New SecuROM Ties Protection to Physical Structure

bernardos70 writes "I read a brief article describing how the new version of secuROM, which is already present in newer games, employs a new encryption method which 'tie[s] itself specifically to the physical structure and characteristics of each disk'. Apparently companies are even ordering specially designed media to implement this method. I think that all this will do is frustrate the average joe trying to make legit copies, as the various groups online distributing ISO's are sure to find a way to bypass yet this new technology."

Comments

"legit copies"

[tomstdenis]

sure sure. Yeah, I was backing this up, my friends keep it for safe storage.

Or how about you not buy them then?

If the companies are so horrible, so evil, so mean, represent all that you loath, how about you *not* give them money?

Duh....

Re:"legit copies"

[Anonymous Coward]

i DO by my own games.

(faves: MOHAA, GTA3, half-life, thief.)

the first thing i do is rip them to an .ISO, using "blindread".

then the physical media goes in a large CD wallet thingy, archived.

i can mount the ripped CD image using "daemon tools" virtual cdrom.

hey, it even supports DVDs too! and even breaks them into multiple files to get around the 4GB
file size limit, if necessary. (i run windoze 98 for games so that's real nice.)

i don't like having to hunt down and swap physical media to play a game or watch a movie. with huge drives so cheap, why not have instant access to everything? that's the way i like it. one-click access to music, movies, games -- all of which i paid for.

for ME, it's not about illegal copying. this is totally fair use.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26612.htm l

Re:"legit copies"

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

The problem is that companies aren't pure evil--there are good people making cool shit, then there are assholes who add SecureROM to fuck up everything. Boycotting is pointless--we want the right to use the product we bought, so avoiding the product just bites off your nose to spite your face. Fair use rights aren't any good if you aren't buying anything.

Duh...

Actually, this is all besides the point. SecureROM really sucks. Not because it takes away fair use--but because it stops people from playing games, period. They recently removed SecureROM checks from Neverwinter Nights because they just wouldn't work on some people's computers (the game would always crash when starting up). Reportedly similar problems exist with Unreal Tournament 2003. If you find yourself in such a situation, the only solution is either to wait a couple of weeks for the company to maybe release a patch to end SecureROM checks, or to download a crack for the game. Thank goodness for haxorz.

Crypto, Schmypto

[ccoder]

This won't work any better than the anti-CD copying methods RIAA has tried, nor keep people from copying the games any more than putting a piece of tape on a cookie jar will keep a hungry teenager from gettting in.

With any encryption, any digital encoding method... if there is a way to play the game, there is a way to break the code. The question is who will be first? Wait and see.

--

Re:Crypto, Schmypto

[iocat]

The point isn't to forever prevent hackers from cracking the protection, the point is to *delay* ISOs going out on the net long enough (30 to 60 days is fine) so that you maximize sales, especially among consumers "on the bubble" between piracy and purchasing. While there are many people who will pirate the game but wouldn't ever but it, if something's too easy to pirate, you will lose sales.

When will they learn?!?

[Anonymous Coward]

The warez kiddies just hack up the code to remove the copy protection check. As soon as this is done (often within hours of release), the copy protection is worthless. The people behind Neverwinter Nights finally figured this out and disabled the check in one of the program updates.

Re:Copying ?

[Telastyn]

I make backups of my game cds. I buy them, and because of assinine copy protection schemes, I need to keep switching the cds in my drive. Oddly enough, all that handling (and coke spillage and dropping and...) puts a little wear on them. Silly me uses burnt copies so I don't have to rebuy a game I already own.

Certainly it is not the majority, but it's foolish to think that this sort of protection won't be circumvented within a week or two of release.

Re:"legit copies" and games

[WinPimp2K]

Actually, a "legit" copy can simply be a no-CD crack so you can keep the distribution CD safely in its jewel case rather than sitting in the drive. Of course, you are probably too young to remember the days of key disks (back in the days of 360K DSDD 5.25" floppies) and how big a pain in the butt they were then.

Updating the key disk copy protection scam does continue to do more to inconvenience legitimate users than it does to prevent piracy. It was that way in 1982 and it is still that way today. And of course the newest version of this particular snake oil scam does require that the publishers buy special media - just like it did back then except that the snake oil peddlers have had 20 more years to refine their paranoia inducing sales pitches.

So, the new snake oil costs more than the old snake oil, and the companies buying the stuff are now protected from "piracy". Pity they didn't think about protecting themselves from quackery.

Copies?? How about just playing?

[Zygote-IC-]

I think that all this will do is frustrate the average joe trying to make legit copies, as the various groups online distributing ISO's are sure to find a way to bypass yet this new technology."

This security software being used to thwart piracy of computer games has done nothing but force me to those sources in order to play the game at all.
Three times in the last year I've bought software only to find that the "security software" on the CD is incompatible with my drive.
I actually told the EA guy that the only thing this seemed to prevent was me from playing the game I bought legally. He said he was sorry and offered a refund but that still doesn't allow me to play the game.
So I go to the dark side, download the crack, and play the game.
My boxed copy sits on my bookshelf because I have to turn to the pirates to play a game that you want to keep out of the hands of pirates..oh the irony.
And those bastards still have my money. I'm such a sucker.

Other Methods ...

[mustangdavis]

Instead of doing lame ass physical security, try something like what the folks at Blizzard did with War Craft III.

Yes, it doesn't stop people from pirating the game, but checking CD keys and such to see how often they are used when playing online (what fun is a game if you can't play it online?) seems to be a fairly good way to keep your "average" kiddie pirate from stealing your software.

Besides, if you make your game/software good enough, people generally will want to support it. To all software companies: How about worrying more about the quality of your products and wasting less time figuring out how to prevent people from stealing them???

You know

[Sycraft-fu]

I don't have 160GB of harddisk space for no reason. Among other reasons, I have it so I can install everything to my HD and not have to worry about grabbing CDs when I want to use software. I want ot do a full install, and then be done with it. Put the CDs in the box and leave them there. Well, all my application software seems to be perfectly happy to let me do this. Office, Vegas, Visio, and so on were all perfectly happy to be installed and then just run of the harddisk. However almost all my game seem to want their CD, despite the fact that they have all the files on the harddrive. All they do is a stupid copy protection check. This is really annoying. I don't want to sort through a stack of disks to find the one for the game I want to play when it's already on the drive.

It seems app makers are prefectly able to make money with out assinine copyprotections,. why are games so different?

Re:You know

[liquidsin]

Most apps are for productivity, and most companies are willing to pay for legal copies of software that they find useful. Most games, on the other hand, are played by teens and college students (not to say that there aren't older gamers, but a higher percentage of teens are gamers than are 40 yr olds) and most people who fit that age bracket don't have the money for all the new games and don't have any qualms using warezed copies. Not to say that it's justified, but that's how it is. App developers can rely on the honesty of their target customers more than game developers.