Do you really support CDProjekts alliance with corporate copyright trolls?
 

http://torrentfreak.com/drm-free-wit…irates-111207/

Really, do you?

This is worse than DRM, how can you turn a blind eye to it?

Basically I want to say that I support this action (if I understood it correctly, based on IP addresses or whatever cdprojekt can pinpoint exactly who pirated the game over torrent sites). However, IIRC, european comitee of whatever banned even the theoretical possibility of providers controlling or spying on internet users!
Also note here that torrents, despite what ppl think, are not the primary pirating media. It's filesharing services (rapidshare, filefactory, megaupload, thousands of those) and I don't believe those sites will give away any data just like that as it'd be bad for business.

In the end I don't see CDprojekt will succeed in this effort at all. Instead, someone should make them another suggestion.
In my country there is a certain gaming portal and today they've brought the news that the game Serious Sam 3, if pirated, sometime the middle of the game, randomly, an unkillable frog appears and chases you all over the place, annoys you with it's pathetic damage but won't quit till you're dead. This was supposedly reported as a bug on the official SS3 site (dunno if all of it is true, I'm not playing it as I'm not into FPS genre), and then ppl discovered that it's not a bug but a "hidden feature", hehe
Anyway, who didn't bought SS3 but pirated it, got what he deserved. Either now they'll buy the game or will never pass the "deadly frog of doom". Even if that frog is removed by cracking the game, who guarantees there is not another unkillable butterfly later in the pirated game? :)

Now imagine if all who pirated The Witcher 2 were attacked by an unkillable drowner you just can't escape from in the middle of the game?
With that strategy against piracy, who needs DRM?

In any case, I've written in another thread, The Witcher 2 is not only one of the greatest games ever but also doesn't contain DRM (after patching it). And instead of supporting developers who didn't turn to lame Ubisoft schemes, ppl are pirating it. Unbelievable.

EDIT:
Sorry it's not a frog, it's a scorpion and there is a video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e91q5…layer_embedded

I'll never support CDProjekt financially while they're sending blind harassment letters to people based on something as flimsy as IP addresses. That's repugnant behavior. It's the same behavior that turned everyone against the music industry. They don't deserve a penny from me. They're bigger crooks then their targets.

If there is no DRM people will always find another "excuse" to pirate.

If they don't have proof of someone pirating a game, that person will never be forced to pay anyway, so if they should by mistake get a letter, why worry? If they can get the proof from the ISP who it was and that person get sentanced they deserve it……. so I don't see what the problem is….

I agree with the OP.

Well, you entirely missed the point, which is that they cannot pinpoint pirates "exactly" by the IP. There is, to quote the article, "collateral damage" just by relying on IP address technology, but in addition this can also be caused by people who intentionally hijack open wifi networks to pirate stuff. I personally know of three instances of this happening (although without legal repercussions to the individuals involved) and I assume this behavior is rampant in student dormitories and university campuses.

That CDP has used this technique earlier for TW1 is quite interesting and showing of their corporate ethics. To me it has become quite clear in the recent years that CDP is a company of dubious quality. They tend to overhype their games akin to Oblivion-era Bethesda, but get very little flak for it. They sell games with "illegal" cracks made by the very same pirates they pursue and pull ridiculous marketing stunts. That they hypocritically portray themselves as a beacon of hope for a DRM-free industry while using such questionable measures, is just one flaw among many.

I suspect that CDP's policies and their behind-closed-doors ethics were one of the real reasons behind Tomasz Gop's departure, as he seemed to be a genuinely passionate gamer.

That said, I still bought TW2 earlier today for the reduced price. Although I have to admit that I would have considered the purchase more if I had known of this earlier, as I can be quite adamant about issues like this.

I have no issues with their practices. They offered it DRM free and people still chose to pirate. Sure, some people get caught up in these 'sweeps' but 9 times out of 10 its because the person was dumb enough to leave their Wi-Fi open to any connection.

There is no absolute proof for pirating. It's all circumstantial and to disprove claims like this is fairly time consuming and annoying. There is also the issue of one's privacy that inevitably gets invaded by such a claim.

The thing is a lot of people (at least in Germany) pay up if they got involved in an Internet scam, even though the "contract" they have signed is not legally binding because of "dishonest business practices". For the simple reason that they want to have peace of mind on the issue. So to assume that most people would just let it rest and be willing to live with the annoyance of an impending court case, is just unrealistic. And it certainly is not out of the question that at a least a portion of these unjustly accused would pay up.

So to prey on the technologically unsavvy or as you put it "dumb" is acceptable business practice for you? God bless, America.

Even my parents, who are techno-idiots, figured out how to enable the encryption on their wi-fi. The vast, vast majority of people getting those notices are pirates though (or someone living in the household is).

