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Uriziel
Grand Mage
Joined: 17 May 2002
Posts: 735
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quote:
Originally posted by GothicGothicness
It's intressing you have a theory on how to make a completely secure distrubution Uriziel, are you intressed in becoming a billionaire? ( that's how much you'd make if you'd present a perfect solution to just about any company , don't forget to patent it first though  )
The entire problem is not related to encryption or anything like that, the problem is that you can't tell, if a CD has been copied or if it's the original. It won't matter how much encryption you have on the install.
You totally missed the point. It DOES NOT MATTER if it is copied. In fact from a marketing standpoint you want EVERYONE to try and install a copy. You can activate protection based on many things....time being only one, another being a certain level....another being how many keystrokes the PC has had, or ....
And I am not talking theory, we use it everyday, I just did'nt give you the full implementation. I'll give you a simple test........go hack IntegriClaim. It is server based auth....and is WAY more than most hackers can handle. Try it! you will go to jail, and rightly so, and that system is gradeschool. And before you go to jail, I AM NOT wanting you to hack any software....I am only giving an example.
My point was simple: You can easily secure content....and I will clarify that statement. Secure is relative and is based on cost versus return. You write code to make it hard enough for others to think it is not worth the trouble to hack it. Let's say I could write a scheme that takes 10,000 years to crack....it STILL is not unhackable, but the return really sucks. They hack for 10,000 years to finally crack it.....is the market still there? Of course that is an extreme example, but it typifies P&L decisions. There are times when you WANT to be hacked! And I guess I must explain that also. DTV, the satellite company basically opened the satTV market. They had a totally insecure system and did not care. They had pirates being salesmen for them. The pirates would get people wary of the high DTV prices to use their hacked systems. As DTV's business grew they tightened security and started harassing the pirated systems and many people decided to pay DTV for uninterrupted service because the pirated systems were just toooo much trouble.....but they wanted the dtv service. Now you will think WHY would dtv give away programming with little fight.....well THINK! The "stolen" programming cost them nothing since they had already paid for the distrib rights. The people getting "free" programming did not want to buy dtv's service at the asking price anyway, SOOOO dtv had everything to gain(customers that might decide to pay), and it cost them NOTHING! But then the real joke comes into play. DTV used the media to target the hackers...ummmm...pirates and made the public think they are paying more for satTV content because of the free viewers, so the FBI came to work for DTV to roundup the pirates and their customers.....at taxpayers expense!
I will summarize: piracy is not always bad, and can be an effective marketing tool to reach a customer base you can NOT reach.
Now you will prolly ask if DTV's system could have been secure??? I'll put it this way....after their new signups leveled off they amazing came out with an unhacked system.
_________________
Chris: Dad, what's the blow-hole for?
Peter: I'll tell you what it's not for, son. And when I do, you'll understand why I can never go back to Sea World. |
Thu Jul 21, 2005 1:11 pm |
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guest
Guest
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integriclaim has been hacked already but your point is well taken |
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Sat Aug 06, 2005 5:43 am |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
I agree with Uriziel that most publishers are on the wrong track about piracy. I think the main reason is that they donīt consider it enough of a problem to assign significant resources to it.
A simple, relatively comfortable method has been used by Zuxxez for Earth 2160 in the German market. The DVD didnīt have any CP whatsoever, after the installation you dont even need the DVD any more. After installing the game you could play for a short time, then you had to activate it via web or automated phone call. Zuxxez said both is anonymous. You could install the game with the received install code (a) an unlimited number of times on this PC (-> hardware checksum) and (b) on 3 different PCs, each an unlimited number of times. After this you had to register to get additional keys. Not "ask for" keys - they said you will get them. Even selling the game on Ebay or lending it to a friend was explicitly allowed.
This procedure cuts down on big piracy issues while avoiding the CP problems we all know. Of course Zuxxez also provided bonus packs, etc., to encourage players to register their copy.
I have to say I like this approach.
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Webmaster GothicDot |
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Sat Aug 06, 2005 7:08 am |
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Gorath
Mostly Harmless
Joined: 03 Sep 2001
Posts: 6327
Location: NRW, Germany |
I think another perspective on digital distribution is also interesting.
A small publisher might not have the negotiation power to push through digital distribution against the big retailers for their full price games. But take a look how many older RPGs are hard to find at retail. Arx and Gothic are almost impossible to buy outside their home markets nowadays.
Selling the back catalog online could result in a nice little extra income, especially because the publisher (or developer ? A matter of IP and negotiation.) gets almost 10$ profit out of a 10$ game instead of maybe 1$ at retail.
Combine this with the service used by 3D Realms for Prey and you can answer the question "Where can I buy game XXX in country YYY?" with "Go here, download it and you can start playing after 20 minutes while the download finishes.".
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Webmaster GothicDot |
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Sat Aug 06, 2005 7:20 am |
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