"This DRM is Orwellian!"

[The Ubermensch]

Some one said Orwellian, Its time for my Cyberpunk Copypasta

Spoiler

Nearly every large metropolis now has its own second life of location-based game layers; whole buildings are wrapped in screens. There are ads for video games on video billboards, and ads on billboards inside of video games ? sometimes even ads for other video games.Virtual Graffii is overlaid on the environment by portable computers. Anarchists and revolutionaries organize via encrypted virtual networks, And, really, anyone with the know-how can buy designer drugs or refined plutonium on secret websites using an experimental decentralized online currency.

Teenagers with smart phones wander the streets, wearing on them computers rivaling the most powerful consumer models from a decade ago. These youths wander around, compromising networks discretely from their phones, wreacking havoc and making a killing for themselves scanning other people's RFID Embedded credit cards and dumping the funds through multiple online bank accounts, while corporate executives plan the overthrow of state governments, with fascism creeping into politics and unmanned robots hovering in the skies. The hobos wander the rail tracks with backpacks full of movies and a laptop.

Police have come to fear the technology of protestors they suppress. Three letter government agencies plot increasingly intricate ways to monitor the population, from unmanned drones to city-wide CCTV installation to the questionably legal hacking of private CCTV networks and the use of facial recognition databanks to track people everywhere they go in the physical world while projects like Trapwire monitor everything they do online. New Brain-machine interfaces allow sensitive information like bank account and PIN numbers to be extracted form a person's brain involuntarily.

In the midst of the surveilance state, society begins to stagnate and the gap between the economic and political elites and the city-dwelling lower class widens into a gaping chasm. Hackers and whistleblowers risk life and limb to expose the activities of the surveilance state and expose the dangers of the powerful multinational corporations, travelling from hovel to hovel with backpacks full of high tech equipment just one step ahead of the authorities they oppose.

Cyberpunk didn't die, it became reality.

DRM is a minor symptom of the cyberpunk dystopia we now live in, but it could still be considered Orwellian

 

[The_Great_Galendo]

Nitpicky, but Soma is from Brave New World, not 1984.

Thanks for pointing that out. It was bothering me that I didn't remember that part of the story, since I've read the book more than once. Though drugging your populace in order to control them better also seems pretty Orwellian.

OT: I think there's a reasonable case for some forms of DRM being called Orwellian. I'm thinking of Origin at its launch, where it was spying on you all the time and sending who-knows-what information back to home base, with the banhammer hanging over people's heads if they said or did the wrong thing. The parallel isn't perfect, of course. It might not even be good. But I can see where the comparison's coming from.

 

[Silvanus]

Agree completely with the OP; it shows a complete lack of perspective.


"Orwellian" is such a misused term altogether, to be honest. A tory here in the UK referred to the plans for gay marriage legalisation as "Orwellian" recently, which was the single stupidest use of the term I'd ever seen.

 

[Jedi-Hunter4]

On another quick note, Draconian doesn't really makes sense either, isn't it meant to describe cruel or overly harsh punishment? http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/draconian?s=t

Seriously get out and read some books people, rather than just looking things up on wikipedia.

Words evolve ya know, they tend to do that whether you think its idiocy or not.

And no, Draconian is being used properly
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/draconian

Draconian DRM is overly harsh and cruel DRM, like Always online kicking you if you lose contact with the server, or locking you out of your game if you change your videocard

Fair enough was just unsure on Draconian.

On the topic of Orwellian its an adjective they don't very often change their meaning. It would be like saying the word "blue" has changed it's meaning because people start calling the colour green, blue because they have failed to grasp the meaning of the word.

Besides it's more of an academic term, hence why it carry's connotations of intelligence and it's frequent misuse. I mean surely you can see my point that it's a word that should carry allot of weight with it and that in a world where we really should be thinking about some of the issue's that Orwell covered it's disappointing to see people oblivious to it's true meaning and throwing it around at such trivial issues.

