken by 2K based on how they are actually implementing DRM? Is 2K Tech JT being made a scapegoat?

Possibly. Either way, unless 2K do something drastic and soon, they are going to be joining Starforce on my boycott list.