04-09-2003, 06:17 PM
Yes, I agree - piracy on Consoles is still rampant ... but not AS rampant as piracy on PCs I'd argue. Consoles have the freedom of using non-standard media at a small production cost hit -- for example, the cart systems for N64, SNES, NES. While it was not impossible to defeat the security-through-nonstandard-components system, it certainly raised a fairly large barrier to would-be users and would-be suppliers, a move that my Economics 101 prof would applaud as sound. Sure, back in the PSX days you could chip your console, but early on that required access to a cd-burner (which were expensive and rare back in '96ish) and the ability and sophistication to solder stuff to your PSX mainboard. Compare that with sucking down an ISO of the latest and greatest game off the net (stripped of video and sound for size)...
However, it still stands to reason that the security measures on consoles (rarity/cost of components, hardware boot protections, signed code enforcement) pose a more effective barrier than SecuROM and other PC-based copy-protection mechanisms. The further evolution of these mechanisms - for example by online enforcement through Live! - is just following PC solutions like the online CD-key verification - seen in games such as Q3, Counter-strike, and Diablo 2 - catching up to the latest PC anti-piracy measures while keeping its own.
Anyway, I think it's classic that 007:AUF allows unsigned code to run. I knew it was just a matter of time before someone found a buffer overrun to exploit...after all, we're still getting these types of errors in SSH, Sendmail, etc, which have been open for everyones perusal for many years. There's no special reason why consoles should be immune!
However, it still stands to reason that the security measures on consoles (rarity/cost of components, hardware boot protections, signed code enforcement) pose a more effective barrier than SecuROM and other PC-based copy-protection mechanisms. The further evolution of these mechanisms - for example by online enforcement through Live! - is just following PC solutions like the online CD-key verification - seen in games such as Q3, Counter-strike, and Diablo 2 - catching up to the latest PC anti-piracy measures while keeping its own.
Anyway, I think it's classic that 007:AUF allows unsigned code to run. I knew it was just a matter of time before someone found a buffer overrun to exploit...after all, we're still getting these types of errors in SSH, Sendmail, etc, which have been open for everyones perusal for many years. There's no special reason why consoles should be immune!