back to article DRM is NOT THE LAW, I AM THE LAW, says JUDGE DREDD

Rebellion, the games developer that owns 2000AD - British comics' finest product – has banished digital rights management (DRM) from Mega-City One. The company's announced that once punters purchase tales of Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog or Rogue Trooper online, they'll be able to access DRM-free downloadables of their purchases …

  1. Whitter
    Thumb Up

    Zargoz!

    1. WonkoTheSane
      Headmaster

      I believe you mean "Zarjaz!"

      1. Whitter
        Facepalm

        Arrg! Very true: it's the cubes for me!

      2. dogged

        Could have been worse. Could have been "Zardoz".

        Pass the mind bleach.

        1. bpfh

          Thinking exactly the same thing....

          But sheeing shaun connery dashing around in the deshert with just a webley pistol and a leather braces & underwear ish prishlesh.

  2. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    This is how it should be done

    Because, after all, when you stop subscribing to a magazine or newspaper all your copies don't disappear in a puff of smoke.

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: This is how it should be done

      "all your copies don't disappear in a puff of smoke."

      though in the case of the 1980s issues I recently found in my loft, they can go a bit crinkly and yellow

  3. Vince Lewis 1

    below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

    <startlist>

    <endlist>

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

      Invalid xml my friend, invalid xml. That failed to parse :)

      1. maffski

        Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

        Who said it was xml? In DRM land we do it proprietary style.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

      Remember, home taping is killing music.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

        "Remember, home taping is killing music."

        I wish it would kill Gene Simmons. I'm not sure how he dares to call himself a musician anymore, all he ever goes on about is how much he earns.

      2. goodjudge

        Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

        ... and of a similar vintage to 2000AD, emblazoned on the back of a certain north eastern heavy metal band's LPs: "Home taping is killing music ... and so are Venom".

      3. WonkoTheSane
        Joke

        Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

        "Remember, home taping is killing music."

        Funny, I thought it was Simon Cowell???

        1. phil dude
          Coat

          Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

          No Simon Cowell is MURDERING music,

          P.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            FAIL

            Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

            "No Simon Cowell is MURDERING music"

            Incorrect - Simon Cowell makes music that all sounds the same from 200 odd people/groups.

            Fuck knows what pop quiz questions will be like in 20 years time...

            1. Colin Miller

              Re: below is a list where DRM successfully stopped piracy

              Is Cowell any worse than SAW were?

  4. James 51

    I bought stuff over a year ago and it was drm free then.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Judge Dredd + The Reg.

    Oh my, I think I have to go to the bathroom.

  6. dogged

    drokk yeah.

  7. Britt
    Happy

    This is how you get me to buy comics I wouldn't normally read.

  8. Neil B

    Awesome, but as a subscriber to the physical mag, it would be nice to get the digital versions as part of my sub.

    Sorry, obligatory negative comment there.

    1. steamrunner

      As a physical print subscriber I concur, although I'd be happy to pay a tiny extra amount to have both print and digital. But, as it stands, paying full whack for both is harsh... (are you listening, Rebellion?) :-(

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Easily solved too..

        A one time QR code printed in the mag, permits legitimate purchaser to download digital copy.

        Does that seem too easy??????

    2. Wattsy

      And a large reduction of past editions of the comic is seriously needed! They are just too expensive IMO.

  9. Admiral Grace Hopper

    "... and the sentence is DEATH".

    Judge Death's line I believe, rather than Dredd's.

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      Headmaster

      Re: "... and the sentence is DEATH".

      Dredd has sentenced many people to death. Judge Death's line is specifically "The crime isss life.... the ssssentence isss DEATH!"

      tl;dr - grexnix.

      1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

        Foooolsssssss

        You cannot kiiiill what doesssss not liiiive.

  10. Kevin Johnston

    The really sad thing?

    I used to have a huuuuge stack of the originals and the got skipped during a move....

    Never mind the value, there was years or re-reading in them still

    1. Alien8n

      Re: The really sad thing?

      Same here. I lost a load from the 70's and 80's when I moved south. My 90's collection I had to sell due for financial reasons a few years ago. Got a good price though, think I got about £80 a box for them (at least 2 boxes worth)

  11. TechnoTechno
    Thumb Up

    Amazing news! Publisher being sensible for once

    I sense a re-sub coming

  12. Dabooka
    Happy

    Credo!

    With an awfully long flight ahead of me next month, this has just given me a great idea to get back to my youth. How I loved 2000AD back in the day, as I'm sure many on here did.

    Grokk, it's about time I got off my arse and did something about it! How do these e-comic thingeymebobs work out on a small screen like a S5, or is it strictly tablet only?

    1. TonkaToys

      Re: Credo!

      Not too bad on a small screen; resolution is pretty high. You can always pinch/zoom for detail.

      I converted my toothy paper subs to the e-subs about a year ago and the only thing I miss is the fact that the prog arrived through the post so I had to read it quickly or SWMBO would nag me about leaving it lying around.

      Nowadays, I occasionally forget to read it for a couple of weeks.

      1. Dabooka

        Re: Credo!

        Thanks for that, I jut don't want to spend all my time navigating it rather than reading. Think I'll give it a shot.

