Thread: The end of piracy - according to this dude

  1. #1
    l'Anziano DavidP's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Plano, Texas, United States
    Posts
    2,743

    The end of piracy - according to this dude

    Check out this article:

    http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-says-bushnell

    It was linked from slashdot. Personally I think it's a bunch of fluff. There will always be a way to get around security measures.
    My Website

    "Circular logic is good because it is."

  2. #2
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    The edge of the known universe
    Posts
    39,660
    This previous "technical marvel" lasted all of a month before the walls fell.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3264631.stm

    Then when people realise they can't upgrade their hardware and still play, roll in the lawyers, or watch their market share evaporate.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7414323.stm
    If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
    If at first you don't succeed, try writing your phone number on the exam paper.

  3. #3
    Dr Dipshi++ mike_g's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    On me hyperplane
    Posts
    1,218
    I have inadvertently discovered a good way to stop piracy: make a prog thats so difficult to setup you need a technician to do it for you.

  4. #4
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    8,446
    Ah yes, you discovered Vista.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  5. #5
    Woof, woof! zacs7's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    3,459
    Hasn't something similar been attempted before? On a smaller scale with CD/DVDs

    Anyway, the article claims to be able to stop piracy in Asia and India ... er where do you think motherboards are made? It'd take one company not to put the chip in and they'd destroy the competition.

  6. #6
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Ireland
    Posts
    8,446
    If instead of concentrating only in the gaming industry leading software developers joined efforts, a chip like this - assuming it works as advertised - could have practical applications in office computers (computers in a working environment, to clarify).

    Two years ago, a leading national computer assembly company over here had a surprise inspection. Around, if memory serves me right, 70&#37; of the computers bore illegal software. Of those 10% only contained illegal software; from the OS to the applications. The fine was elephantine and yet the company spent tens of thousands yearly in licenses.

    EDIT: to clarify, the computers found to contain illegal software were the ones used by company, not the ones assembled, of course. These last are equipped according to the OEM contracts. Heck, they would be closed down if those were the ones.
    Last edited by Mario F.; 05-26-2008 at 08:14 PM.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  7. #7
    Reverse Engineer maxorator's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Estonia
    Posts
    2,318
    Then one motherboard manufacturer decides to produce motherboards without that chip and other manufacturers go bankrupt...

    I guess some manufacturers care more about the business than "customer protection".

    About the system itself. It says the CD-key check will be done by the chip and nothing will stop it. Why can't crackers just NOP the whole part that communicates with the chip?

    If they can't attack the part which is protected by the protection system, they will attack the protection system itself.
    Last edited by maxorator; 05-27-2008 at 01:31 AM.
    "The Internet treats censorship as damage and routes around it." - John Gilmore

  8. #8
    C++まいる!Cをこわせ!
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Inside my computer
    Posts
    24,654
    Hoho. Cracks, anyone? They remove the need for a key and medium in the first place - hence nothing to check!
    No, piracy will still be there. More difficult to pirate? Sure. But they won't ever completely get rid of it. That's ridiculous to think. But efforts to stop illegitimate piracy is good. As long as it doesn't hinder legal customers.
    Quote Originally Posted by Adak View Post
    io.h certainly IS included in some modern compilers. It is no longer part of the standard for C, but it is nevertheless, included in the very latest Pelles C versions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Salem View Post
    You mean it's included as a crutch to help ancient programmers limp along without them having to relearn too much.

    Outside of your DOS world, your header file is meaningless.

  9. #9
    Cat without Hat CornedBee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    8,895
    Then one motherboard manufacturer decides to produce motherboards without that chip and other manufacturers go bankrupt...
    If it worked that way, one graphics board manufacturer would have produced graphics boards without DRM support and - through lowered cost - would be swiping the floor with the competition now.
    But with DRM support, those HD movies won't work at all. So the companies add the support, because otherwise their hardware is crippled.

    It's the same with the TPM chip. Don't have the chip? Sorry, you don't get to play those new games. Should have chosen a different vendor.
    All the buzzt!
    CornedBee

    "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code."
    - Flon's Law

  10. #10
    Banned
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    678
    In a way piracy can be stopped.

