SecuROM

SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management (DRM) system developed by Sony DADC and introduced in 1998.

[1]: 11  It aims to prevent unauthorised copying and reverse engineering of software, primarily commercial computer games running on Windows.

SecuROM gained prominence in the late 2000s but generated controversy because of its requirement for frequent online authentication and strict key activation limits.

The limit was raised to five activations because an incorrect phone number had been printed on the manual, and because there were no call centers outside of the United States.

[18] A de-authorization tool was released for the main game, but EA's customer support must still be contacted to deactivate the downloadable expansions.

[23] This limit was raised to five computers, in response to customer complaints,[24] but only one online user (required to access user-generated content) can be created per copy.

A class-action lawsuit was filed by Maryland resident Melissa Thomas within the U.S. District Court against Electronic Arts over SecuROM's inclusion with Spore.

[33] In 2019, due to Disney's decision to end its SecuROM license, Tron: Evolution, which relies on it to authenticate its installation and startup, was rendered unplayable and pulled from the Steam store nearly a decade after its release.