        +1 Sub....

  13. jason 7

    Started reading it from Prog 13...

    ...when I was 6 (read the ultra gory Action comic before that, thanks Dad) but stopped around 1981. Then my brother started getting it again around 1985 and has every copy since plus all the spin offs and collections.

    Yes, you guessed right. he doesn't have a girlfriend.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Started reading it from Prog 13...

      I remember it dissapearing for a while, in the middle of Kids Rule OK days

      Ah the Robo Hunter and Johnny Alpha days

      <reminisce>

    2. Martin hepworth

      Re: Started reading it from Prog 13...

      Sounds like he has a big old building to store them in as well..

      1. jason 7

        Re: Started reading it from Prog 13...

        Yeah...Mum and Dads house.

        Parasite!

  14. El_Fev

    I still get the comics

    Have done for over 30 years, its just not the same readin them on the screen :)

  15. phuzz Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Image have been selling all their stuff DRM free for a while now, nice to see more publishers getting on the bandwagon.

    If only because with a DRM free comic I can 'lend' a copy to a friend which might result in a new sale. A non-shareable DRM copy just guarantees there won't be a second sale.

  16. Alien8n

    First copy...

    I remember the first copy I ever read, had a Dan Dare storyline in it from the mid 70's. Not sure why it was in the house. After that the first series I remember reading (and then continuing through to the 90's) started with Block Mania. Since then I collected a few older issues (such as the first Nemesis the Warlock issue) and continued through to the death of Johnny Alpha. Gave up after that (with the occasional issue now and then) as I found the current format to be nowhere near as good as the old format. Might just be me but it doesn't seem to be as good value anymore, each issue now seems thin in comparison to the older issues (never mind the cost of them now) and the story lines don't seem to be as good, with the exception of Dredd and the infrequent classic characters returning.

    Did enjoy Nikolai Dante though, so there are some good new characters. I'll probably just pick up the graphic novels when they come out now.

  17. Graham Marsden
    Meh

    Great, but...

    ... WHEN are they going to sort things out so we can subscribe to the Digital Version of 2000 AD and get it delivered straight to our Inboxes as soon as it's published instead of having to go to their website and buy each copy individually (which is the online version of going down to the shop and buying it in person)?

    PS been reading since Prog 1 and got the complete collection up to #1890 when I went digital :-)

  18. Ilsa Loving

    Tempted to buy their stuff

    I'm serious tempted to buy their stuff now, even though I have zero interest in reading them. The best and simplest way to encourage behaviour like this, is to reward it.

    1. Triggerfish

      Re: Tempted to buy their stuff

      You may even find them worth a read, its been a while since I have read 200AD, but if thir storylines are still up there with the Democracy storyline they did, then its matching some books counted as proper literature for quality.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good news

    More pirates and facilitators of piracy will go to prison as a result of this foolishness. It's all good in the end.

    1. gazthejourno (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Good news

      Your repeated prison fantasies are both bizarre and unwelcome. Take heed of your rejected 300+ posts and change the record.

      1. Jediben
        Trollface

        Re: Good news

        But Orlowski is a member of staff isn't he? You're paying him to be here ferchristsakes!

      2. Danny 2

        Re: Good news

        "Your repeated prison fantasies are both bizarre and unwelcome."

        Can I quote that in court this month? I've got a date with a sheriff who thinks he's Judge Dredd.

        I just watched an episode of Alias Smith and Jones with the wrong actor and have lost the will to go on the run.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alias_Smith_and_Jones#Death_of_Pete_Duel

        I pasted all my old 2000ADs onto bus-shelters in chronological order, and then I found a cartoon version of this classic online, so I printed and pasted it too. It occurs to me now that this may be the longest sentence in Sci-Fi, and perhaps the most terrifying:

        It was just like what they did to Winston Smith in "1984," which was a book none of them knew about, but the techniques are really quite ancient, and so they did it to Everett C. Marm, and one day quite a long time later, the Harlequin appeared on the communications web, appearing elfish and dimpled and bright-eyed, and not at all brainwashed, and hesaid he had been wrong, that it was a good, a very good thing indeed, to belong, and be right on time hip-ho and away we go, and everyone stared up at him on the public screens that covered an entire city block, and they said to themselves, well, you see, he was just a nut after all, and if that's the way the system is run, then let's do it that way, because it doesn't pay to fight city hall, or in this case, the Ticktockman.

        Bus-shelters are the worst form of time-travel.

        It starts with a great quote from Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience, but here is a more appropriate quote for the daftie above:

        "Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison."

  20. Dr_N
    Thumb Up

    Excellent news

    I'll plan to be spending more of my hard won Galactic Groats with them then.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hehehe

    I can still remember buying the very first copy of 2000ad with the red 3 pronged spinny boomerang thing on the front. Oh how I wish I hadn't opened / read / used it.

    1. jason 7

      Re: hehehe

      Nothing sadder than a unread comic or a toy never played with.

  22. mr. deadlift

    god bless

    somewhere the ABC Warriors, Chopper, Mean Machine et al. are all having a good ole chuckle, somewhere. warms the cockles this does. Also, yes, Dredd. Yes, you are.

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