Hi guys, it's my first post here though I've been lurking for a while. I'd like to add my thoughts on the DRM issues.
Microsoft says they want DRM because of the digital library and, consequently, piracy issues since you can throw away a disc after you install a game. In other words - what will stop you from giving the disc to somebody else after installing.
If you're familiar with PC games, you know that a retail game you buy has an activation code. Same with many network passes/DLC incentives and all that stuff on consoles. You should also know that every time you enter such a code, it's used and gone. Nobody else will be able to use it, hence add a game/content to their library.
This is a model Steam follows on the technical level (in legal terms they're a rental service but that's another story). This is the model current gen consoles follow with additional downloadable content and digital purchases. It doesn't matter if it comes down your ethernet/wifi or from a disc. It's really not important on the technical level.
So my question is - why does X1 require connection every 24 hours, not every time you install a game (or sell it through Microsoft, if anyone believes it'll work some day)? Some people buy games once in a while, like 2 a year. I know people who've been playing only BF3 since they got their PS3s and nothing else, at all.
My only answer is: datamining, spying, info collecting. Some will say this is a tinfoil hat theory, some will just google PRISM. Anyway, I smell something foul here. Very foul. To be honest, my biggest concern with X1 is always-on Kinect, not DRM policies. My Internet is fine and I have a 3G backup for my work anyway. I could live without selling my games, I'd just buy a lot less day 1. But I refuse to be spied on. With Windows, Google services and so on, I can always chose what to communicate over them. I can encrypt my data with strong algorythms. I can install a watchdog to monitor Internet packages and at least see who they are sent to. X1 is a closed platform that won't give me any control over my data. Should I hide from the camera in my own house? And what if they implement
this technology? I've always thought that Orwell's 1984 is more scary than any horror story I've read.