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According to a new study (PDF) by economists Felix Oberholzer-Gee (Harvard) and Koleman Strumpf (University of Kansas), file sharing and weaker copyright protections generally benefit societies more than they hurt them. Among other things, Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf argue that file sharing has done nothing to deter the production of books, music, and films. The two economists argue that weaker copyright is desirable, as long as it doesn't "lessen the incentives of artists and entertainment companies to produce new works."

Spore, a Sim-like game about the evolution of creatures, was recently released as one of the most anticipated games of the year. Our initial impressions were high with the release of SporeCreator. However, Spore itself failed to meet our expectations. In the end, we found the game to be too simple for our tastes.

A major problem that plagued the release of Spore was the inclusion of a DRM system. This has caused multiple reviews of Spore to be disappointing for Electronic Arts (EA), the developing and publishing company of Spore. If EA hoped the problem would go away, it hasn't. Fans and "pirates" have taken things one step further to make Spore one of the most pirated games ever.