It really is a big move, since it likely cost them millions in early sales.

I probably would have bought it already if I couldn’t find a crack, but now I can pirate and wait for a nice sale.

I’m sure I’m not the only one.

You can just click the checkbox for “Copy crack to install directory” to get the installer to do everything for you.

I’m not sure why that isn’t the default.

Do you keep the game if you get the “Deluxe Upgrade” on GamePass? Or do you have to keep paying the subscription if you want to play?

Which GPU did you get?

And also, the “early access” is just a way to get people to pay more for the game in the first week.

By all reasonable standards, the game has been fully released.

“Pre-ordering piracy”… What does that even mean?

deleted by creator

I don’t know why you’d want to rent the game if you’ve already got the cracked copy, but I would be surprised if the save files were any different between the two platforms.

WinAeroTweaker will let you decide what junk you want to disable.

I mean, illegal online transactions are like the one place where crypto really shines.

Eh, I would support blocks on that. [Porn]

Okay, so lets build all the infrastructure and technology to block porn in the most effective way possible.

And I pinky winky promise to never use that technology to silence my political opponents.

Just think of the children.

And the thing is, there are open source internet browsers that can be written to avoid any browser checks that a law might require.

However, if Google’s browser DRM gets widely implemented, a browser-side content blocker would be effective, because all those open source browsers would be unable to access the wider web.

I think if Big Brother Browser with Google DRM is our future, we’re going to see people using 2 browsers as standard. They’ll have one “corporate” internet browser, for Instagram, Amazon, whatever. And one “free” browser for all the grey area stuff.

Twitter was already struggling with nearly unfettered access to every internet-connected user. (sans heavily censored countries)

If Musk cut off 25%-50% of users, the platform, which relies on eyeballs seeing advertisements, would certainly spiral into oblivion.

That is legitimately a problem.

For some reason, YouTube’s algorithm heavily favors extremist content if you show even a casual interest in related material.

It’s probably as simple as “shocking content gets more clicks”, but still, it’s not good for our society to have entertainment platforms recommending extremist views.

In the old days, you’d have to seek out this kind of fringe content on your own. And you’d get pushback from your community if you started talking nonsense.

Nowadays, my aunt is getting blasted with reptilian democrat stuff after showing an interest in typical conservative lady content years ago. And there is not much of a community left to help her out. The algorithms just amplify all the worst shit.

I don’t remember details but essentially it was decided (in some court, somewhere, i guess) that linking to illegally copied material was also illegal.

This proposed change has been discussed in congress, but big tech is fighting it hard, as it would make moderation of social media very expensive and/or restrictive. Basically, certain parties want to hold platforms legally responsible for the content they host, even if that content was posted by users.

It would make it nearly impossible to legally operate a FOSS platform like Lemmy. Fortunately for us, it’s one of the few areas where the interests align for both big tech and the common man.

IRC the new loophole became encoding the link to what ever you wanted to copy, for example as base64.

Base64 encoding is not a legal loophole, it’s a method to avoid automated content filters on platforms like Reddit and Discord. Encoding a link in base64 offers no legal protections.

The real danger behind Chat Control and similar measures, is that countries won’t even have to utilize parallel construction anymore. No longer will dragnet surveillance mostly target the big guys. They’ll be able to basically automate prosecution of any crime that they desire.

Think about how many little slices have been taken out of our freedom pie over the last 10 years. How many similar dystopian laws have passed despite our outrage?

Technology is outpacing our ability to protect ourselves, and countries will keep pushing boundaries until nothing is left sacred.

Oppression never sleeps.