8 things you think you own, but don’t

The rise of digital goods and software-reliant gadgets has thrown a wrench in the contemporary concept of ownership. Here are eight products that, even though you paid for them, aren't entirely yours.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case called Kirtsaeng v. Wiley, which will test the limits of something called the “first sale” doctrine. First sale is the legal doctrine that governs our right to buy, sell, and loan things like CDs, books, DVDs, and any other product that is covered by copyright without first having to obtain permission from the product’s copyright holder.

If the Supreme Court sides with textbook publisher John Wiley and Sons, which sued Thai-born student Supap Kirtsaeng on copyright infringement grounds for buying the publishers books in Thailand and selling them to U.S. college students at a profit, you may no longer be able to freely buy or resell used, copyrighted goods. It could even put a stake through the heart of companies like eBay, Amazon, and Craigslist, all of which deal heavily in the sale of used goods.

Regardless of the outcome of Kirtsaeng v. Wiley, a decision for which is expected in June, there appears to be broad confusion among consumers about what “ownership” really means these days. So, in the spirit of clearing things up, here is a quick rundown of the products that, even though you paid for them, aren’t entirely yours.

Smartphones

While it’s currently legal to buy or sell a used smartphone, the law says you may not necessarily do whatever you like with the device. According to the most recent round of exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) from the Library of Congress, smartphone owners will soon no longer be allowed to unlock their devices for use overseas or with another wireless provider, unless their current carriers give them permission to do so.

Tablets

Unlike smartphones, which may be jailbroken for the purposes of installing apps not approved by the respective app marketplace, tablets are not exempt, according to the new DMCA rules. The reason being: Jailbreaking requires making changes to the device’s firmware, which is currently a copyright violation, at least when tablets are involved. So, why is it allowed for smartphones and not tablets? Two reasons: First, the U.S. government says the definition of a tablet is still too broad to write in an exemption for devices that fall under that name. Second, because tablets are less widely adopted than smartphones, copyright holders were able to convince the government that adding an exemption for tablet jailbreaking would adversely affect the devices.

In short, if you have an iPad, you’re only allowed to install apps from the iTunes App Store. Try to jailbreak it, and you’ve broken the law.

Kindle e-books

If you think you just bought that Kindle e-book, you’d be wrong. You licensed it – a concept everyone needs to be familiar with these days. Amazon’s Kindle Terms explicitly state that “Kindle Content is licensed, not sold,” and that, “you may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense, or otherwise assign any rights to the Kindle Content or any portion of it to any third party.”

The control Amazon has over your Kindle e-book collection came under intense public scrutiny last week after a woman named “Linn” alleged that the company had shutdown her Amazon account and deleted the entire contents of her Kindle e-reader due to some suspicious activity linked to her account. Amazon later stated that “account status should not affect any customer’s ability to access their library.” But Linn is not the only one who has experienced similar loss of access.

Music

Just like e-books, “purchasing” a song on, say, iTunes does not mean you’ve bought the song itself. Instead, you’ve paid for the right to play that song in your personal life (provided your “personal life” doesn’t involve playing songs for large groups of people). Furthermore, it is – believe it or not – against the law to burn a copy of a song you “purchased” onto a CD, or to give a licensed MP3 file to a friend.

In terms of being able to resell music you’ve paid for, things are even more complicated. A company called ReDigi is currently being sued by Capitol Records for giving users the ability to resell their MP3 files, just as used record stores sold, well, used records. This, despite the fact that ReDigi’s technology automatically deletes the seller’s copy of a song or album when it goes up for sale. And no copies of a track are made — the actual file is transferred from one machine to the other, which the company says is a perfectly legitimate way to resell music. Capitol, of course, disagrees.

Movies and TV shows

Movies fall into the same category as music and e-books. As such, making copies of a DVD, or ripping a DVD so you can watch it on a device that does not have an optical drive, are violations of copyright. Now, if you’re copying DVDs on a small scale, just giving a copy to a friend or relative, then there is little chance that you’ll get served with a lawsuit from the MPAA. But not getting caught and being allowed to do something are, as you likely realized by now, two entirely different things.

Oh, and if you’re wondering, the whole “licensed, not sold” thing goes for digital movies purchased through Amazon, iTunes, and other online digital movie marketplaces, too.

Video game consoles

As with tablets, it is perfectly legal (for now) to resell your used Xbox or PS3. What you may not do is mod your video game console (or handheld gaming device) to run an alternative operating system due to copyright on the device’s firmware. Furthermore, jailbreaking your Xbox (or other console) is also forbidden because, according to the Library of Congress, “video games are far more difficult and complex to produce than smartphone applications” and anti-jailbreaking mechanisms are in place to “protect highly valuable expressive works.”

Apps

Don’t even think about trying to give away or resell any of your mobile apps. Not only is this technically difficult, both Google Play and Apple’s iTunes App Store – the two largest online mobile app marketplaces – firmly forbid the reselling of your apps. According to the Google Play terms of service, customers are not allowed to “copy, sell, license, distribute, transfer, modify, adapt, translate, prepare derivative works from, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise attempt to derive source code from” purchased apps. And Apple goes even further, saying that customers may not “rent, lease, lend, sell, transfer redistribute, or sublicense the Licensed Application,” and must “remove the Licensed Application from the Mac Computer or iOS Device” before reselling the device.

