DRM

The recently released adventure-puzzle game Rime has brought light to the subject of DRM and anti-piracy software this last week. Shortly after release, those playing the PC version began complaining about noticeable performance issues with the game as a result of the Denuvo software, which checks to make sure the DRM is still intact. Rime's makers then promised to remove the software if it was cracked. Now, only five days later, they're keeping their word.

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Smurfs 2 might not be a memorable film, but it would probably go down in history in a notorious way. And not through any fault of its own, mind you. Almost comically, the film will be remembered in the piracy scene as the first title to have an Ultra HD, some would (incorrectly) call it 4K, copy ripped from a supposedly tightly protected UHD Blu-Ray Disc. In other words, the age of UHD BR piracy might be at hand.

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As of last week, the Sega Saturn turned 21 years old, at least if you start counting from its EU release. Although it enjoyed an initial surge of popularity, the Saturn was quickly left by the wayside in the console wars that left only three companies standing. Like any old, obsolete console, the Sega Saturn has its own share of loyal fans. Now those fans can take their consoles out of storage. At long last, the Sega Saturn's DRM has finally been cracked and the console can finally load and play games off a USB stick instead of a CD.

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DRM, or Digital Rights Management (some call it Digital Restrictions Management), is a class of technologies and software aimed to protect copyrighted material from unauthorized access, a.k.a. piracy. But what if that DRM itself is guilty of helping pirates do exactly that? That is somewhat the position Google is finding itself in when the DRM technology it uses in its Chrome browser has been found to have a bug that actually makes it easier to lift encrypted videos streamed from the likes of Netflix or Amazon Prime and spread them around illegally.

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Back in May, Oculus adopted the controversial position of implementing DRM for games developed for its Rift virtual reality headset, preventing them from being played on the rival HTC Vive hardware. This was very frustrating for VR enthusiasts and developers alike, as the industry is only beginning to take off, and the fear was that locking down games and platforms this early would hinder consumer adoption. Fortunately Oculus has backtracked, removing the DRM that prevented Vive compatibility.

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One of the nice things about PC gaming is the fact that over time you can upgrade your system piece-by-piece, in order to achieve better performance. This means faster load times, better graphics, and higher resolutions. Unfortunately, it also means heavy-handed DRM that can lock you out of your favorite games.

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Today we're having a peek at a game that we'd love to see come to fruition: X-Wing vs TIE-Fighter (modern). This new game would be one that builds on the excellence that were the first X-Wing and TIE-fighter games, coming correct with not only new graphics, but fully updated gaming models, including multi-screen interaction and the possibility of virtual reality gameplay. Now that you can get the original games after 20 years (now released through GOG, completely DRM-free and offline if you wish), we've got a hankering to get back in the cockpit.

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It's not time to panic just yet, but there could one day be a fundamental change to the JPEG image format that would have a significant impact on the way we view and use images on the web. The committee behind the format, the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), is now holding discussions on the topic of privacy and security, and considering the idea of bringing digital rights management (DRM) to the popular image type.

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Keurig’s K-Cups are a strange phenomenon in tech and coffee. Reviled by their creator, their DRM circumvented by creative coffee lovers, K-Cups stand as a necessary evil for many. Keurig’s reasoning for DRM K-Cups was control; they wanted to control the hardware, content, and output. As consumers grow weary of the games Keurig plays, sales are starting to take a hit (always the surest sign a company will re-position themselves). In their most recent earnings call, Keurig CEO says a fan favorite, refillable K-Cups, are coming back.

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Pod coffee has proved controversial for its taste and its ecological impact, and no single-serve option has been more contentious than Keurig's K-Cups. On the one hand there's the convenience: drop in a pod, hit the button, and seconds later be drinking hot coffee. On the other, though, there are questions around freshness, the poor recyclability of pods, and - particularly in Keurig's case - the use of patents and DRM to lock consumers to a single brand. Turns out, even the guy who created K-Cups in the first place now regrets it.

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What would you do if your $6 mobile app gets pirated a lot? And by a lot, we mean 85 percent of the installed user base? Some might have called it quits and yanked off their app. Others might have tried to enforce even stricter piracy countermeasures. But not Android app developer Jack Underwood, whose popular Today Calendar app is experiencing those numbers. Instead, he is "punishing" pirates by making them walk the plank into shark-infested waters. Well, not really. He's just filling up their calendars with a lot of pirate-themed events.

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If you’ve recently purchased a Keurig coffee machine, you know that many third-party pods won’t work in your machine. Protected by DRM, Keurig tamped the cottage industry that popped up around their machines with their latest kit, to the dismay of just about everyone. A new add-on might get you around Keurig’s rules, though. The Freedom Clip snaps into your existing Keurig, and allows for those now-bootleg K-Cups to be used in your new Keurig machine.

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