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<title>Proprietary Addictions
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>Proprietary Addictions</h2>
<div class="infobox">
<hr class="full-width" />
<p>Nonfree (proprietary) software is very often malware (designed to
mistreat the user). Nonfree software is controlled by its developers,
which puts them in a position of power over the users; <a
href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">that is the
basic injustice</a>. The developers and manufacturers often exercise
that power to the detriment of the users they ought to serve.</p>
<p>This typically takes the form of malicious functionalities.</p>
<hr class="full-width" />
</div>
<div class="article">
<p>This page deals with malicious functionalities that are added to
some programs for the sole purpose of luring users into more and more
frequent and intensive use of the program, with the risk of getting
addicted.</p>
<div class="important">
<p>If you know of an example that ought to be in this page but isn't
here, please write
to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>
to inform us. Please include the URL of a trustworthy reference or two
to serve as specific substantiation.</p>
</div>
<h3 id="addictiveness">How software is made addictive</h3>
<h4 id="games">Games</h4>
<p id="M209900000">Many games are designed to
keep gamers compulsively playing—and spending
money on the game. To achieve this result, developers use <a
href="http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html">
href="https://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html">
techniques that derive from behavioral and brain research</a>:</p>
<dl class="compact"><dt>The Skinner Box</dt>
<dd>An environment in which the user is trained
to “push the lever“, i.e. do a certain action over and
over again in order to get a reward. This is also known as
“grinding.”</dd>
<dt>Virtual food pellets</dt>
<dd>Items that have nothing to do with the game itself, but are
valuable to gamers because of the work required to obtain them
(e.g., EverQuest); some people will end up collecting them for the
sake of collecting.</dd>
<dt>Random rewards</dt>
<dd>They turn the game into the equivalent of a slot machine (e.g.,
World of Warcraft, ZT Online).</dd>
<dt>Elaborate cycles</dt>
<dd>Gamers' behavior can be “shaped” by making cycles
(progress from one level to the next) slower and slower, designing
complex tasks that are difficult to get out of (e.g. World of
Warcraft), or conversely dividing them up in small chunks to avoid
frustration (e.g., New Super Mario Bros.Wii).</dd>
<dt>Decay of game assets</dt>
<dd>This makes it necessary for a gamer to keep playing, without
vacations, simply to avoid losing what they have earned so far
(e.g., Farmville, Ultima Online, Animal Crossing).</dd>
</dl>
<p>Games such as World of Warcraft, which are considered very addictive,
use several of these techniques.</p>
<p>There are even more elaborate ways to get users addicted to a game.</p>
<ul>
<li>“Loot boxes” are a direct
application of the random reward mechanism, and their addictiveness
is enhanced by seductive animation. They are <a
href="https://www.pcgamer.com/behind-the-addictive-psychology-and-seductive-art-of-loot-boxes/">
akin to gambling</a>.</li>
<li id="gacha"><a
href="https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Gacha_game"><i>Gacha</i></a> systems,
widely used by Japanese games since 2010, may be considered the
ancestors of loot boxes. A <i>gacha</i> is the virtual equivalent of
a capsule-toy vending machine. Its addictiveness is based on random
rewards, and also on the basic instinct of people to collect items.</li>
<li>The developers of gratis
mobile (“free-to-play”) games
apply the techniques described above to <a
href="https://www.psychguides.com/interact/the-psychology-of-freemium/">
turn their products into slot machines</a>. This is clearly described
in an infographic. The revenue generated by these games is directly
related to the number of strongly addicted gamers (called “whales”) “<a
href="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/chasing-the-whale-examining-the-ethics-of-free-to-play-games">whales</a>”),
and to the amount of money they are willing to spend. Thus developers
carefully study the behavior of millions of users to increase the
addictiveness of their games.</li> games, and apply <a
href="https://www.uxreviewer.com/home/2019/3/7/5-incredibly-powerful-monetisation-patterns-using-behavioural-economics-in-ux-design">
classical marketing techniques</a> such as the decoy effect to squeeze
as much money as possible from gamers.</li>
<li><a href="https://keepthescore.com/blog/posts/leaderboards-in-gaming/">
Leader boards</a> can increase addictiveness, because some people are
so eager to see their name at the top of the board that they will
spend an unreasonable amount of time playing.</li>
</ul>
<p><small>(Unfortunately, some of the last two articles referenced above use
“free” to mean “zero price.” We recommend
saying “gratis” instead.)</small></p>
<p>However, the addictiveness of a game is
only one of the determinants of addiction. Equally important are the
psychological make-up and life circumstances of the gamer. Gaming
addiction, like other addictions, is a form of mental escape from an
unrewarding life. The sad truth is that, in the long run, it leads
to an even worse life.</p>
<p><small><em>Note:</em>
We are not gamers. If you think we have misunderstood
some point, or have suggestions for making this text
clearer or more correct, please send them to <<a
href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">webmasters@gnu.org</a>>.</small></p>
<h4 id="gambling">Online gambling</h4>
<p id="M201902220">Online gambling services (and their nonfree
client programs) are <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/22/gambling-apps-more-dangerous-than-fobts-study-finds">
designed to be addictive</a>, much like on-line games. They achieve
this with various different malfunctionalities, often in combination.</p>
<p>Many of these malfunctionalities are implemented by the server and
the client program together. In some cases, there is no honest way that
the client program could counteract the nastiness—for instance,
when the server manipulates amounts won in order to get the user
addicted, the only way the client program could block that is to pretend
the win did not happen. But users would not want that modification.</p>
<p>However, modification of the client program could cover up some
addictive behaviors without losing the user anything.</p>
<h4 id="social-networks">Social networks</h4>
<p>The major social networks are continuously optimizing their design to <a
href="https://medium.com/thrive-global/how-technology-hijacks-peoples-minds-from-a-magician-and-google-s-design-ethicist-56d62ef5edf3">
grab users' attention</a> by taking advantage of the psychological
vulnerabilities described above, eventually leading some to addiction.