I mean when a word that should be making people think of worrying issues like if their civil liberty's are being protected or if the people who represent them truly have their best interests at heart is being used to describe restrictions placed on a Luxury item that the vast majority of the world does not have access to, can you not see where my WTF is wrong with the world? kind of attitude is coming from?

I mean as gamers, sure we are interested in issue's that effect out gaming, but if someone wants to describe something Orwellian maybe they should have a look at some of the worrying legislation many country's have attempted to push through in terms of widespread internet monitoring, rather than an issue which is mainly a "this pisses me off, I don't feel X company respects me as a consumer" which the simple answer is, fine vote with your wallet and write a respectful formal email email to the company (unlike so many that are posted to the net where the writer thinks being sarcastic about the product will really win over the company), if everyone does that the company's wills start to take note. Maybe write a forum post encouraging others to do the same, or even to really encourage people write a base letter that people can sign and send off to join the effort (which makes me laugh as I've yet to see someone ACTUALY put some effort in an try an formally and respectfully organize.)

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Game devs are shipping cages of anti-piracy rats now?

Well damn....

 

[bug_of_war]

The CCTV cameras and forced exercise regime in 1984 didn't kill anyone, but they infringed on your freedom to do what you like, and were generally very obstructive to living your life. In that sense the DRM is Orwellian as it automatically assumes you've done something wrong and need to be monitored.

To be fair, piracy is a thing that is wrong. So while it's crap that the people who aren't being wrong are being punished, I think we need to figure out a way (which is likely impossible, but 1000 years ago flight seemed impossible) in which piracy can be stopped or minimized.

I wouldn't call it Orwellian, but it definately isn't a nice thing to have.

 

[infohippie]

Playing a game with a DRM is totally optional. Nothing about what Big Brother commanded in 1984 was optional. Until Valve forces me to install Steam and has me answer the question "Who is your God and Savior?" with "Gabe Newell" every morning there is absolutely no basis for calling DRM Orwellian.

Hasn't your region got that update yet?

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

Everyone else has pretty much said what I wanted to say. George Orwell did write Nineteen-Eighty-Four but he has written much more, usually non-fiction in which despotic rule, oppression of the proletariat, excessive surveillance and punishment disproportionate to crimes are all common themes in his work. (Orwell's common message was that our nations will drift towards these conditions unless we are vigilant to prevent it.)

Considering persistent-online DRM, the Origin Terms-of-use that allow them to crawl through your computer's data and, essentially, log and extract what they want. The termination-without-refund of Origin, Xbox LIVE and PSN accounts without explanation, review or accountability, Terminations for such things as expressing an opinion on a forum, yeah I'd say some of the practices of the Game Industry, many of which are related to DRM, are Orwellian.

At this point there are games I'd like to play that I'm not playing because of disproportionately imbalanced EULAs or unacceptable DRM, typically (in my case) offline single-player games for which there are online verification processes that may get sunsetted at the whim of the publisher. The less the publishers trust the consumers, the less I (and many consumers) are inclined to trust the publishers.

238U

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Meh, it's hyperbolic language used to condemn EA, and while it's a bit silly to compare a totalitarian state to a power-hungry and somewhat stupid corporation it really isn't anything new. Although I find it interesting that in the 1950s the book was written in fear of excessive governmental control, while nowadays the terms are used to describe excessive corporate control.

Really though, DRM isn't the problem, it's intrusive DRM. Steam did it right by making a free, mostly reliable platform that allows usage of one account to pretty much any multiplayer game available while (with the exception of the "do you really own your games controversy") retaining most of the consumer control that purchasing the product entails. And while not everybody is willing to use Steam, it's definitely attractive. Contrast this with EA and Simcity, whose DRM is not just draconian, but rather pointless and stupid so due to the fact the backlash from PR probably hurt sales more then piracy would in addition to the fact that both pirates and legit modders have cracked the always-online part of the game already.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Aaaand congratulations, you have just brought me back full circle as to why I asked the fish what he thought taking a stand entailed. Glad we could take this little round about trip together, did we enjoy the sights we saw along the way?

Though really, no just not buying a product is not taking a stand, but not buying the product and saying WHY the product is bullshit, WHY you are not buying it to anyone who will listen IS taking a stand.

If you refuse to buy a car because it damages the ecosystem and ride a bike instead, that could be a stand so long as you are spreading your word about why you are doing it to those who will listen.

If you dont buy yogurt because its cruel to bacteria, or whatever, thats up to you if you are making that known to those who will listen.

But again, thats why I asked what HIS definition of a stand against something is.

Keep yer pants on, it's the weekend. I'm not going to get back to you on anything lickety split.

"Taking a stand" implies a degree of emotional or ideological investment. As I implied with my Pepsi analogy, me telling you I don't like Pepsi is not me "taking a stand" against Pepsi. It also implies a level of direct personal opposition. Wang Weilin took a stand. Rosa Parks took a stand. Cesar Chavez took a stand.

You are expressing an opinion. You are co-opting the term "took a stand" because you want to infuse your opinion with a sense of righteousness. You want to give the impression of moral authority. You're not just turning your nose up at a luxury entertainment product because of an annoying feature, by gum, you are taking a stand. You are the last proud man, resisting the encroachment of corporate devilry! The true and good will stand with you! The weak willed sheeple will look upon you with awe!

If you want to extend the term "taking a stand" to cover every single person who ever threw a strop over some purchasing decision, then the term has become functionally meaningless. You wanna tell all your friends about it? Fill your boots. You want to imagine you're some kind of 21st century revolutionary? Well...I guess that's your prerogative. It's pretty funny, and I recommend keeping it to yourself, but I'm just a stranger on the internet. Why would you care about anything I had to say.

 

[Altorin]

american slave owners barking about british taxes turning them into slaves because they couldn't afford to buy more slaves.

people have been using overblown and careless language since language became a thing.

 

[octafish]

Let's assume we're talsking about Sim City 5, since that's kind of the hot topic at the moment. The always online DRM in that isn't Orwellian. Far from it.

It's got far more in common with Paranoia, in that the seemingly monolithic and all-powerful system is actually utterly self-sabotaging and running on incompetent, ineffectual policies. It's not a dangerous regime, it's a bleak farce that no one who's actually a part of would dare to question, because they know that someone's going to get them long before they could actually change anything.

That's the difference between this DRM and an Orwellian government. In 1984, the government actually had a clue what they were doing.

The Computer is your friend!

Anyway, you are getting bogged down in semantics, just go with the flow. Some DRM does invade your privacy and is invasive, plus it implies guilt. That ticks enough boxes in the commonly accepted definition of Orwellian to fly. You want to argue hyperbole? Sure go ahead, but the phrase fits well enough to apply to DRM...and UK CCTV laws. Just because it isn't exactly like 1984 or Burmese Days doesn't mean it isn't somewhat Orwellian.

 

[Meatspinner]

I think the issue here is not the misuse of the word Orwellian but not understanding what a hyperbole is

 

[Abomination]

I think the issue here is not the misuse of the word Orwellian but not understanding what a hyperbole is

I for one find the use of hyperbole to be a terrible attempt at conveying any idea as it frequently blurs the water of any reflection of a topic - and on this I can see where the OP is going with this.

At the same time who the hell cares? There certainly are Orwellian ASPECTS to DRM and the way how the AAA industry operates so someone mentioning the parallels is hardly worth making a thread about.

 

[Therumancer]

"Soma"

Nitpicky, but Soma is from Brave New World, not 1984.

OT: It's hyperbole, on the internet, directed at something we're annoyed with. It's not something that should really be taken literally, even if there is some small connections between DRM and Orwell. Also, you're the first person I've ever seen refer to DRM as Orwellian.

Fair enough on the Soma it's been a long time.

For the record however I was never calling DRM Orwellian, more or less agreeing with the OP about the misuse of the term.

 

[ArmorKingBaneGief]

I think the issue here is not the misuse of the word Orwellian but not understanding what a hyperbole is

Either that, or disliking the hyperbole because of the misuse of the word Orwellian.

 

[Something Amyss]

Like many, this is the first time I've heard of such a statement.