Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? in Security

Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? in Security http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r13440835 en Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:19:03 EDT Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:19:03 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13576648 Doctor Four : This is exactly like Starforce or CDilla. All it does is
tick off your legitimate customers and may even force them
to commit copyright infringement (or in the industry's loaded
terms, software piracy) and download a patch or crack, or
even a full warez version of what they legally purchased. As
that pfarrell.com page put it, "copy protection is snake oil."
--
"Kayura or Badamon, whichever you are, you should know that I will never give up this battle. By the will of the Ancient, I shall succeed!" - Shuten (Anubis) from the Ronin Warriors. To RIAA/MPAA - You can sue but you can't catch everyone!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13576648 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 16:05:41 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13576117 salzan : Could you tell us whose program it was?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13576117 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 14:37:55 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13575985 anon : I for one refuse to purchase products from vendors who use PACE Anti-Piracy as it took me 3 hours to remove there TROJAN from my brothers system. All from a trial program, loose pace or loose customers, hmm...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13575985 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 14:16:11 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13575256 dadkins : Let's just say, I run ALOT of anti-??? apps. ;) SpyBot S&D is one of them...

Just thought I would ask about that finding. Thanks Kiwi! ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13575256 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 12:22:23 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13575167 Kiwi : ;) are you running Spybot? {Which now catches a mess of this stuff}; I also use Regseeker when I get lazy. But, I think you have a false positive :) Nothing beats going, find *file* F3 through the reg files. Be careful though for assimilated name sakes with CLSID keys, a hex editor would help.

TPKD, was one of the top listed extensions.

Off hand 2kmaro

you are perhaps clean ;) It seems not ALL Adobe products carry this burden. -Remember, It's left to individual companies how they want to code this crap in -That was my complaint! Privacy is fine and dandy, but should not allow third party whims to decide code changes. {Edit} Also the lack of disclosure. I'm also going to state right here & now, I don't have ANY P2P's or even a hint of that activity on this HD. I'm ligit with everything I run! -As for Sonic, perhaps they re-thought their involvement?

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g
512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512.
ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v
--
AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~
2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13575167 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 12:09:55 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13574821 dadkins : So, is anything named TPKD in the registry bad?
RegSeeker says I have one entry, but it doesn't appear when I open regedit and look for it. :hmm: :huh:

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13574821 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 11:14:41 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13574651 2kmaro : I feel so... so... ignored!

Searched registries on 4 machines for TPKD in keys, values and data and not a peep from any of them.

I do have Adobe Creative Suite 1.x installed on one system, so Adobe seems to have not included audio/video file tracking in the graphic/web development suite.

Also on this system (the laptop) are:
Sonic RecordNow
Sonic Update Manager
InterVideo WinDVD
QuickTime
iTunes
Nero Ultra 6

My personal feeling on any of this type of thing, let's call it ReportWare just to be nice, is that any application that is going to be installed on your system as a part of anything and that will gather any information and provide it to anyone should be required to be listed prominently and in simple words on the package label and in any offer to sell it anywhere - as on-line. Something like:

SuperDuperDVDPlayer
Plays all your CDs, DVDs, downloaded audio files.
ReportWare Included Includes Vaporware's GotchaSucker application that keeps a record of all titles accessed by SuperDVDPlayer and sends daily report of the list without any user interaction - only an internet connection is required. SuperDuperDVDPlayer will NOT function if GotchaSucker is disabled.

IF they had to put notices like that on package and prominently displayed in advertising and during install, at least we'd have less surprises in store down the road.
--
then think again!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13574651 Sat, 04 Jun 2005 10:44:47 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13495513 Kiwi : I went off line yesterday to finish cleaning up, the most amazing mess you ever saw; I'm now quite competent with XP reg files ;)

With WIN2k Pro & '98 I was quite @ home with reg files, but XP was a monster!

This group has over fifty progo's associated with them ~There main associate is: Softpedia. Using Interlok. Google if you wish.

As they won't list the progo's, other than there short list the softpedia Windows progo's are an advanced warning. I was also amazed to find EA games listed! