Seth Purdy at avertlabs.com writes: "The Tuesday release of the much anticipated computer game BioShock has quickly turned up another clash between enthusiastic customers and the interests of publishers and copyright control. Reports indicate that the PC versions of the game, whether purchased on physical DVD media or via the Steam online distribution service, utilize a DRM scheme that limits the number of installations possible with a given license key. [...] The crux of it is this: If, in the end, you need to actually run code or play media content, there will necessarily be a time at which it runs in the original, unprotected form. Although the copyright lawyers may wish it otherwise, it’s a zero-sum game between usability and control. [...] In the case of BioShock it’s not raw media content being decrypted and displayed, but the act of allowing the game to run. At some point, after whatever checks or validation schemes are used, the customer needs to be able to actually play the game. As long as that path leads to the eventual successful launch of the game (all the data and resources needed for it to run are already on the system once it’s installed), it is possible to find a way to circumvent it and cut the DRM controls out of the picture.