For these people, a phone becomes the equivalent of a slot machine.
Many of the addictive features (menu, “likes,” photo tagging,
autoplay, etc.) are built into the client software, and can't be
removed because the software is proprietary.</p>
<p id="M201803210">Thus, some social networking apps <a
href="https://www.jeffbullas.com/facebook-creates-addiction/">try to
merge into your daily
routine</a> by exploiting social pressure and your natural desire for
socialization, converting habitual gestures into thorough addiction. As
already noted for games, addictiveness is essentially based on random
rewards. In the present case, the rewards are messages from friends
and followers, “likes,” news, interesting videos, etc. The
software is designed to trigger users' desire for these rewards,
and keep this desire alive as long as possible.</p>
<ul>
<li>By default, notifications are sent every time a new item comes
in, instead of, say, once a day. They are associated with sounds or
vibrations which make them even more compelling. (Remember Pavlov's
experiments with rats.) These triggers are often opt-out, and many
users don't try to turn them off. They are most effective when the
app is installed on a mobile device which is always on and never
leaves the user. As a side effect, they may contribute to the <a
href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/reading-between-the-headlines/201307/smartphone-addiction">
addictiveness of “smart” phones</a>.</li>
<li>Users are served selected material
that is likely to interest them, based on <a
href="https://theconversation.com/facebook-is-killing-democracy-with-its-personality-profiling-data-93611">
profiling</a>. (This paves the way to <a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-manipulation.html">manipulation</a>,
by the way.)</li>
<li>The app interface is designed to make users
stay on the site as long as possible, using <a
href="https://uxplanet.org/ux-infinite-scrolling-vs-pagination-1030d29376f1">
infinite scrolling</a> for example.</li>
<li>The company that owns the social network tries
to cover users' needs as extensively as possible, by <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Facebook">
acquiring other companies</a> if needed. Once users
have concentrated most of their online activities and
a lot of their personal data on a single platform (or
a set of platforms that belong to the same group), they find it <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/01/antisocial-media-why-decided-cut-back-facebook-instagram">
almost impossible to leave</a>. And even if they wanted to, they
would have a hard time digging out the relevant options, and the
app would aggressively nag them to stay.</li>
</ul>
<p>A good way to minimize the risk of addiction, short of avoiding
social media altogether, is to turn off notifications and leave as
little as possible of your own data on the platform.</p>
<h4 id="nonfree-software">Nonfree smartphone software</h4>
<p>Parents are very concerned about the <a
href="https://www.freerangekids.com/worried-your-child-is-already-a-screen-addict-theres-hope/">
intentional addictiveness of the software that their children use on
snoop-phones</a>.</p>
<p>The “<a
href="https://www.nysun.com/article/how-manipulative-tech-a-mashup-of-psychology-and-technology-keeps-children-glued-to-screens">manipulative
tech</a>,” which underpins addictive features that the
article naively attributes to “screens,” is in fact implemented
by software: partly in the operating system and partly in some apps.
