XBOX DRM policies reversed

It is important to protect intellectual property rights. Otherwise, if there are no protections for intellectual property, there is no incentive for profit seeking businesses to risk their resources and capital.

This policy was not communicated well, and it ended up being too restrictive. Most users have Internet connectivity, so the policy that states the XBOX One must ping back was not that big a deal (unless you have a console that has been modded). The used game policy, in contrast, was a big deal. Some gamers plan on buying a favored title, winning it, and then selling it so that they can subsidize their game playing habits. The new policies would have affected this strategy because some games would not be able to trade titles at all (depends on the publisher) without the purchaser paying a fee to activate content.

This attempt at changing the relationship between the gamers, publishers, and the console manufacturer is too much too soon. It also played into Sony’s hands. Great move reversing course, but the policy should have been better planned, better executed (value price proposition should have included more value), or it should not have been announced at all.

http://www.techhive.com/article/2042445/microsoft-reverses-policies-on-xbox-one-rentals-online-check-ins-and-region-restrictions.html