Gather ’round, children, and let me tell you a story about the old bugaboo we used to call DRM. Digital Rights Management was the beast under every gamer’s bed in the mid-2000s, an invisible bit of software baked into game discs that dictated and tracked player behavior under the guise of preventing piracy. DRM software, like SecuROM, limited the times a game could be downloaded and forced players to regularly connect to the internet for authentication checks, at a time when less than half of American adults had reliable broadband connections. DRM features soured the releases of BioShock, Mass Effect and Spore, and by 2010, anti-piracy software had rendered Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter-Cell: Conviction unplayable. When Microsoft attempted to release the Xbox One with always-on DRM features in 2013, intense vitriol from fans forced the company to reverse its plans at the 11th hour. There were lawsuits. DRM was a curse word. Meanwhile, Valve was building out Steam. When it landed in 2003, the digital PC storefront was designed to streamline the patch process for games like Counter-Strike and make it easier for Valve to implement anti-piracy and anti-cheat measures. Steam was made to be a DRM machine. In 2004, with the release of Half-Life 2, Valve made Steam a requirement for every player, and even those who’d purchased new, physical copies of the game had to boot up the launcher first. There was some low-level grumbling, but PC players were used to being lab rats, and... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-03-04 16:30:21 UTC ]
HarperVoyager has released an enhanced edition of the first book in George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which will include an excerpt from the upcoming sixth book, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the title. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To mark the 20th anniversary of the release of the first book in George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series, 'A Game of Thrones,' Penguin Random House has released an enhanced ebook edition of the title featuring additional content. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition, available through Apple from Thursday, promises ‘a world of additional content’ including sigils, family trees and glossariesGeorge RR Martin has hailed “an amazing next step in the world of books” as he announced publication of a new digital edition of A... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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To properly celebrate the 20th anniversary of George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Game of Thrones, there's a new iBooks edition of the series that offers features to help you keep up with all of the action. The first installment is officially called... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2016-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Introducing Nouwen to a new generation of readers, books by and about the influential Catholic priest are releasing this fall, which marks the 20th anniversary of his death. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An exhibition to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book is to open next year at the British Library. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2016-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twenty years after the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, 2017 show promises ‘a journey to the heart’ of JK Rowling’s storiesIdeally positioned in King’s Cross, just a stone’s throw from the mythical beginning of the journey to Hogwarts on Platform 9 3/4, the British... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An illustrated edition of A Game of Thrones, the first book in George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, will be published to mark the 20th anniversary of the book. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Pura Belpré Award for children and young adult books, which honors Latino writers and illustrators whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino experience, will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the 2016 ALA annual conference. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jacqueline Wilson and Melvyn Bragg are among the names to speak at this year's FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the literary event and will bring together an array of speakers including authors David Baddiel, Liz Pichon, Prince Asfa-Wossen Asserate... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Japanese manga publisher Kodansha has partnered with a San Francisco startup incubator to create Kodansha Advanced Media, which will handle the digital distribution of its manga and non-manga ebook catalog. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Days before Amazon celebrates its 20th anniversary, Authors United is asking authors to sign a letter to the DoJ for an investigation of Amazon, and ABA submitted a similar request on Monday. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dennis Publishing weekly magazine to be handed out for free on Friday in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, Bristol and BirminghamThe Week is to give away 100,000 free copies on Friday to mark its 20th anniversary in the largest sampling campaign the weekly news digest’s history.Copies of the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2015-05-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld is repackaging Kate Atkinson’s backlist to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of Behind the Scenes at the Museum, as well as the release of her latest novel, A God in Ruins (May, £20). All of Atkinson’s backlist, including the Jackson Brodie series, will be repackaged... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Issuu, a digital distribution and reading platform, has launched a new iOS app and announced a partnership with national literacy organization Jumpstart. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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German publisher Bastei Lubbe is the latest overseas publisher to use digital distribution to enter the U.S. market. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The gay lifestyle magazine Attitude was launched in 1994 and to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the editor Matthew Todd, who says it feels serendipitous that Attitude turns 20 just as people of the same sex can begin marrying in England and Wales, has picked some of his favourite covers from... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Though its headquarters building rises 46 stories over Central Park, and though its biggest magazine franchise, Cosmopolitan, sells more than a million copies on newsstands every month, Hearst Corp. is still, in some ways, little known to the general public. Certainly few people would guess that... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2013-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As USA Today celebrates the 20th anniversary of its bestseller list, the organization says romance novels, children's books, and inspirational books defined the last two decades of reading. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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McLean, Va. – USA TODAY celebrates the 20th anniversary of the USA TODAY Best-Selling Books list, crowning not one, but three No.1 books for three different eras that reflect the changes in publishing over the past two decades. Given ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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