These features can be designed to do nasty things because they are <a
href="https://fsf.org/tedx">nonfree software</a>: their code is
controlled by some “owner,” in this case a powerful
company, rather than by the users. If they were free programs, the
user community could reprogram them so as to be less addictive.</p>
<p>By freeing ourselves from these companies' power to require use of
software they control for accessing their “services,” we
will also reduce the harm that online dis-services can do.</p>
<h3 id="proprietary-addictions">Examples of addictive software</h3>
<ul class="blurbs">
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M202411030">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2024-11</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/nov/03/addicted-to-love-how-dating-apps-exploit-their-users">Dating
apps exploit their users</a>; fundamental features require an expensive
subscription, and they are designed to be addictive.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M202010220">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2020-10</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>The addictive Genshin Impact relentlessly <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/oct/22/genshin-impact-video-game-slowly-taking-over-the-world">coerces
players to spend money by overwhelming the game play with loot
boxes</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M202003110">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2020-03</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Roblox (among many other games)
created anti-features which sucker children into <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/mar/11/my-kids-spent-600-on-their-ipads-without-my-knowledge">
utilizing third-party payment services without authorization.</a></p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M201907090">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-07</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Resourceful children figured out how to <a
href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48908766"> empty their
parents' bank account</a> buying packs of special players for an
Electronic Arts soccer game.</p>
<p>The random element of these packs (also called “loot
boxes”) makes the game <a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions#addictiveness">
strongly addictive</a>, but the fact that players
are pressured to spend more in order to get ahead of their
competitors further qualifies it as <em>predatory</em>.
Note that Belgium <a
href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/01/29/fifa-ultimate-team-packs-blocked-in-belgium/">
href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/fifa-ultimate-team-packs-blocked-in-belgium">
made these loot boxes illegal</a> in 2018.</p>
<p>The only good reason to have a copy of such a proprietary
game is to study it for free software development.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M201809210">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2018-09</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Clash of Clans is a good example of a gratis mobile game that its
developers <a href="https://gamerant.com/clash-of-clans-addiction/">
made very addictive</a> for a large proportion of its users—and
turned into a cash machine for themselves—by using <a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#addictiveness">
psychological manipulation techniques</a>.</p>
<p><small>(The article uses “free” to mean “zero
price,” which is a usage we should avoid. We recommend saying
“gratis” instead.)</small></p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M201809170">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2018-09</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Clash Royale is an online game with an “optimized”
<a href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#gacha">
<i>gacha</i></a> system that makes it <a
href="https://medium.com/@nikmlnkr/what-makes-clash-royale-so-addictive-1e586815b1f0">
very addictive for players</a>, and very profitable for its
developers.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M201612290">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2016-12</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>In the game Fruit Pop, the player buys boosts with coins to get
a high score. The player gets coins at the end of each game, and can
buy more coins with real money.</p>
<p>Getting a higher score once leads the player to desire higher
score again later. But the higher score resulting from the boost <a
href="https://qz.com/873348/50000-coins-for-1-99-how-mobile-game-in-app-purchases-are-warping-kids-understanding-of-basic-economic-ideas/">does
href="https://qz.com/873348/50000-coins-for-1-99-how-mobile-game-in-app-purchases-are-warping-kids-understanding-of-basic-economic-ideas">does
not give the player more coins, and does not help the player get
a higher score in subsequent games</a>. To get that, the player
will need a boost frequently, and usually has to pay real money
for that. Since boosts are exciting and entertaining, the player is
subtly pushed to purchase more coins with real money to get boosts,
and it can develop into a costly habit.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M201604040">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2016-04</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Many popular mobile games include a random-reward system called
<a href="#gacha"><i>gacha</i></a> href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#gacha">
<i>gacha</i></a> which is especially effective on
children. One variant of gacha was declared illegal in Japan in 2012,
but the other variants are still <a
href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2016/04/04/japanese-mobile-gaming-still-cant-shake-off-the-spectre-of-exploitation/">
luring players into compulsively spending</a> inordinate amounts of
money on virtual toys.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M201507290">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-07</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Game Of War: Fire Age is an iPhone game with <a
href="https://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html">
addictive features</a> which are based on <a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#addictiveness">behavioral
manipulation techniques</a>, compounded with group emulation. After a
fairly easy start, the game slows down and becomes more difficult,
so gamers are led to spend more and more money in order to keep up
with their group. And if they stop playing for a while, the equipment
they invested in gets destroyed by the “enemy” unless
they buy an expensive “shield” to protect it. This game
is also deceptive, as it uses confusing menus and complex stats to
obfuscate true monetary costs.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-addictions.html. -->
<li id="M201504210">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-04</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Runescape is a popular online game with some <a
href="https://www.reddit.com/r/runescape/comments/33cd8g/question_why_is_runescape_so_addicting/">
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230329031353/https://www.reddit.com/r/runescape/comments/33cd8g/question_why_is_runescape_so_addicting/">
addictive features</a> derived from <a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-addictions.html#addictiveness">
behavioral manipulation techniques</a>. Certain
repetitive aspects of the game, like <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grinding_(video_games)">
grinding</a>, can be minimised by becoming a paying member, and can
thus encourage children and impressionable people to spend money on
the game.</p>
</li>
</ul>
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