WireWorks, which we published to Kongregate wound up on some Chinese flash game site. I realize there are ways to domain lock a SWF. I even looked into them. In the end, and after talking to Raguel…I let the matter drop. Because lockdowns are almost always a losing proposition.

DRM, Digital Signing, Encryption Keys…if someone wants it bad enough, they will get it. You can pour millions, and billions into DRM and Lockdown research only to have to obliterated before your eyes. This past week has seen the Sony PS3′s private key exposed. I have to tell you, some of the comments I have seen from the game industry on this have been downright hilarious. Let me give you some examples:

“Calling bullshit on this. The whole reason Sony removed the Other OS lock was because George Hotz cracked a level of encryption that could have potentially left it vulnerable to hackers.”

Sony removed a feature which was a selling point of the PS3. Something they advertised. Something people paid for. When you buy a piece of hardware, it’s yours. It does not matter what Sony, Apple, or Microsoft have to say about it. I make this analogy often, because its a good one: Would you buy a car that had it’s hood welded shut? Would you buy a car that, having its hood welded shut, also had a seal on the doors with a EULA? What if the EULA said putting a Nitrous Tank and a Blower on your car, or taking it to a Jiffy Lube for an oil change, (rather than the dealer you bought it from) would result in arrest, imprisonment and fines? Apple, Sony and others…would have you believe that using the hardware you purchased in a manner other than what they intended is wrong, immoral, and illegal. That’s the real BS here.

Stop giving these pirates credibility and start providing the police with identities. Lets be honest here, and say if this is allowed to happen to every gaming format long term with the current financial climate as it is, we are all truly buggered.

So, should someone who uses these methods to say, run linux on their PS3 be prosecuted as well? How about someone who elects to use the hack to create custom firmware for purposes other than running games? What about folks in academia, who don’t want to pay Sony a tithe in order to fully use hardware they purchase on the open market? Should any professor who uses these hacks be subject to arrest and prison? PS3′s seem to be great for clustering, as many have already done it. With and without Sony’s assistance.

How about we stop giving manufacturers false credibility when they tell you what you can, and cannot do with your own private property?

Sure there are benefits, but you have to weigh both the good and the bad, and while I like the points you made, the hack will do far more harm than good.

While I have no love of piracy, framing this as purely a “hackers are evil cause now they can pirate” is somewhat misleading, and a straw man argument when you get down to it. There are legitimate reasons why being able to run unsigned code is important. Think about what the world be like if your PC could only run code signed by Microsoft? Or IBM? Imagine if the original IBM PC were completely locked down? What if Compaq and others had not cloned the spec? Built clean room BIOS?

The machine is locked down to protect the companies business model so the system can remain profitable.

Here we get down to the heart of the issue. Protecting a business model. If you have to protect your business model in this way, I would argue a very simple point: you don’t have a business model.

Print media organizations are trying to protect their business model. The music industry is trying to protect their business model. The movie industry is trying to protect their business model.

Know what’s missing here? None of them are trying to adapt or change their business model based on consumers want and/or needs. In all of human history, its always been easier to stick your fingers in your ears and hum real loud, than actually try to face uncomfortable facts.

DRM almost always results in failure. DVD’s. iPods, iPhones, PS3′s, the XBox, Blu-ray. The underlying thing that everyone is missing with this whole debate is probably the simplest: These companies are trying to apply software standards to hardware. They dont want to sell you anything, they want you to rent. On some score, with the disposable electronics we now have, they have succeeded. However, when it comes to a hard piece of personal property…they want to push the notion that when you take it home, it’s still theirs. That they should dictate how you will, or wont use it. This is, at best absurd. At worst, dangerous and anti consumer.

As a consumer, and a producer I have to see it from both angles. Sure, I want to protect my revenue streams. But I have to balance due diligence with going down the road where the arms race of DRM lies. So I intend to be creative in our approach. I want to protect my business model, and in doing so, that means I have to be ready to adapt. I have to be wary I don’t fall into the trap that has befallen so many industries: the notion that making a profit once entitles you to continue doing so, at all costs.

Robert Heinlen said it best:

There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.