Copy Protection Firms Encourage Piracy?

Ars Technica has a reflection on the revelation that StarForce had linked to pirated versions of Galactic Civilizations II. From the piece: "It's not hard to see why the publishers use the stuff; after all, no one wants to spend a couple of years on a project only to see their efforts rewarded by flat sales and a robust pirate market. Still, in the quest for better protection, these copy protection schemes have grown in both sophistication and invasiveness. Some schemes now install their own hidden device drivers that monitor your computer's optical drive access, trying to prevent copying and other unapproved uses. (If this sounds familiar, it should. Game copy protection, after all, is just another form of DRM.)"

GalCiv2

[Bios_Hakr]

GalCiv2 does have DRM of a type; you have to install StarDock in order to unpack the game data files. Think of it as almost like Steam.

You also need an official CD key in order to download patches and other additional content.

GC2 allows (and encourages) you to install a copy of the game on as many computers as possible. I even got instructions in the official IRC channel (irc.stardock.com #galciv) to make it easier to move the files between PCs.

The only other commerical game I can think of that has no real DRM is Falcon: Allied Force. The only time you need the CD is when you install a patch. There is no CD key and the game is huge online. If you ever wanted to learn more than the common person wants to know about the F-16 Fighting Falcon, grab Allied Force and a joystick.

Well covered by Penny Arcade

[Elwood P Dowd]

Penny Arcade news post on StarForce thugs [penny-arcade.com]

The comic will briefly be available here [penny-arcade.com],

And later it will appear in its permanent location: Penny Arcade comic on StarForce thugs [penny-arcade.com]

(I wonder if they'll ever sort out their flakey software.)

Re:Not sure.

[Bios_Hakr]

StarForce are really showing their colours here. These guys are basicly acting like mobsters. "Buy our software or we'll show (with links) where people can pirate your game." There really needs to be a day of recokning for these Russian Mobsters, as well as any company who buys their product.

Ubi is officially on my shit list. I actively encourage piracy of Ubi games until they stop using SF. I give classes at local LAN parties on how to use BitTorrent, VMWare, GameCopyWorld, and Daemon tools to actively circumvent copy protection.

Re:Not surprising...

[Anonymous Coward]

Not to be pedantic or anything, but Dell offers Linux boxes. You just have to dig REALLY hard to find them.