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Flight Sim Company Embeds Malware To Steal Pirates' Passwords (torrentfreak.com)
TorrentFreak: Flight sim company FlightSimLabs has found itself in trouble after installing malware onto users' machines as an anti-piracy measure. Code embedded in its A320-X module contained a mechanism for detecting 'pirate' serial numbers distributed on The Pirate Bay, which then triggered a process through which the company stole usernames and passwords from users' web browsers.
Probably also illegal. Just because someone has done something illegal, doesn't give you the right to do something illegal yourself in response.
I think the best anti-piracy measure that I've heard anyone take was a simulation game about video game development. If you were playing on a pirate copy, eventually sales for the virtual games you were developing as part of the sim would tank because of virtual in-game pirates not paying for copies. It was especially hilarious because people would complain about it on the developer forums and then have it explained to them. Utterly harmless (well outside of social embarrassment) and perhaps even effective at getting people to buy the game since they might have been able to play enough of it to decide if they'd like to spend money on it.
I remember many years ago I purchased The Sims for my wife. The install wouldn't work. I called tech support and they told me that it sounded like what happens when someone removed a pirated version and tried to install the official copy. I just said Yeah, that's what I did. They seemed to appreciate my honesty and willingness to pay for it and helped me clear the registry of the offending entries that let me install the legit copy.
Exactly. That's why I install bombs in all the cars I sell. If the car is started without the original key, it blows up! What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
My 10 year old spent some of his money on a download of Cuphead from the Windows store a few months ago when it came out (so paid full price). After a Windows update it stopped working completely, crashing out shortly after the splash screen. After an hour or two of trying to debug this, I found the torrented repack worked just fine, and he has been using that since. Not sure what the lesson there is.