According to Courthouse News service, a class action lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court against Electronic Arts, seeking compensation for the trouble caused by Spore's overly restrictive DRM (Digital Rights Management) system.
Here is what Courthouse News Service said in full:
Electronic Arts, a leading maker of computer games, defrauds consumers through its "Spore" game, which "completely wipes their hard drive" and replaces it with an undisclosed program that prevents the computer from operating under some circumstances and disrupts hardware operations, a class action claims in Federal Court.
The class claims that "Spore," a virtual reality simulation game, contains "a second, undisclosed program" called SecuROM, a "form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for computer games."
Consumers are not warned about the program, which is installed without notice and cannot be uninstalled, even if the uninstall Spore, the complaint states. The secret SecuROM program is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations," the complaint states.
Plaintiffs demand disgorgement of unjust profits and damages for trespass, interference, unfair competition and consumer law violations.
They are represented by Alan Himmelfarb with KamberEdelson of Vernon, Calif., and New York.
