CD Projekt - Going Medieval On Pirates

According to Eurogamer CD Projekt is taking a harder stance on pirates. They're signing with legal firms and torrent sneaking companies to go after anyone who downloads The Witcher 2 illegally. They say that people who download it illegally can expect a letter from a legal firm and not just some warning letter telling the pirates to stop, but imposing a fine right away. You can read the whole article here:

"Of course we're not happy when people are pirating our games, so we are signing with legal firms and torrent sneaking companies," CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski said. "In quite a few big countries, when people are downloading it illegally they can expect a letter from a legal firm saying, 'Hey, you downloaded it illegally and right now you have to pay a fine.' We are totally fair, but if you decide you will not buy it legally there is a chance you'll get a letter. We are talking about it right now."

"I'm sure you've heard about stories in the US when recording companies were chasing people. We don't want to be so harsh, but there is a chance that this might happen to some people if they download illegally. There will be an initiative."

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Source: Neoseeker
Thanks to Chautemoc for bringing this to my attention.
More information.

I say nail the suckers if they can. Neoseeker mentions that CD Projekt is probably a bit nervous over releasing a major title without any DRM at all. I don't blame theml, but I hope they don't go broke trying to wage this battle.

Wow, I'm not actually sure I agree with this (For once).

I think there's probably two reasons why people download a game illegally. Firstly, they're a cheap git. Secondly, they want to try the game. If CDProjekt are going to supply a demo for TW2, then fine, I'll agree with them, but it still strikes me as a bit of a dick move on their part.

I don't know, truth be told. I think this could easily backfire on CDP and make them look bad. If the fine is pretty small ($100, perhaps) then maybe it won't, but I think it's possibly a sign of CDP getting too big for their boots already.

Dwagginz said:

Wow, I'm not actually sure I agree with this (For once).

I think there's probably two reasons why people download a game illegally. Firstly, they're a cheap git. Secondly, they want to try the game. If CDProjekt are going to supply a demo for TW2, then fine, I'll agree with them, but it still strikes me as a bit of a dick move on their part.

I don't know, truth be told. I think this could easily backfire on CDP and make them look bad. If the fine is pretty small ($100, perhaps) then maybe it won't, but I think it's possibly a sign of CDP getting too big for their boots already.

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So from your perspective CDProject is being evil for going after people who pirate their game? What would you have them do? Smile and say hope you enjoy it?

Dwagginz said:

Wow, I'm not actually sure I agree with this (For once).

I think there's probably two reasons why people download a game illegally. Firstly, they're a cheap git. Secondly, they want to try the game. If CDProjekt are going to supply a demo for TW2, then fine, I'll agree with them, but it still strikes me as a bit of a dick move on their part.

I don't know, truth be told. I think this could easily backfire on CDP and make them look bad. If the fine is pretty small ($100, perhaps) then maybe it won't, but I think it's possibly a sign of CDP getting too big for their boots already.

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I understand the demo angle to some extent, but still not sure it is a real defense.

What they could do is instead of imposing some fine, basically say 'you have 2 weeks to purchase or produce evidence of purchase of the game or the fine is XXXX.' That way if some one downloaded it to try it out and bought it, then they are clear, but if someone just stole it, they either have to go buy it or they face a hefty fine.

Of course, that doesn't help the people that try it and don't like it.

I'm sure they are nervous, but if the game is a good game, they will still suceed, regardless of piracy. Look at how well Sins of a Solar Empire did and it had no DRM at all.

Well I also think this is a wrong move for CDProject.

I think they should not act as be the one who should be on the front line battle with piracy, as they have nothing to be afraid of!

They made Witcher 1 which was big success considering they were not known at that time.

So far Witcher 2 looks good and will sell great! This is one of the rare games that is exclusively developed for PC and PC community will support it by buying it for sure. I will (if it is good and not dumbed down shit)

Furthermore, I can say that if game doesn't have demo, i will download it to see if it is good. If not I will for sure not play it and not buy it. No harm done.

Example 1: Gothic 4. They offered demo, I saw that it is not for me and didn't buy it/pirated it.

Example 2: Neverwinter Night's 2. No demo, I downloaded torrent, great game (for me), Now I have Evil and Good collector edition plus both expansion ...

Example 3: (there are many examples here) Black Ops. No demo, I downloaded torrent, saw it is crap, deleted......

I say again, "NAIL THOSE SUCKERS!!!"

They are the reason I have to deal with DRM. That fact alone gives me absolutely no sympathy for anyone who "demos" the game by downloading the full version. We do not own these games. If CDP wants to give a demo then fine, if they don't then people who are interested in the game need read a review before they buy it.

From what I can gather the fine will be more than the cost of the game, but I wouldn't expect insane amounts.

Burn them all! Buuuurn the witches!

If it could identify the right people - fine. However there is a reason it is unenforceable in the UK. The IP address does not tell you which person in the household downloaded the file, and a "household" can't be charged with an offence. Even in the case of a single person household, there is, as stated in the article, the possible issue of networks being hijacked by an outside party.

There are numerous cases of bewildered old giffers getting these kind of letters when they can barely find the "on" switch on their computer, let alone download a torrent.

Yay, a Medieval Pirates Game !

The next competition to Sid Meyer's Pirates !

Nathanyl said:

So from your perspective CDProject is being evil for going after people who pirate their game? What would you have them do? Smile and say hope you enjoy it?

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No, of course not. I don't think CDProjekt are evil, I'm saying I believe that this move could make them look bad. The fines have to be high enough to dissuade pirates but reasonable enough so that they don't look like dicks.

