[TxTom]

It is possible to remove SecureROM from a machine without much trouble. They provide a removal tool themselves. But if you remove it, the games requiring it to be installed will not run.
I, for one, (and apparently one among many), will not fork over a single cent to a company with such disdain for their customers.

[Rhywun]

folklore said:

it'd be nice to know if the trojan installs on Macs

Yeah, I would like to know that too. I've already installed it on my Mac.

And for the record, "5 installations" is simply unacceptable. I only bought it on the assumption that EA would get their act together under massive pressure from the public and eventually remove this limitation.

[Immeral]

"...And while it's easy to discount the noise from those who only want to post or transfer thousands of copies of the game on the Internet..."
I love this reason! A cracked version of Spore was available BEFORE you could even buy the game (I think it beat it by a day). So in essence it did nothing to stop piracy and is now just a hindrance to legitimate customers. As a matter of fact... the pirated version is the better version because it doesn't have any restrictions.
Now I am not against some basic levels of protection (serial numbers checked during net play, cd required, initial install check, etc.) to discourage casual piracy which is a minor inconvenience. But root kits, limited installs, no clean up after uninstalls, etc. does nothing but hurt paying gamers. Pirates are going to crack the game no matter how hard a DRM system is. I hope that EA and other game companies figure this out soon.

[Peter Cohen]

SecureROM is supported on the Mac, at least for "Ciderized" games like Spore.

[DisabledTrucker]

This is why I quit buying EA games a while back, I was sick and tired of their illegal practices of bait and switch as well as this illegal crapware they call DRM being installed on my systems! Good riddence to EA!

[Wondercow]

Hurley42 said:

>Did you have to contact Amazon's customer support? Their return policy says they only take returns of unopened items. I have opened my Spore DVD, but have not installed it yet. I would LOVE to be able to return this expensive spyware.

You may also be able to contest the charge through your credit card. I don't know if it'd work, but you can always make the claim that by using the purchase you'd be harming you system.

[folklore]

Peter Cohen said:

SecureROM is supported on the Mac, at least for "Ciderized" games like Spore.

Thanks, Peter.

Can we get a story on how SecureROM works under OSX, exactly what it does, if there's any indication to the user that it's installed, how to remove it, etc?

[griffman]

It's on the Mac version of Spore as well. The tech has been ported to the Mac for a while:

I'm not sure if Spore is the first SecuROM Mac game or not...
-rob.

[dan55304]

Hurley42 said:

Did you have to contact Amazon's customer support? Their return policy says they only take returns of unopened items. I have opened my Spore DVD, but have not installed it yet. I would LOVE to be able to return this expensive spyware.

First I filled out a return request. Then I emailed CS and asked for confirmation they would allow me to return it. I stated that it was opened and installed but didn't want it because of the DRM. They said I could return it and sorry for the inconvenience.

Just to make sure, I'll probably ask for a second confirmation. I will include the email with my return.

[Grapho]

I was thinking about buying this game. Not anymore.

[mac_savant]

Here's my favorite part:

Quote

"We've received complaints from a lot of customers who we recognize and respect"

vs. the millions they detest and loathe.

[Steve_S]

TxTom said:

I, for one, (and apparently one among many), will not fork over a single cent to a company with such disdain for their customers.

Yeah, it's sad, but the only way to send the message is with our wallets. While I do want to support companies for bringing their products to Macs, I feel it's more important to reject DRM if possible. I've purchased a few of the initial Mac products from EA, but I'll also skip Spore unless DRM is removed. One would think they would realize that a DRM free hacked version will be available shortly if it isn't already. Likewise, they're not stopping people from pirating their products, they're only annoying their legitimate customers and alienating "would be" customers.

[XSporeMaster]

I am the X SporeMasterRob who you are talking about. I only did what the Maxis team told me in response to DRM threads and the like.

Now they get negative feedback they remove me and put the blame on me. My thread is over on the official forums under my member name mysporpage

http://forum.spore.c.../list/5168.page
Looks like EA screwed me over big time and I am one person not the Evil Empire!

Signing off
X SporeMasterRob

[ffistometer]

SecureROM can cause problems on 'regular Macs' I'm affraid.

A couple of freinds of mine have Sony music CDs they had to replace, they had the SecureROM crap on them, popped it into their Macs thinking they'd be safe there, imported the music into iTunes. Next time they started up their Mac it wouldn't boot.

Startup with a bootable external drive, internal hard disk didn't mount. Managed after HOURS of work, sweat and toil to get most of their data back.

Just to be sure, when reformatted and reinstalled, put the 'offending' Sony CD back in, imported into itunes and rebooted - guess what. Boot failure AGAIN! One on a Mac Mini CoreDuo, on on a white iMac g5 'ambient light'

As I stated before, I won't be buying Spore in ANY format UNTIL this issue is SORTED!