It seems like not a week goes by without some sort of EA-related DRM nightmare. This week, the DRM for EA's recently released Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is causing problems for faithful consumers. Some of those who purchased the title received a CD key with a missing number, and EA has told customers to solve this problem by "guessing."

The error occurred as a result of a spree of misprints in the activation keys of select copies of Red Alert 3. Rather than receiving full 20-character codes, some users reported receiving 19-character codes. EA has offered to fill in codes for those who send in a physical picture of their serial via e-mail, but for those unwilling to do that, the company has offered the alternative "guessing" solution.

On the game's help site, the guessing procedure is laid out for users. "There is currently a workaround that may allow you to bypass this issue," the entry reads. "Since you have the first 19 characters of the code already, you can basically try 'guessing' the last character. To do this, simply enter your existing code, and then for the last character, try the letters A-Z, and then the numbers 0-9. You should eventually get the right combination, and be able to play the game. If this does not work, you can follow the instructions below."

Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 is one of many EA titles that includes a restrictive implementation of SecuROM, limiting the number of installs. Without the key, the game is virtually useless for most consumers. Regarding the error, EA had little to say on the matter. "This was due to a misprint on a small number of manuals and we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused," reads the official apology on the game's help site.

This, of course, isn't the first time that EA has messed up one of its titles with poor DRM decisions. Spore has became an infamous example of the negative effect on consumers that DRM can have, as the game's limited SecuROM implementation left a bitter taste in users' mouths which spawned a campaign that saw a bombardment of negative user reviews and anti-DRM sentiment on the game's Amazon listing.

While EA continues to drive the DRM bandwagon, companies like Stardock are championing other methods which go so far as to eliminate DRM altogether. The company's Sins of a Solar Empire has become an outstanding example of the way that games can perform as products without DRM, as the relatively low-key title went on to sell well over a half-million units without any form of copy protection.

EA's latest DRM snafu may be due to a relatively harmless printer error, but it still shows that DRM does little to deter pirates and punishes only the legitimate customers who actually went out and bought the software—especially those who have to sit and guess the magical number that will make their game work.