Pre-loaded devices

Which brings us to our final item: Pre-loaded devices. Because of the copyright rules governing e-books, movies, e-books, apps and other software, selling a device that already contains these copyrighted items means you would likely be in violation of intellectual property law were you to do so. So if you were thinking about offloading your old iPod with 40,000 songs already on it to your mom’s best friend, just make sure the RIAA doesn’t catch wind of your little scheme, or you could be in hot legal water.

Image via Borys Shevchuk/Shutterstock

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

F1 2012 review: F1 racing made fun again

Codemasters Birmingham looks to deliver the goods with F1 2012, with this year’s rendition focused on pleasing returning fans and newcomers alike.

Another year sees Codemasters making good use of its recently renewed Formula One license. The jet-setting racing sport is certainly growing in popularity while the gaming franchise continues to grow in quality. Like a new year’s model entering the showroom floor, Codemasters Birmingham is keen to show off the improvements it has made over last year’s outing with F1 2012.

This time out we see a number of improvements across the board from previous titles, but more than anything else there seems to be a concentrated effort to make F1 2012 a much more approachable game to newcomers while still keeping the vets satiated. It never reaches the level of accessibility that other genre stalwarts like Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo do, but Codemasters does enough to make F1 2012 a game all racing fans can strap into and enjoy.

The Graphics Can Take a Victory Lap

The first thing you’ll notice about F1 2012 are the impressive graphics afforded to the cars themselves. Codemasters Birmingham has implemented a painstaking level of detail for each car model, and there are times during each race where the line between reality and virtual reality can prove too difficult to distinguish. It’s not just the cars though: F1 2012 features dynamic weather rendering with both light and shadow including their relationship to the varying weather changes, as well as the accurate reflections off surfaces. And for F1 fans and graphics whores, little added detail like being able to spot the different tire types (slick tires, intermediates, full-wets, etc) and things like accumulated gravel, dirt, and mud all add to the visual vibrancy.

During races, you can choose between five different camera modes, with racing mainstays like cockpit and chase views all available. Naturally, the greatest level of detail is afforded to you during the cockpit mode, where everything from the driver’s hand movement to an endless array of controls saturating the steering wheel demand your attention and respect.

While the majority of car and in-car visuals are stellar, where F1 2012 tends to veer off the graphical road is with its surrounding visuals. Before each race you are treated to a brief flyover of each track. These short cinematics are generally great to look at, but belie the visual detail actually encountered during races. There is also a tendency for the pit crews to look a little too stiff and wooden, and the environments to seems off. These elements never detract from the actual gameplay, but they do break up an otherwise vivid and rich F1 experience.

Welcome to the race

Whereas former F1 games have seriously struggled to accommodate newcomers to the fray, F1 2012 does an excellent job of removing that intimidating “super-sim” barrier the series is known for. Right off the bat — and before you can begin your long (and hopefully illustrious) F1 career — you’re tasked with completing a rookie driver’s test in Abu Dhabi. More than anything else, this mode serves as a crash course — not just to the intricate dynamics of an F1 car — but to the overall complexities of the sport. So, say you stare blankly at the mention of KERS or DRS, you’re treated to some easy to digest and helpful videos explaining these two very crucial systems. There are also a number of challenges that need completing as well, which range from simply breaking and bringing your car to a complete stop in a designated area, to maneuvering a rather pesky switchback without veering off the track. It might spark the ire of series vets a bit, but the importance of the tutorial cannot be overstated, and must be completed before playing Career mode.

Once that’s out of the way though, you get to enjoy the bulk of what F1 2012 has to offer. In keeping with the more accessible theme, F1 2012 features Season Challenge, which provides the excitement of a regular F1 season in an abbreviated form. Here you compete in short, five-lap best of three races over 10 Grand Prix weekends. Beat your rival and you get offered a contract to race for that team.

Another new addition this year is “Champions mode.” Here you take on six F1 World Champions: Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Michael Schumacher. Champions mode seeks to add some scripted drama to the game, requiring you to tackle different race scenarios. For example: one scenario has you trying to catch up to and overtake Räikkönen, while another sees you defending your lead from a pesky Hamilton on a rain-soaked track.

While the new modes are a great addition, fans will be disappointed to learn that they come at a price. For 2012, Codemasters Birmingham has removed Grand Prix mode from the equation. That means those not satisfied with guiding their created character through Season mode will have no other recourse than to look to Quick Race in order to play as their favorite F1 star.

Custom character aside, the real meat and potatoes of F1 2012 is the exceptionally fun, and deep, career mode. As mentioned, here you’re charged with guiding your character up the F1 ranks. All in all it’s all fairly straightforward. The more you race and successfully complete your objectives the more recognition you get. The more recognition you get the more top racing teams will pay attention to you – culminating in contract offers and better cars.

