A small but startling adendum to the DRM issue - for those with long attention spans

[rascal101]

I detect a slight wearyness re the whole SH5 thing and the DRM in particualr so I thought the following might cheer a few people up.

The following represents a small new slant on the issue, especially for those of us capable of reading more than a couple of paragraphs without suffering attention deficit

I was talking to my GF about the uproar at SubSim and the games world in general re DRM or systems like it. I thought I'd have to explain it in some detail as she's not a gamer – but, she does have an interest in all things technical.

In fact she subscribes to the online techies journal Silicon.com. Turned out she knew exactly what I was talking about - you see she's one a number of folks world wide who're currently beta testing the next Office Suite Office 2010, apparently the Beta test was set up by, or through or in conjunction with Silicon.com

Now here's the fun bit - turns out with the next edition of Office suite you’re going to need ………guess what……permanent internet connection Ta Da! -

Is slightly different from what we’re encountering re saved games on SH5 as with the new Office you'll be able to save your worked documents on your own machine - BUT IN ORDER TO USE THE NEXT EDITION OF OFFICE YOU WILL NEED TO BE ONLINE in order TO USE IT - It wont function without it

Aint that something - we live in interesting times indeed!

And what’s more these things we're discussing are not so a response to piracy - but more from a relatively new direction or idea in computing that wants to make your the personal PC a thing of the past. I wonder if any one's heard of CLOUD COMPUTING?

Your PC will essentially be a terminal with the licensed programs you wish to use miles away on the publisher’s server, you’ll buy access to it but you will not own it and you wont even install it because you cant, your machines is just a terminal and that’s all it is – The publisher will own the content and you will purchase a license to access – or pay some kind of subscription fee, from the publisher's perspective this makes a lot of sense.

I sell and promote a range of online databases for schools, these are subscribed and we love them cos every year we get more money from the same customer who has to renew their access in order to continue to have access to the content. Basic and simple.

I’ve often thought the next logical step for the DRM and systems like it when applied to computer games was to do away with the whole customer purchase business model and move to a subscription system – you would subscribe to SH5 not purchase it. I believe there are a number of games that do this now, not games I'd be interested in and wiht the very patchy quality of the internet in many countries you'd have to be an idot, or just simply very nieve to go down this path.

Any way if you think it all sounds like a big conspiracy read up on CLOUD COUMPUTING - check the two links below from Silicon.com

See some links below, a selection of articles from Silicon.com which is the bible for computer techies:

http://www.silicon.com/tags/cloud+computing.htm

http://www.silicon.com/search/cloud+computing.htm

So there it is for those of us old timers who're decrying the seeming direction things are going there’s something else to gnash your teeth about -

For those others whose in-depth analysis of the DRM thing with SH5 has been to say it’s the way things are headed and to just deal with it – well there’s something in the above for both of us –

Interestingly there is considerable unrest out there about the new Office especially amongst the business community who are upset about the possible unauthorized access to confidential information, never mind the privacy concerns of the average citizen should be extremely concerned about.

My GF says there's no trade off re the new Office, nothing that might allay the fears as outlined above – if you want to use it you got to go online

Something to think about

R

[Reece]

Linux is looking good now!!

[HundertzehnGustav]

I am aware of this cloud computing for some time now, and dude, i tells ya, it aint doin no good to my stomach.

Yes to mee too, Linux is starting to look really good.
Its a Bit*h to use, compared to XP/Vista/7 and nowhere as good as Macintosh...

But like with SHV, i want freedom, i want control over my OS, Hardware and Privacy. Its all MINE afterall.

Therefor, Linux is the future of the free Computer user.
Viva Richard Stallman!

I see everyone else being enslaved and controlled by these Supercorporations already. By... 2015? 2020? Dont know. Dont care. I will do my best to NOT be part of it.

[BarjackU977]

I too know what cloud computing is.

The question is: why cloud computing? A Hotmail/Yahoo/Gmail address is handy, so that we can check mails from any computer anywhere.

Google Documents: do you need it? You might as well. Or maybe not. I don't, personally, as I've a word editor/viewer at work, home and even on my mobile phone.

It really depends on needs and personal preferences.
But it's not because something is trendy that one needs it or likes it, or have to accept it for everything.

