🚀 go-pugleaf

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic Tecknomage <teck...@nospam.com> wrote:

> You are correct in your attitude towards piracy, but developers _do_
> become the enemy when they threaten to stop development for the PC.

> It's not the piracy issue, it's their reaction to it.

Which is pretty stupid.  Piracy is MORE prevelent on consoles than PCs - 
mainly because the market is larger, and it's easier to pirate a console 
game.

> By the way, there is a solution idea that comes from an old hardware
> security method.  I worked at Unisys (mainframe computer systems) in
> the recent past, and one product line used a parallel-port code device
> that plugged into a system's parallel port.  This device got encrypted
> for just that machine.  Then you install the applicable software that
> created a partition on the system that could not be access without the
> device plugged in.  Want to secure the data/programs in that
> partition, remove the device and lock it in a safe.  Note you could
> still use the system, but cannot access the protected partition
> without the device.  Note, in the mainframe world "partition" is not
> necessarily = hard drive partition.

Ugh.  I hated those things!  Stupid dongles!  A friend of mine worked in a 
lab that used such a program.  Only theirs was locked to the MAC address 
of an ancient, ISA, 10baseT ethernet card.  The company was long gone, but 
he still needed the software and it wouldn't work without its key.  
Eventually they had to buy a new program because PCs no longer came with ISA 
slots.

BTW, such systems aren't feasible nowadays.  It's far too easy to simply 
dump the data from the dongle, and clone your own.  Oh, wait, you want to 
use a proprietary port or something?  Haha!  Good luck with that!

> Developers could implement the same idea via software and without
> having to use the net like Steam.  Like provide a unique USB device
> (an option to the parallel one) with each game, that would have to be
> plugged in to play.

What's to stop me from doing a dump of the USB key and cloning it?

You wouldn't even have to clone the key onto a USB drive - just create a 
virtual drive that has the key in it.  People already do that with 
programs like virtual CD.

And what of the legitimate users who lose their key and the original 
company is no longer around so they can't even get a replacement?

Or the fact that including a dongle with each game will drive prices up at 
least $10.

> By the way, console games may be harder to pirate, especially for the
> common gamer, but professionals will always find a way.  The do.

Got a PC with at least a DVD-ROM and DVD-R drive in it?  Got Nero?  You've 
got all you need to pirate console games.  You'll need to burn a special 
boot disc, then you can copy/download your game burn them a DVD-R, and 
you're all set.  Need games?  Try Blockbuster, or Gamefly.com if you 
aren't comfortable downloading ISOs from the internet.

I'd say PC games are harder to pirate because you'll probably want to get 
rid of any annoying DRM/copy protection on there, which means hacking the 
ISO image before burning (or somehow getting a pre-hacked ISO in the first 
place.)

Honestly, do a search for things like "PS2 backups".  The new Wii has been 
cracked already.  The 360 has been cracked, and re-cracked as Microsoft 
has already attempted an anti-crack patch in the later hardware.

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