Have you ever installed an old game like Oregon Trail or Civilization on your computer, just to relive the memories? Or maybe you’ve transferred music files from one computer to another, created a backup copy of a disc, or played a single-player video game on a computer without an internet connection. Perhaps you enjoy your virus protection program or your CD burning software, and don’t wish for them to be wantonly disabled by errant copy-protection software. These are all relatively run-of-the-mill activities, but at one time or another, various forms of digital rights management (DRM) software have made each one of them impossible.

It may sound alarming, but it’s happening. In an era where technology determines quality of life, attitudes toward ownership are changing, and software companies have, more often than not, refused to adapt. The series of hoops that users must jump through to prove that they legally own a piece of software has created a strange paradox where it’s actually easier to pirate a game than to purchase it.

Recently, the DRM controversy made headlines following the recent release of Will Wright’s long-awaited strategy-simulation game, Spore. Electronic Arts (EA), Spore’s publisher, implemented DRM restrictions that many gamers called “draconian.” Users protested when EA revealed that the game would install on computer hard drives with SecuROM, a form of DRM that limits the user to three installs before the customer has to call EA and ask for another. There are many reasons why a legitimate user could quickly use up their three installs—system reformats, for example. And if EA ever closed down its customer service lines or ceased to exist, the game would ultimately be unplayable.

Similar DRM also plagued a number of other popular video game releases, such as 2K Games’s Bioshock and EA’s Mass Effect. Games released by Sony-BMG and its partners had an even more aggressive form of DRM called StarForce. The DRM left PCs vulnerable to a number of threats, including trojan viruses, and installed drivers that would run in the background on a computer operating system, even when the game wasn’t running.

Eventually, gamers became so frustrated with DRM that when Spore was released, the controversy blew up. Online communities banded together to leave thousands of one-star reviews on Amazon.com, while others rebelled by pirating the game. Consumer Melissa Thomas took matters into her own hands by filing a class action lawsuit against EA, claiming that SecuROM installs secretly, compromises security, and is all but impossible to uninstall. “The consumers have a right to know [about DRM] before they open the box,” says Scott Kamber, Thomas’s lawyer. According to Kamber, although software companies have the right to use DRM, they are obligated to disclose the possible effects of that application and to not jeopardize consumers’ operating systems. EA utterly failed to do both.

There are several forms of DRM that aren’t as restrictive and difficult to deal with. Darren Gladstone, Senior Writer at PC World, wishes most DRM was like Stardock, which makes users register in order to receive patches. “A practical solution is Valve’s Steam,” he adds. “You sign up for an account and buy games online. Those games are attached to your account. Wherever and whenever you want, you can download and play the games.”

Though there are less restrictive DRM alternatives, software tycoons like EA need to protect their products for the sake of business. “Publicly-held publishers, like EA, are beholden to shareholders to protect the products they produce,” says Evan Lahti, associate editor at PC Gamer and PC game enthusiast. “A publisher is in the uncomfortable situation of needing to appease opposite ends of a sale: the consumer, and those that profit from a game’s sale, in addition to helping produce the game itself.”

If DRM continues to punish the honest customers who do purchase a game, it will only get worse. It’s up to giant publishers like Electronic Arts to pave the way for a new type of DRM that will play fair with its consumers, instead of taking away their desire to play.