Where tactics and track meet

Of course all the pretty graphics, official licenses, and cool new modes in the world won’t make a difference if the driving dynamics and gameplay sucks. Thankfully, that’s simply not the case here. . While many of the cars on the track may look similar to the naked eye, each handles differently, with a personality as varied as the drivers in them. Simply put, F1 2012 delivers on the track. Each car soaks up the various surfaces in a convincing manner, so whether you’re dealing with a gravel, grass, or newly slick surface, the results are remarkably noticeable.

As for being on the track and in the thick of things, F1 is fun, but it’s also very tactical; it demands a greater deal of strategy than most of the other racers out there. Naturally, this might turn off newcomers that would rather turn their brains off and their engines on, but sticking with it, managing your fuel, deciding when to pursue and overtake that driver in front of you, or when to make that crucial pit stop becomes just as rewarding as blazing down a country road in a Ferrari 458 Italia.

For novices and gamers just now getting into the F1 franchise, Codemasters Birmingham have also added some driving aids in the form of a guided racing line (think Forza’s guided visual line and you’re on the right track), brake assist, and an incredibly helpful — if not a little shame-inducing — rewind feature that lets you re-do an embarrassing crash or miscalculated corner – just like in real life!

Of course purists will scoff, but these new and friendlier tweaks help open up F1 to an audience that might otherwise stay away from its sim-racer’s roots. And truthfully that’s good for everyone involved. Plus, as your skill level increases you can always adjust the type or amount of driving assists you want active at any given time. The replay system is a great addition, and one that I may or may not have abused during my time on the circuit…

We touched on this a little bit earlier, but one of the most eagerly anticipated tweaks for F1 2012 is its improved, active and dynamic weather system. As any F1 fan can tell you, weather changes can have a major impact on the racetrack, and F1 2012 manages to mostly simulate this natural phenomena. We say mostly because although Codemasters has done a beautiful and convincing job mimicking nature’s transitory ways, it never truly affects proceedings on the track; coming as more of a shallow visual gimmick than a true game-changer. For instance, many times the rain will set in long before your pit crew even alerts you to the issue. And even then, there is no real noticeable difference between from soaked track on your tires. Given that F1 racing requires just as much planning, strategy, and on-the-fly decision making as it does sharp reflexes and a fast car, it feels like Codemasters has missed a huge tactical opportunity here.

Unfortunately, other inconsistencies emerge on the track as well. F1 might not encourage jostling, bumping, and otherwise unsafe behavior, but that doesn’t mean it never happens. In fact, bump into a car too much or too often and you’re supposed to be given a 10-second time deduction. Where the discrepancy exists, however, is the fact that this isn’t always the case, and the times it did go unpunished were far too frequent for a game that prides itself on delivering the accuracy and realism of the F1 experience.

Conclusion

Despite some of its problems, overall, F1 2012 is a fun game — and really that’s what matters. There is enough substance in the Career mode to keep F1 fans busy for months on end, while the excellent tutorial and broad range of driving assists give newcomers to the franchise a much more forgiving (read: helpful) jumping off point. Of course, if that doesn’t keep you busy, and you desire a challenge of the living, breathing variety, there is always split-screen and online modes to partake in. You and friend (or enemy?) can tackle Championship mode together either online or split screen.

It might veer off the track occasionally, but F1 2012 does a great job recreating the dramatic and tactical F1 experience, while at the same time supplementing the skill and offsetting the time required to truly get into the game. For fans of F1 this is a no-brainer, while racing fans full on Forza, Gran Turismo, and other more mainstream genre leaders would do well to check out this thinkin’ man’s racer.

Score: 8.5

(This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360 on a copy provided by Codemasters)

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com

EA’s Peter Moore says game discs aren’t going anywhere soon

EA's chief operating officer says that packaged goods are going to be part of the games business for a while to come.

EA may see its future in free-to-play PC games but it doesn’t foresee the end of physical games in the immediate future. In fact, despite years of decline in video game retail, EA expects that the impending release of the Xbox 720, PlayStation 4, and even Wii U will revitalize the ailing business of selling games in a store.

The company’s digital revenues grew to $1 billion last fiscal year and it expects that to increase to nearly $2 billion before this year ends. Physical disc sales are still going to pull in the bulk of its revenue though.

“The tipping point will come,” EA chief operating officer Peter Moore told MCV, “But it’s not that packaged is going away, it’s that digital is going up. Let’s not misunderstand this. Our forecast the year is to also do $2.6 billion in packaged goods. So there will be a £40 console game (the UK equivalent of a $60 game in the US), but there will be an iPhone experience and a PC experience too. There is always an opportunity for a Battlefield or a FIFA.”

He’s right. After all, people are actually still buying music CDs and DVDs. The all-digital future is coming, but it won’t be here even in the next five years. What Moore doesn’t address though is how there will be fewer and fewer retail games. Battlefield and FIFA, games that will sell millions of copies, will be available as discs, but will Persona 4 Arena, something that will only sell in the hundred of thousands? Not a chance.

Source : digitaltrends[dot]com