Steve's Picks: The stories of 2004 - #4

I thought long and hard where to put this in my list. Part of me thinks it should be number one, as it hurts everyone in the end. On saying that, most people don't give a damn, which is really stupid. It's something they wouldn't accept anywhere else.

So, I bring you number 4 in my list of picks. And a word of warning, it's a long one! So bring a lunch.

There you are one day, buying a book. You get home and decide to sit down and read the book. As you open the book, a largely, burly man comes through your door and stands over your shoulder. You find this a little disturbing, so you put the book down. The man stays there. Thinking it's something to do with the book, you return it. The store refuses to take it back because you've opened the book. In disgust, you toss the book in the garbage and return home, only to find the man still there. You also notice that, while you were away, he's destroyed all your books on computers repairs and photocopiers, as well as broken some plates in the kitchen.

Sounds ridiculous doesn't it in that context. However, that's essentially what Starforce copy protection does. I'm singling out Starforce due to the fact it's by far the most intrusive protection out there. Certainly the only one I know that's caused permanent software damage, and has caused hardware issues, like USB storage devices being wiped clean. However, a lot of what I say relates to the current generation of copy protection as a whole.

Very few titles that employ Starforce document the fact in the EULA you agree to when you install the software. It's installed in secret, and it doesn't uninstall when you remove the game in most cases. Let's see: Software that modifies your system without telling you. Doesn't remove when you uninstall the software it came with. Breaks software on your machine. Goes out of it's way to hide itself. Under the law in some countries, the behaviour it exhibits classifies it as a virus, and therefore makes the creators criminals. Ironic, given that's what the people that use the protection seem to think about all their customers.

Not only that, in every case I've seen, the demo of a title protected by Starforce has shipped with the protection. So you're system winds up with this garbage even if you just install the DEMO.  Where is the justification in protecting a DEMO? The claim is that, by protecting the demo, the developer is making it harder for the cracker to get clues on how to crack the game. I don't believe that's the reason at all. I believe it has everything to do with getting this crap onto peoples systems any way they can, as evidenced by my post before Christmas with a "free gift" from a software developer that I discovered installed Starforce. And of course once you've uninstalled these demos, gifts etc... The device driver that was installed and hidden, remains.

Now, copy protection arguments fall into two camps. Those who accept it, and those who are opposed. However, those who accept it automatically assume that if you're against copy protection, you're a software pirate. They never stop to consider that maybe, just maybe, you actually don't like seeing your fair use rights stripped away. Nor having a software maker dictate what software you can and can't use on your machine. Nor having to download the software cracks the protection was designed to prevent, purely so you can actually run the software you've paid for. Let alone having all this happen without your consent. I am not arguing against copy protection to make piracy easier. Look around on the net. Piracy is rampant. Always has been, always will be. I am arguing against it on the grounds that it's unethical in the way it's being used and deployed these days, and that no industry outside of the software industry would get away with this.

Remember the old days? "Make sure to backup your disks before playing". That was commonly on software in the days of yore. Then the medium became bigger, and more stores started selling software. Due to the possibility you had copied the software, stores would no longer take opened software back. Then came the rise of more and more over the top copy protections. Yet we still can't return opened software to the store. So what's the deal here? We can't return the software we've opened, this heavily protected software, because we may have copied it, despite the copy protection designed to prevent just that. This means one of two things.

1) The industry is admitting the protection doesn't work, and therefore knows it nothing more than an annoyance to the consumer, and yet continues with it.

Or

2) Everyone is out to screw the consumer, and the reason the system is the way it is now is to stop people returning games that are total crap. The store covers themselves, and the developer doesn't have to deal with a heap of returns for that crap title they rushed out for Christmas that doesn't work on most peoples systems, and they don't want to patch.