Do I need cloud computer for a game like SH5? Certainly not, and I see more inconvenient than advantages.
So do I have to accept cloud computing down my throat for every software? No, I don't want that.

I'm not saying Cloud computing is bad. It has advantages in some cases. But I want my software to remain as much independent from Internet connections as possible.

[HundertzehnGustav]

It is made convenient for the average user, to fight piracy, software re-selling, and such.
M$ doing what it can do best. not software, no, money.

May i suggest something/ change the Thread title to:

"DRM - and what the Future of Personal compuuting will bring"

it could attract more Views, as i personally would like everyone to read this.
Its really a subject that keeps me thinking, at times, and i feel you made a good start at explaining the subject.

One simple example of Cloud computing, i am sure you will find others:
Online Games like
Travian - www.travian.com
or
Tribal wars www.tribal-wars.com

I play on two servers in the German Variant of Tribal wars, called Die-Staemme.de, and my PC is simply acting as an input/output device for the calculations made by their system. My PC calculates nothing, all that is really needed is my Wireless modem to send the information, the Keyboard and mouse to gather input, and the Monitor to do the output.
GPU, CPU, RAM are nnothing but relay stations for the Data, The Browser Window is its GUI, and no data is stored on a HDD.

-> simplified<-

That is ok for me, as its a free game, and i watch what i do.

[Diopos]

Ancient question. Was it Plato that asked "who will guard us against our guardians ?" or something similar?
Let's do a "what if" ....
What if Cloud Computing Internet was implemented under a soviet-type regime? How would our theorists and champions of individuality and freedom have reacted?




.

[JU_88]

Good an interesting read Rascal,
I had heard the term 'cloud computing' before but never really associated it with this.
Scary isnt it, its not far off from logging in to an RDP session to use a program on another machine.

[HundertzehnGustav]

Originally Posted by Diopos

Ancient question. Was it Plato that asked "who will guard us against our guardians ?" or something similar?
Let's do a "what if" ....
What if Cloud Computing Internet was implemented under a soviet-type regime? How would our theorists and champions of individuality and freedom have reacted?




.

There would have been no theorists or individualists.. They would have been found in the logfiles, and shot in the back of the head.

But Cloud computing might somehow head that way - corporations taking over governments, and kicking people in the ass, sending them to jail... by... 2030?

By Then i am off to an Internet an PC free zone of the world.

[Reaves]

That's it! I'm starting my own internet....

And MACS aren't allowed btw.

[The Enigma]

I'm very well aware that cloud computing is

Lucky for me I've changed my MS Office suite for another suite.
And I agree, Linux is becoming more and more appealing to me.

I also want freedom for my digital world, no chains.
If I want to surf the net, then that's my decision when and how.

If I want to be off line using whatever software I've bought, I do not wish
to need an internet connection.

If software demands such connection, I remove it from my PC at once or don't even install it.

Freedom of choice is what I have and nobody can take that away from me.

IMO cloud computing will prove to be another computer hype.

[FinnN]

I'm using a beta of the next version of Office and you don't need to be online all the time to use it.

Have fun
Finn

[Hitman]

Many thanks for the interesting read (Even if it made my stomach revolve and want to vomit) but in any case I think this thread belongs already to the General Topics forum, or even to technical one.

I am the first to slam UBI's new DRM policy, but I understand there are many new SH5 users with no issues with DRM willing to recover control of this forum

Let it be moved

[Captain von Keldunk]

Maybe this SH5 online thing is not really drm but IGA =
In-game advertising

here is link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-game_advertising
..................................
Edit: another link, ubisoft free games for IGA Prince of Persia: Sands of Time; etc..http://www.beyond3d.com/content/news/452
Edi2: The ability to dynamically serve advertising into video games that are connected to the Internet will create a growing opportunity. As gamers connect consoles to the Internet for online gaming and commerce, publishers and their respective console partners increasingly will look to reach them through advertising

[The Enigma]

Yuk, that's even more disgusting.

But I agree, It could be that UBI wants to introduce such advertising as well.

[Sgtmonkeynads]

Convoy Spotted !, Orders Sir?
1. Dive to periscope depth.
2. Maintain Orders
3. Shop at UBI.COM for a better game