EA tell Spore video game players - We're sorry for DRM

The consumer is always right. Electronic Arts, stung by a siege of criticism from gamers who took issue with the copyright restrictions the company placed on its Spore game, this morning issued an apology and said it would loosen the electronic locks on the game.

Spore, one of the most hotly anticipated computer games of the decade, was released two weeks ago after more than six years of development.

"We've received complaints from a lot of customers who we recognize and respect," said Frank Gibeau, president of EA's Games Label, the division responsible for Spore. "We need to adapt our policy to accommodate our legitimate consumers."

Trying to avoid widespread unauthorized copying of Spore, EA had restricted, to three, the number of computers on which players could install the game. But buyers chafed at the limit imposed by the digital rights management policy.

They complained that the Redwood City, Calif., company didn't adequately disclose the policy and that it treated them all like software pirates. Some customers also said the policy failed to recognize that players often upgrade their computers and need to migrate their software to new machines.

Read more here on the LA Times web site...