EA facing new anti-DRM lawsuits

via Computer and Video Games


EA is facing new class-action lawsuits over the company's alleged implementation of the controversial SecuROM Digital Rights Management software.

Following the news in September that a Maryland resident, Melissa Thomas, filed a suit against EA for keeping the installation of SecuROM a "secret", Gamepolitics reports that two similar lawsuits were filed against EA in October.

Pennsylvania resident Richard Eldridge claims that the free trial edition of Spore Creature Creator had installed SecuROM on his PC without his knowledge or permission. The suit argues that "the inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed constitutes a major violation of computer owners' absolute right to control what does and what does not get loaded onto their computers".

The suit also emphasises how SecuROM cannot be fully uninstalled, and that there is no warnining of the program within EA's software liscence agreement.

The second suit was filed on behalf of Missouri resident Dianna Cortez, who claims EA had implemented the inclusion of SecuROM on her copy of Sims 2 expansion; Bon Voyage. The suit claims that Cortez, a self-procliamed avid Sims fan, began to experience PC problems as soon as she installed the expansion pack.

"She had previously made backup Sims 2 game content on CDs," says that suit, "but her computer's disc drive would no longer recognize that content, reporting the CDs as empty. She could not access files that were saved on her USB flash drive or iPod, either." Cortez went on to claim that she was only able to get rid of SecuROM by reformatting her PC, and accuses EA's alleged practice as "immoral, unethical, oppressive [and] unscrupulous."