tenney@well.UUCP (Glenn S. Tenney) (02/15/86)
++ line eater ?? ++
I have attached a statement from Tim Mott of Electronic Arts regarding
their position on Software Theft Protection (Copy Protection). This is
at Tim's request and is unedited. Tim is posting this message himself
on CompuServe and the Well, but hasn't yet become familiar with 'rn'.
If I receive any replies, I will forward them to Tim.
-- Glenn Tenney
UUCP: {hplabs,glacier,lll-crg,ihnp4!ptsfa}!well!tenney
ARPA: well!tenney@LLL-CRG.ARPA
Delphi: TENNEY
As Alphonso Bodoya would say... (tnx boulton)
Disclaimers? DISCLAIMERS!? I don' gotta show you no stinking DISCLAIMERS!
-------------------------- cut here ---------------------------
Hello. My name is Tim Mott and I'm responsible for product
development at Electronic Arts. I want to respond to the recent
dicusssions here about our company, products, software theft
protection schemes, profitability, etc. From now on I hope to be
able to participate in these discussions on a more regular basis.
It's difficult for me to spend time on the networks more than
once every one or two weeks, so if you're not getting answers
fast enough, just give me a call at the office.
Regarding software theft protection, let me start by saying that
we have listened to your problems and that we intend to change
our approach.
For new and recent productivity/creativity products (including
Amiga Deluxe Paint), we'll make an unprotected backup copy
available to our customers who send in a registration card that
will also carry a "no-theft" pledge. We're still working out the
details of this, but I wanted you to know that we're committed to
doing it.
Unfortunately, on game products we have no choice but to continue
to use theft protection. We have overwhelming evidence that
software theft is so prevalent that our business, our software
artists and then ultimately our customers will suffer if we
don't. However, we have never used, and never will use, any
scheme that deliberately damages our customer's disk drives or
disks.
Regarding our Amiga products, we have had some problems with some
copies of Deluxe Paint not passing the theft protection signature
check. This situation can arise when the original disk is
written on, which the user is cautioned against doing in the
documentation. However, this problem was understood very soon
after first shipment and has been fixed. If you have a problem
like this with a disk, contact our customer service for a
replacement.
There have also been questions about why some of our Amiga game
products don't load under DOS and Intuition. The answer here is
very simple and has nothing to do with theft protection. It is
that those products, like most game products on all machines,
need as much access to, and control of, hardware resources as
they can get. Without this we simply can't get the kind of
performance we need in these kind of products.
As for company goals and profitability, let me say that we are
committed to providing high quality and innovative product. We
can't do this unless we are viable as a business, which is
currently the case. However, as you'll realize when you consider
the number of companies that have gone out of business, this is a
very difficult industry to succeed in. We're doing what we're
doing because we believe in the future of home computing, and not
because it's a sure fire way to make a lot of money, which it
isn't. Right now according to all the research and tests we've
done and know about, lowering prices will not increase sales
enough to offset the lower prices and enable us to stay in
business. However, as the market for home computers, and then
for home computer software, increases we'll definitely be
lowering our prices.
I hope this has shed some light on what we're about. Be talking
to you more in the future.
Thanks, Tim.
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