Hi,
I think you are pretty much right. However, I don't know of an anti-piracy measure that has lasted a couple of weeks, much less months. The warez community competes to see who can crack the security first. Often they do it on beta code and use it, maybe tweaked, on the golden version. Most games are cracked and available for download within a day of release.
So, if anti-piracy measures do not work, why are they implemented? They don't stop the bad guys, they penalize the good guys, and they burn some of the development funds. Most, if not all, programmers know this. So, when you say 'game companies', who are the people that decide this in those companies? The developers and programmers? They usually don't have the clout. No, it's the management, many of whom are MBAs and lawyers with little technical knowledge. And they, indeed, are not looking for a technical solution. They are looking for a provable technical violation so they can use their usual methods of attacking.
So, the anti-piracy techniques exist, IMO, not so much to stop piracy as to generate a provable action to take to court when suing the pirates.
Either that, or the management is a pack of idiots -- which also merits consideration.
--Pete
(08-10-2010, 03:27 PM)Nystul Wrote: Software companies use anti-piracy measures with the hopes that they will work. Even if they only work for a couple months it would be a big victory.
I think you are pretty much right. However, I don't know of an anti-piracy measure that has lasted a couple of weeks, much less months. The warez community competes to see who can crack the security first. Often they do it on beta code and use it, maybe tweaked, on the golden version. Most games are cracked and available for download within a day of release.
So, if anti-piracy measures do not work, why are they implemented? They don't stop the bad guys, they penalize the good guys, and they burn some of the development funds. Most, if not all, programmers know this. So, when you say 'game companies', who are the people that decide this in those companies? The developers and programmers? They usually don't have the clout. No, it's the management, many of whom are MBAs and lawyers with little technical knowledge. And they, indeed, are not looking for a technical solution. They are looking for a provable technical violation so they can use their usual methods of attacking.
So, the anti-piracy techniques exist, IMO, not so much to stop piracy as to generate a provable action to take to court when suing the pirates.
Either that, or the management is a pack of idiots -- which also merits consideration.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?