And the best part is, multiple people can rely upon the same backup copies, eliminating redundancy! The copyright holders should be pleased, since this means there's fewer unnecessary copies floating around, right? Everybody's a winner!
Everyone's already pointed out the obvious flaws in this scheme. So try another one on for size:
CDs containing commercial software have a key written in a special area of the disc, which is designated "read-only." Through legislation or industry standards, it is enforced that no CD-RW available to consumers can be permitted to write to that area of a disc, but they can all read it just fine.
Ignoring the problem of legacy hardware and legal issues (who gets the privilege of owning a CD-writer that can write to the special area?), how would this scheme be cracked?
Here's a simple solution:
What if you got two of the exact same CD in the package? With the same activation, etc....
You're forgetting the whole point of having a backup -- it's so that if your original media gets destroyed, you still have a copy of its contents. But when that happens, your backup becomes the new original, and you now have a right to make a new backup of it for when it gets scratched. So no matter how many backups they give you to start with, in the long run you still need to be able to make your own.
I think that's the critical difference here -- a PS game is not designed to be read on a PC, so you don't really have access to the information. I mean, I know I've had a hell of a time ripping mp3s from vinyl records.:)
This is the kind of thing that happens when scientists are allowed and encouraged to explore above and beyond simple applications. The substance discovered was the result of an impurity, and caused some clogging problems in the filter it was forming in. Read what the article says about the discovery:
"Identifying the problem concluded her task, but scientific curiosity led her to attempt to create the compound as an independent entity.
"I was curious to see if I could synthesis it pure, rather than leave it merely as a discovered impurity," says Nyman."
Intellectual curiosity was the key here, more than dumb luck.
Incidentally, it's a little-known fact that the first spotting of Uranus was performed with astonishingly minimal equipment -- just a flashlight and both hands.
>rimshot
It could use the ratings system from whatsbetter.com. I was thinking it would be good to use the same system to finally determine "who would win in a fight between..." for all pairs of potential combatants. Batman or Darth Vader, hmm?
Nazi Germany wasn't always Nazi Germany. "Good" societies can go bad. Do you think the Germans were just stupid, or inherently evil (en masse, I mean -- certainly some individuals could easily be argued to have been evil, by most definitions of the term).
Re:Comparison to WinXP copy protection
on
CD Copy Stopper
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· Score: 2
I don't know about you, but this kind of BS makes the legal purchase a whole lot LESS attractive in my eyes.
This surprises you? It's quite widespread. We call it a "volume discount." The only difference here is that the discounts are sometimes negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
If you READ THE ARTICLE, you'd see that "Neelix syndrome" refers to the oft-mentioned but never-revealed remainder of the character's species. We never saw any other Talaxians on Voyager. The question was whether the same would be true of the Denobulans.
I think they'd still have to go out of their way to make it so you couldn't back up the game onto CD for later non-net install. I see no evidence that they've done so, and considering that they're being pretty cool by doing this in the first place, I doubt that's the case.
I've read a lot of discussion on/. about these things, but I have yet to see anyone mention the question of how many cars can run on a space elevator at once. Obviously, if only one car can run at once, that seriously limits your traffic and efficiency. The main difficulty I see with multiple cars is what happens when they need to pass each other. Does anyone have any ideas for solutions to this, or other reasons why multiple cars wouldn't work?
If cars aren't allowed to pass, you could still send them along in batches, though. As long as you have ample storage for them at each end. Shouldn't be a problem -- space is big.
Remember a post a couple months ago about Japanese theaters wanting to install paneling that would block cell-phone signals? I have the same objection now that I did then: this steps on responsible cell-phone users.
My cell phone's ringer is never on -- I set it to vibrate. I have gotten a call while in a theater -- I excused myself to the lobby, took the call, and went back in. No more disruptive than getting up to go to the john.
Cell phones aren't the problem -- inconsiderate people are. Some people rely on their cell phones -- in my case, if I hadn't taken the call right then, the caller wouldn't have made it to a party I was having later that evening. Other cases can be more serious -- some people carry cell phones in case of an emergency, or their wife going into labor, or what have you.
On the other hand, I don't pull over when I get a call while driving, so lump me in with the assholes.
Uh, hate to burst the bubble of your little security apocalypse, but encryption schemes which will baffle quantum computers have been worked out for a while now, well in advance of the hardware's availability. Of course, for all I know it may *take* a quantum computer to implement these schemes (otherwise it seems like we'd just use them now), which would create two security classes of users, one of whom could penetrate the other's security at will. Yikes.