    Suppose I get a pirated Vista for $2, along with that, I get, all kind of legal baffles, all kind of security issues, bad name from MS () and a self cursing ego(?) etc. etc.

    Now suppose MS is giving Vista for free. Would not that just stop the piracy?

  11. #11
    Woof, woof! zacs7's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    3,459
    > Now suppose MS is giving Vista for free. Would not that just stop the piracy?
    What?! "Give me it for free or I'm going to steal it". :\

    You can't blame someone for selling something they made. Vista itself has created thousands of jobs worldwide (mostly due to it ).
    Last edited by zacs7; 05-27-2008 at 05:21 AM.

  12. #12
    Banned
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    678
    Quote Originally Posted by zacs7 View Post
    > Now suppose MS is giving Vista for free. Would not that just stop the piracy?
    What?! "Give me it for free or I'm going to steal it". :\
    No need to steal, I never steal Linux, and, I never used pirated Linux either.

    You can't blame someone for selling something they made. Vista itself has created thousands of jobs worldwide (mostly due to it ).
    I was day dreaming

  13. #13
    Malum in se abachler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Posts
    3,195
    Quote Originally Posted by CornedBee View Post
    But with DRM support, those HD movies won't work at all. .
    There are software packages out that remove the DRM requirement. DRM may thwart casual piracy, but it has no hope of stopping the india/asia piracy, since that is organized, even if at a small scale.

    This new chip will be the same, the problem with passowrds adn secret codes is unless the industry is going to trust one guy to hold the code, and noone else can extract it from his chips, and they can bet their billions on him not getting hit by a car, then someone will have access to the code and it WILL leak. Once its out its out. just look at the 09 code for DVD's.

    What differentiates a legitimate copy of an HD DVD from an illegitimate copy in the eyes fo the DVD player? Certainly the copies can contain all the same encryption as the original, it is after all a digitally identical copy. So I have to have a motherbaord with the TPS report, err I mean TPM chip. Since all the motherboards have it anyway, this is no issue. Now when my legitimate software wont work because the TPS report, sorry again, TPM chip in my new system doesnt work with my old password and I have to download a cracked version of the software I already own, that is just inconveniencing your customers. This scenario has caused more than one company to go out of business. Competition in teh software industry is too high for any company with their feces amalgamated to risk using the TPS reports, damn sorry again, TPM chips.

  14. #14
    Banned
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    678
    Quote Originally Posted by zacs7 View Post
    ...
    Anyway, the article claims to be able to stop piracy in Asia and India ... er where do you think motherboards are made? It'd take one company not to put the chip in and they'd destroy the competition.
    Quote Originally Posted by abachler View Post
    There are software packages out that remove the DRM requirement. DRM may thwart casual piracy, but it has no hope of stopping the india/asia piracy, since that is organized, even if at a small scale.
    I thought our neighboring country is doing the piracy. Considering, that, even the movies which are not released yet, are there on CD/DVDs
    Do not blame India for music/movie piracy. We are also affected by this.

    Software piracy? Well that is a different issue. People do it without even realizing it. Although presently MS Ads on TV are creating awareness for users.

  15. #15
    Ethernal Noob
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Posts
    1,901
    Quote Originally Posted by zacs7 View Post
    You can't blame someone for selling something they made.
    He can

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman

Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed

Similar Threads

  1. Modify to make Doubly Linked List
    By Dampecram in forum C Programming
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 11-03-2008, 07:25 PM
  2. Adventures in labyrinth generation.
    By guesst in forum Game Programming
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 10-12-2008, 01:30 PM
  3. singly linked to doubly linked
    By jsbeckton in forum C Programming
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 11-06-2005, 07:47 PM
  4. socket newbie, losing a few chars from server to client
    By registering in forum Linux Programming
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 06-07-2003, 11:48 AM
  5. Next Question...
    By Azmeos in forum C++ Programming
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 06-06-2003, 02:40 PM