Trips
> Oh, without a doubt.
> But that shouldn't prevent or deter the industry from continuing in
> their efforts to make it more difficult for the "average" user to
> pirate.
> And it IS the every-day, average user who makes more illegal copies than
> you or I can poke sticks at!!
> The professionals will always be difficult to deter...just the same as
> professional counterfeiters will always attempt to get around the latest
> technology used in the printing of banknotes. But we should not give up
> the fight!
Any copy protection known up to now, was broken and was only a hassle
(sp?)
to the honest user...
l8er
ronny
--
How to get rid of censorship in German game releases
<http://www.gamesmania.com/german/maniac/freedom/freedom.htm>
|\ _,,,---,,_ I want to die like my Grandfather,
ZZZzz /,`.-'`' -. ;-;;,_ in his sleep.
|,4- ) )-,_. ,\ ( `'-' Not like the people in his car,
'---''(_/--' `-'\_) screaming their heads off!
>> I cannot think of a way to imprint a "watermark" that can be *read* by
>> standard hardware, but not *written*.
>The mark could be an intentioanlly damaged sector of the CD that can't
>contain readable data. When the program checks for its proterction it
>gets a certain type of read error hitting that sector, traps the error
>and knows that the CD is legit and not a copy. An *** copy would
>have an empty but readable sector there, and the program would recognize
>that as a fake.
>Trips
Todd
> >> I cannot think of a way to imprint a "watermark" that can be *read* by
> >> standard hardware, but not *written*.
> >The mark could be an intentioanlly damaged sector of the CD that can't
> >contain readable data. When the program checks for its proterction it
> >gets a certain type of read error hitting that sector, traps the error
> >and knows that the CD is legit and not a copy. An *** copy would
> >have an empty but readable sector there, and the program would recognize
> >that as a fake.
> >Trips
> Every time I get a read error on my CD-ROM under Windows, it triggers a very
> low-level fault that manifests itself as a blue-screen. The application
> software never even has a chance to recover from the error.
This form of protection goes at least all the way back to the "bad
sector" scheme on the Atari 800's...
Trips
>If the software was written to trap the error before the OS blue
>screened, you wouldn't see that problem.
Todd
Craig
> At this time there are very, very few bugs left in the source code and
> most of the bugs were just alert messages in the wrong language.
> My source advises that the international sites (where the CDs will be
> produced for that distribution zone) have been very secretive about
> Legends: even the people working on the game are searched to make sure
> they don't take beta CDs home(to stop the pirates).
> It would appear that release could be expected, internationally, by as
> early as the end of August/first weeks of September.
> It is also most likely that the product could use a hardware
> protection system on the CD i.e. put a physical mark on the CD then get
> the program to look for that before starting the game. This would stop
> people from copying the game because the new CD wouldn't have the
> "watermark".
> There you have the latest....if my source provides any updates I'll
> advise.
> --
> Regards,
> Bruce.
> ----------
> The GP Legends Historic Motor Racing Club is located at:-
> http://www.netspeed.com.au/brucek/legends/
It's idiotic, really. A sure sign that the accountants are utterly
dominating Sierra (no programmer worth his salt would allow a copy
protection scheme if they had ANY say whatsoever).
Joe
Cheers!
John
> (no programmer worth his salt would allow a copy
> protection scheme if they had ANY say whatsoever).
> After 10 hours a day for three years? I doubt it.
Cheers!
John
> >If the software was written to trap the error before the OS blue
> >screened, you wouldn't see that problem.
> You presume that the application (or, more correctly, the programmer) is
> even given that option. My point is that, as an "open" system, Windows is
> dependent on certain driver functionality that may vary from one CD-ROM
> manufacturer to another. I don't know the answer but I question whether it
> is possible, because of Window's architecture, to do what you describe such
> that it will work with every CD-ROM driver out there. What a testing
> nightmare! In any case, I'm not arguing that its impossible, just
> questioning the robustness of such a technique.
> Todd
Trips
> >But that shouldn't prevent or deter the industry from continuing in
> >their efforts to make it more difficult for the "average" user to
> >pirate.
> I agree, but ONLY if the copy-protection scheme doesn't inconvenience
> legitimate customers. Personally I like doing full installs and then
> putting the CD away, and I think I should be allowed to do so.
If copy protection (which is rare nowadays anyway) inconveniences me,
you bet that the product goes back, period...
I'd be quite surprised if Papy went to the bother of some ludicrous
hardware copy-protection scheme... :-)
---Jim
About all of this... shouldn't it be more intelligent to make a software
copy-protection instead ? I mean a more sophisticated version of MS's CD-Key
with an online registration (that could even mean a free 1-800 number) with
an unique CD-Key that could be only once registered...
Well... oh yeah what about people reinstalling the game, or reformatting
their HD.
<g> Is there any way to make a something that could indeed work ? Well,
maybe at least a solution MHO would be stopping to make Papyrus simulators
already "full installation" when they come in the CD. At least that will
take off all the warez sites with 1-2weeks old games, the time they will
take to crack it (if you can't install it full) and spread the message...
- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard> Good race at the Brickyard, (-o-)
- Official Mentally retarded guy of r.a.s.
- Member of the r.a.s. Ego-maniac club
- Excuse me for my English (I'm French speaking)
- Excuse me for being provocative (I'm dumb speaking)
- "People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."--
>Well... oh yeah what about people reinstalling the game, or reformatting
>their HD.
><g> Is there any way to make a something that could indeed work ? Well,
I'm becoming more and more FOR copy protection schemes now that it
looks like PC piracy is once again raising its ugly head in force now
that there are affordable CD-R drives available. Piracy is one of the
reasons why software companies went to CD-ROMs anyway and I liked
that, because it meant no manual check ups anymore like in most
diskette games.
As far as I know lots of PC companies are now feeling the pressure of
piracy once again (very thin margins except for the very few games
that do sell well like Starcraft), while console game makers are doing
much better. I would find it unfortunate if in the future I could play
only console games (no, I'm not talking about racing games only).
IF they could find some trouble-free and working copy protection
scheme, I would be happy because it would once again make PC games
sell better, and only the *** warez d00dz would run the buggy and
ripped warez versions anymore.
Hopefully DVD games will give some more breathing room for PC game
developers once again. I understand it has some kind of copy
protection scheme because the movie and music industry demanded it,
but I don't know if it really works.