I don't see what you're talking about. The headline starts "FBI Warns Companies." It states clearly what they're doing. It doesn't say "FBI Goes after Warchalk[ers,ing]" or anything like that.
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Well, overcoming regular old laws is a bit easy these days for the major players, so it's good to see they're finding new challenges.
And the best part is, multiple people can rely upon the same backup copies, eliminating redundancy! The copyright holders should be pleased, since this means there's fewer unnecessary copies floating around, right? Everybody's a winner!
We're talking about making a copy. In order to do that, you have to first read the data. then write it. It's not complicated.
CDs containing commercial software have a key written in a special area of the disc, which is designated "read-only." Through legislation or industry standards, it is enforced that no CD-RW available to consumers can be permitted to write to that area of a disc, but they can all read it just fine.
Ignoring the problem of legacy hardware and legal issues (who gets the privilege of owning a CD-writer that can write to the special area?), how would this scheme be cracked?
You're forgetting the whole point of having a backup -- it's so that if your original media gets destroyed, you still have a copy of its contents. But when that happens, your backup becomes the new original, and you now have a right to make a new backup of it for when it gets scratched. So no matter how many backups they give you to start with, in the long run you still need to be able to make your own.
I think that's the critical difference here -- a PS game is not designed to be read on a PC, so you don't really have access to the information. I mean, I know I've had a hell of a time ripping mp3s from vinyl records. :)
Is that an optical CPU core in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
"Identifying the problem concluded her task, but scientific curiosity led her to attempt to create the compound as an independent entity. "I was curious to see if I could synthesis it pure, rather than leave it merely as a discovered impurity," says Nyman."
Intellectual curiosity was the key here, more than dumb luck.
Incidentally, it's a little-known fact that the first spotting of Uranus was performed with astonishingly minimal equipment -- just a flashlight and both hands. >rimshot
You need two free hands to do it.
It could use the ratings system from whatsbetter.com. I was thinking it would be good to use the same system to finally determine "who would win in a fight between..." for all pairs of potential combatants. Batman or Darth Vader, hmm?
Nazi Germany wasn't always Nazi Germany. "Good" societies can go bad. Do you think the Germans were just stupid, or inherently evil (en masse, I mean -- certainly some individuals could easily be argued to have been evil, by most definitions of the term).
I don't know about you, but this kind of BS makes the legal purchase a whole lot LESS attractive in my eyes.
Waitaminnit...
This surprises you? It's quite widespread. We call it a "volume discount." The only difference here is that the discounts are sometimes negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
If you READ THE ARTICLE, you'd see that "Neelix syndrome" refers to the oft-mentioned but never-revealed remainder of the character's species. We never saw any other Talaxians on Voyager. The question was whether the same would be true of the Denobulans.
"Shut up Wesley" - Picard. And Crusher, and... whoever.
I think they'd still have to go out of their way to make it so you couldn't back up the game onto CD for later non-net install. I see no evidence that they've done so, and considering that they're being pretty cool by doing this in the first place, I doubt that's the case.
If cars aren't allowed to pass, you could still send them along in batches, though. As long as you have ample storage for them at each end. Shouldn't be a problem -- space is big.
Oh, I'd buy the card anyway. With money made from selling their stock short.
My cell phone's ringer is never on -- I set it to vibrate. I have gotten a call while in a theater -- I excused myself to the lobby, took the call, and went back in. No more disruptive than getting up to go to the john.
Cell phones aren't the problem -- inconsiderate people are. Some people rely on their cell phones -- in my case, if I hadn't taken the call right then, the caller wouldn't have made it to a party I was having later that evening. Other cases can be more serious -- some people carry cell phones in case of an emergency, or their wife going into labor, or what have you.
On the other hand, I don't pull over when I get a call while driving, so lump me in with the assholes.
Well, it was going to be zero, but you just had to ASK, didn't you?
Uh, hate to burst the bubble of your little security apocalypse, but encryption schemes which will baffle quantum computers have been worked out for a while now, well in advance of the hardware's availability. Of course, for all I know it may *take* a quantum computer to implement these schemes (otherwise it seems like we'd just use them now), which would create two security classes of users, one of whom could penetrate the other's security at will. Yikes.
I'm almost sure the answer to all of this has to do with Nature's Harmonious Time Cube.
I don't see what you're talking about. The headline starts "FBI Warns Companies." It states clearly what they're doing. It doesn't say "FBI Goes after Warchalk[ers,ing]" or anything like that.