I'm mainly focusing on Starforce as it's the most intrusive and invasive protection method out there, and I've personally suffered damage from it, as have many other people. In my case, I had a CD burning program. It worked flawlessly. I had installed nothing new on my system. My system is locked down tight against trojans, viruses, I don't use IE, so it's not scumware installed from there. In short, nothing gets on my system without my saying so. My CD burning software worked fine. Then I installed a demo of a Codemasters title. Note that word, a DEMO. My CD burning program immediately died. Whereas prior to the install it had worked flawlessly and had done for some time, it now crashed when I loaded it. An investigation revealed that Starforce drivers had been installed on my system, and the protection has a "blacklist" of software, aka it's programmed to kill certain CD burning applications because if you have them you must be a software pirate since there are absolutely not hundreds of legitimate uses for CD burning software... After much digging, I discovered how to remove it. Said CD burning program was still broken after it's removal. Even a reinstall didn't fix it. This is software I paid for, that a third party decided I wasn't allowed to use. "But maybe it wasn't the Starforce, but maybe it was coincidence." Maybe. However, when I have a software failure on my system, 99 times out of 100, I know exactly what caused it. Starforce was the only new addition to the system. I was never able to fix the software, so barring a full system reinstall, I had to garbage the software that I'd paid for.

I think it's despicable to have a protection method which installs hidden device drivers, has been known to damage USB storage devices, and causes who knows what other issues. If I can raise awareness of this protection method, maybe more people will be as angry as I, and many others, are, and tell developers "ENOUGH!". It's either that, or we'll see more and more intrusive methods of protection. Starforce has pretty much been cracked now, or at least bypassed. We're at a junction. Down one way is where the consumer draws a line in the sand and says "I will NOT buy any software that uses this protection method." Or there's the other route, which is more and more ridiculous protection saying what you can and can't do on your system, and wreaking lord knows what havoc, just because you may do something illegal.

Am I the only one tired of being treated like a criminal by the software industry? I've purchased games that simply won't load on my system due to the copy protection. I have to actively search out cracks, just so I can play the title I've paid for. I've had to do this with Warcraft 3, Neverwinter Nights, Madden 2004 etc... This is on different systems to, so it wasn't just one unique conflict. So, this legally owned software has forced me to break the law, just so I can use it. And in many cases, due to the CRC check, you can't play online using the cracks. Meaning a fundamental selling point of the software is denied to you. I've been unable to play Warcraft 3 online for over a year now, simply because the game won't load without a crack.

If developers and publishers are going to insist on copy protection, then Unreal Tournament 2004 is the way to do it. The initial release was protected. After the first couple of patches, they removed the protection entirely. Right down to you not even needing the disk in the drive. THAT is how to treat the consumer properly and I will gladly buy future versions of UT, simply because they've shown they respect the consumer.

When did I agree to let software protection break other legitimate software on my system because it MIGHT be used for piracy. Isn't that akin to breaking cars because they MIGHT be used in a bank robbery? Some EULA's mention it, usually very near the bottom, long after the reader has fallen asleep. Shoving the information into a long, rambling page of legalese is unacceptable. Especially when you have to open the software to agree with the EULA, meaning if you DON'T agree with it, you're now stuck with a coaster as you can't return it to the store. (NOTE: Microsoft have a policy that states if you DO disagree, you CAN return the software.)

I urge anyone reading this to educate themselves, especially in regards to Starforce. Are you REALLY happy to have secret drivers being installed on your system, that have been shown, in the past, to cause things such as USB storage devices being wiped? Are you happy to have a third party declare what software you can and can't use? Are you happy to see your rights taken away so you can't make a backup of your software, meaning if you disk becomes damaged, you'll have to buy it again? (Maybe that's the point. Anyone who has small children know how at risk disks can be, especially when you have to keep them around because the software insists on having them in the drive.) Are you happy to know you may have to search out cracks, the very thing the protection is supposed to prevent, to run the software you've paid for, and that by having to use a crack, you may no longer be able to play online? Not to mention the fact you've been forced into breaking the law. If you are, then sorry, but you're an idiot.

To check your own system for Starforce, open the device manager in Windows (how you do this varies depending on what version you have), and at the top, in the menus, choose "show hidden devices". Scroll down. If you see the word "Starforce", congratulations, you're system has been infested. Be warned, though, if you uninstall and a title on your system needs it, it won't work.

There are ways around Starforce protection, but I won't document them here. Suffice to say that all of the methods so far still involve having the crap on your system in the first place. As for me, I'm simply refusing to buy any software that uses Starforce. I have also started contacting the publishers to tell them exactly why I won't be purchasing their software.

I debated putting links to places throughout the text. Sadly, The Adventure Company, who were being given more grief than most over using Starforce, went so far as to delete their forums! I don't know if that was the reason. Either way, it had good, solid information which is now sadly gone.

So, rather than dot links throughout the text to distract you from the article, here is some reading. If you've made it this far, I'm sure you won't mind a little more:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7