That said, I'm guessing this only affects novice or reckless pirates. I can't imagine the more experienced ones falling prey to this.

blatantninja said:

Look at how well Sins of a Solar Empire did and it had no DRM at all.

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Didn't Sins use Impulse? I'm sure I had to tie my copy to Impulse after a certain update.

Yea, Dwagginz, I remember that case in the UK where a mother was charged a ton of money for some game she downloaded. That was insane and even I thought they went too far on that one. Keep it a reasonable amount so no one can go to the press and scream bloody murder, but still give them the fine. They go pay and bam it's done. If they don't welll.

Here's hopefully what they will be doing and this is the part that concerns me. They'll send out these letters with a $100 fine or a little more than that. The people fight it in the courts and CDP loses a lot of money just trying to collect on this money. If they break even with legal costs then it's well worth the effort, but if they don't then….well I hope they do break even

It's time these companies took a stand and instead of using DRM went after the pirates themselves not us the paying customer. If this works as well as they hope and as I hope this could actually be a way to dissaude people from torrentinting current PC games just to demo them or not. Anything has got to be better than DRM that's so bad you can't even play Avernum from GamersGate.


~This message has been brought to you by "Rats"…..Rats the noblest of beasts when compared to pirates.

I disagree with this move and am reconsidering my preorder now. I don't pirate games, but I also don't recognize some legal firm's authority to issue fines, especially without some kind of due process. I would tell them to go shove their fine and letter.

Fight the power huggy! While we still live in the land of DRM, but you go ahead and fight it.

Heh, Skaven. Nah, that's too tiring for this old monkey. Maybe I just won't buy the game if it looks too "streamlined" after it comes out.

Good luck on that CDProject.Pirates will always win and find a way.For all the people who have zero knowledge just don't use a public tracker.Joining a private tracker has saved me trouble of getting a letter because of public torrent scanners.I'm not kidding I downloaded a 7 year old game and a got a letter from my isp.Allow me to wear my pirate hat I have and will pirate in the future not counting the games and movies I buy.If I love your games I will purchase them if I dont oh well.Let the lambasting begin on how I'm a immoral man and how dare I pirate.At least I dont make excuses when a game bombs its always piracy.Right never made a bad game have they.I will purchase witcher 2 though the company showed they care about there fans.

This is an experiment of theirs and it's a big one. This is just me talking here, but you can see it as plain as day. They are trying another approach to getting rid of DRM(about damn time too.) No one has done anything other than load up more DRM). First by offering it up without any DRM and then (I hope), by sending out tiny fines to people who downloaded it. The key here is they need to keep the fines just a bit over the price of the game. Not too much, but not too little either. People have got to start taking responsibility for their actions and stealing a game is stealing no matter how people word it.

Even with that said the single biggest issue I have with this is the fact THAT IT AFFECTS ME!!! I'm the one who has to deal with this DRM crap. So for the love of god please just go read a review or buy it instead of stealing it (or "demoing" it). I would like to see more games offered without DRM from CDP.

@Couchpotatoe Ahh you are pirate type #3. The one who doesn't give a crap. Out of all the pirates you are the kind I like best. That puts you just above cockroaches, but at least you don't try to make excuses.

But you see Couchpotatoe, they are not going after hardcore pirates. They're going after the people who just know how to use torrent sites. The average Joe. They don't know how to hide and will get caught. If they can lesson the numbers of AJ users downloading their game for free then maybe it might help. Maybe not. All I know is I'm glad they are finally trying something different. Releasing a major game with NO DRM and then hiring lawyers is definitely something new

skavenhorde said:

Fight the power huggy! While we still live in the land of DRM, but you go ahead and fight it.

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There is a rather strong hint of "guilty until proven innocent" in the air, though, wouldn't you say? This isn't a case of courts issuing fines so I'm not sure what legal authority will be supporting this drive. Presumably, it's across national borders, so not only would it require legal authority, but we'd seem to be in the rainbows and unicorns land of international legal action.

Just out of curiousity, where will these fines go?

I'm certainly no friend of the pirates, but this plan seems a few minutes in the oven short of even half-baked.

At this point DTE, I don't give a rats ass if it is or isn't. They have the technology to track down these guys then they need to start using it.

Let me put it to you this way. A collegue of mine asked me the other day "WHY I had bought Dragon Age when I could of got it for free?" This is a friend of mine who barely knows anything about computers and he thinks it's totally A OK to just get anything you want off the net. Bullshit! Fine those suckers. Make it like a parking ticket. If your IP gets caught downloading an illegal file well then here's a $100 ticket.

Let me clarify something: I am only talking about new releases or current games. If there are games out there that are no longer on the market then I see nothing wrong with getting them. If and when they become available again then that's a whole different story. Call me a hypocrite if you like. I don't care, but abandonware and pirating software that is currently being sold are two separate issues to me. Try finding a game for the C64 at your local store. You'll never find it

And with this I leave you guys to debate this further it's 2 am here and I got to go. I see no problems with it, but I also see that this is going to be one slippery slope they are climbing. It's just nice to see SOMEONE trying something new instead of just talking about the issue.

I thought they were releasing it on GOG without any kind of DRM whatsover?
Can't you then give a copy to anyone you like? Isn't that what Good Old games advertises? They sell a game without drm and then expect people not to share it?

What did I miss in the discussion?

TO: As Adam alluded to, our DRM-free approach means that GOG’s games are just really user-friendly in terms of the buying and installation process. You don’t need a special client to run the games and you can re-download and install the game on as many PCs as you want.

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