SecuROM DRM infests our PCs !
SecuROM. Sounds secure. Well, it is...but depending on some factors that security can work for you or against you. And if you're the standard buyer/user, it will certainly work against you.
The story goes like this: you go buy a game you want to play. You get home, you install it. At EULA (end-user license agreement) you are told that the game has DRM (digital right management) protection. So far so good.
The problems start when you install the game. With the game, a secret software called SecuROM installs. And it doesn't just install; it inserts itself into the kernel of the operating system. This practically means it has control over anything on your PC, including any software, hardware or OS components. It just allows itself access to everything it considers necessary.
Software usually installs in Ring 3 of the operating system (with lowest direct resources access) because most programs can work with anything they require in this way. SecuROM install in Ring 0, an area theoretically usable only by the operating system itself.
When it installs SecuROM provides no notification or warning on the it's nature, installation function or operation. This means it actually installes as a virus.
SecuROM is also uninstallable. The average user could never uninstall such thing. The only way to remove it from you PC is to completely reinstall your operating system. Again, this is virus behavior.
The bad things it does do not stop here. SecuROM prevents user actions, disrupts hardware and software operations. It also disables hardware, specifically optical disk drives. If you have multiple ODDs, SecuROM will disable all of them but one, because it considers you only need one of them. The ODDs are being disabled even if the game you installed is not running.
In addition to hardware, SecuROM also disables certain software applications. Some of them are: Fantom CD Emulator, Alcohol 120%, Nero Image Drive, Phantom CD, Clone CD, Ark Virtual Drive, Veritas DLA, Daemon Tools, Any DVD, Process Explorer.
So who the phuck gave it the right to do this ? Why should a virus-like, undisclosed, secret, separately installed, unremovable DRM application must exist in out PCs and decide if we can use or not our hardware and software ? And above all this, there are the situations when this protection does not work, so the fair buyer is screwed. In adition to all the phuck-ups this DRM software causes, not even the original game will work.
So I say: sue them. Some already did (see Plaintiff vs. EA for example).
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Foot in the mouth for SecuROM
SecuROM is a virus. It install without asking in the Kernel of your OS, it takes control of processes and disables hardware and software. It's also uninstallable. This is actually what a virus does !
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