If you're an EU citizen and you hate DRM and planned obsolescence, here's an easy petition for you to sign:
https://www.stopkillinggames.com/eci
TL;DR: If online-only DRM servers shut down, publishers would be required to keep your game working regardless.
Only targets video games because that is where this practice is by far the most prevalent today, but it would set a precedent that we might soon need for things like phones, cars, and all the other things that are increasingly getting CPUs shoved inside them.
1 year to reach 1 million signatures.
@siguza Alright, but this is very broad. Will I have to port my MS-DOS games forever to new operating systems when this goes through to "leave them in a functioning state"?
Should be more specific, I'll pass.
@sos @siguza Thanksfully this isn't a legal text ready to be ratified, it's the outline of a petition that, if it gathers enough vote, enables the proposers to engage in a bilateral dialog with the EU commission.
There's no sense in nitpicking wording at this stage, as the intent is quite clear, especially if you've been following the campaign all along.
(see https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works_en )
@q3k @siguza I truly understand the intent behind this but it has not been worder clear enough.
If this wording is what is to be presented behind the EC, then I'm absolutely not signing this.
It goes on to be very specific on the codes and laws but leaves out a lot of questions about the actual demands. What about free games? What about online-only games? What about dead platforms?
For now this only says I will have to do extra work on my old forgotten games.
@sos @q3k @siguza The annex provides some clarification. It's still somewhat vague, but EU petitions usually are. Even if the petition provided details, EU commission/parliament/council wouldn't have to adhere to those details during their lawmaking processes.
But yes, I hope the organizers or some NGOs will be included in the process and will explain the petition's goal to EU officials.