If people didn't pirate, would anyone have to worry about these threats? Put the blame where it belongs, those that think they have the right to something they have not paid for.

Oh and now if "the letter" went to a wrong address it's a scam everyone who receives a letter is forced to pay for?
I for certain wouldn't pay. I have retail TW1 and GOG's TW2 and they can send me thousands of letters for all I care. Even if I didn't buy both of them I would still refuse to pay since I didn't pirate them. And there is no court that would make me to pay for something I didn't do. But I still won't say CDprojekt is doing a bad thing. They're fighting against thievery, if they want to check on me, good, fine by me.

Joxer, your reading comprehension skills are fantastic. You posted two times, and two times you entirely missed the point of the post you referred to.

It's a statistically provable fact that people (maybe it's an exclusively German phenomenon, altough I doubt it) tend to pay up for these scams, because the threat of a letter from court scares the hell out of them. If you think you would be unaffected by a similar situation, you are simply being dishonest with yourself.

So a company using scumbag business tactics is okay, because pirates behaved like dicks first?

I tend to agree they shouldn't stoop to the same levels as pirates to get what they think ought to rightfully be theirs. It doesn't sound like it would really hold up anyway. But it certainly is a different way to try and tackle the problem. It doesn't really matter much to me, I wanted to reward them for releasing the game DRM free, so I bought it on Gog when it was released (as well as the Witcher Enhanced, despite owning a physical copy of it already). I haven't even beat the Witcher yet and I don't plan to play the Witcher 2 until after I am finished with the first game.

If a lot of people in Germany pays up if they got involved in an Internet scam, they need to learn. It is as simple as that. Internet Scams increase by the day and becomes more and more common. Most of the time your money goes to criminals, who can use it to increase their crime syndicate.

So if they run out of money by paying CDProjekt it is actually much better than the money ending up in the pockets of criminals, and they can be used for a good cause making an even better the witcher game.

Yeah, really, I do.

Because your propaganda is no better than theirs?

No DRM on one hand and going after the pirates on the other? Absolutely. I think it is a great idea. I don't think they'll be able to get the hard core pirates this way but if nothing else it might work as a deterrent to the on-and-off pirates.

Well, isn't that convenient …

Good. Perhaps once you've proven that it wasn't you, you'll be more careful about letting some "stranger" use your network without you knowing it.

There are indeed many grey areas about how to combat piracy properly but it quite frankly makes me sick constantly having to listen to arguments akin to how it is better to let a rapist molest the entire female population of a tow than to falsely accuse (a later acquit) the wrong person.

This may not be the best way to combat piracy but at least it is a message that says: "No! Piracy is NOT Ok, so stop doing it!"

Show me a better, realistic solution.

Yup, I fully support CDProjects course in this. They offered a great game, DRM free. It was rapidly available for sale, too. Anybody who still pirates such a game deserves to be made aware that he is stealing.

Normal behaviour. All bigger publishers do it, and most smaller ones too. They routinely send out 10.000s C&Ds every years, each of them accompanied by an invoice.

If your stupid enough to not know how to use the tools available to block these tactics your an idiot. There are a few free tools and paid vpn services you can use.

Its just not because of torrents it's to protect your isp number from being used by others.

I wonder why they are focusing on Germany for this action?

Probably due to legal jargon here compared to Germany. Don't worry though if the new bill SOPA passes congress the us will assume control of the internet.

Here is a link if anyone is interested or doesn't know about.
Link-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Apparently every internet user is a pirate if it passes. Just watching youtube videos will make you one.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/p…png?1321411281

How did I miss this? :)
Thanks on the compliment. ;)

The reason for this is, that the german law has some sort of "hole" towards those letters demanding money for a possible violation of copyrights. The german law strongly favors the party sending such letters. The recipient of such a letter has very few options to fight such a claim, without eventually paying much more money in total - that's what's lead to a whole industry in Germany doing nothing else but sending these letters. There are single lawyers who have thousands of these things sent per year and they make millions this way. CDProjekt obviously knows this and they want their piece of the cake.
The copyright lobby is very powerful in Germany as well, so there is little hope that this intimidation tactic will end anytime soon.
Anyway, yes - just for being part of this despicable technique, I can't say I still like CDP as much as I used to.

http://kotaku.com/5875574/cd-projekt…acy-witch+hunt

Well, good on them. I still have qualms with the content of their games and find it hilarious that they sell scene-originated cracks on GOG (proving they like pirates just a little), but at least they got their head on straight in this matter. :)

Yay: here another article from Rock Paper Shotgun

Splendid: CD Projekt To Stop Legal Threats

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012…legal-threats/

So what now? CD-project just have to put up and smile at people pirating? Wring their hands and say "please don't, we really love you, please love us back"? How about RPS develop some ideas on that, for a change? They claim they are not defending piracy, but in effect, they do exactly that.