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US copyright law 'forces researchers to explore extra-legal methods' for game preservation, say historians who are 'disappointed' after being denied a DMCA exemption (www.pcgamer.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/pcgaming@lemmy.ca
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[–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I feel like I should know this, as a I've been a pc gamer and extra legal aquirer for several decades... But I'm not actually sure what DRM means?

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  • [–] 12 points 2 years ago

    Digital Rights Management, refers to software or hardware that limits access to something unless the user has authorization/licensing.

    It's why you can't copy someone's game folder from steam and run it, or burn a PS2 disc and play it on an unmodded console.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Well for games it kind of depends on the specific DRM used and how exactly the game utilities it. DRM means digital rights management but there is a wide variety of DRM and ways it's used.

    Some DRM might limit the amount of computers software can be installed on, some might verify the contents to ensure none of the files were changed, some might authenticate with a server before starting up, and some might have kernel level access to read your RAM and log your keystrokes.

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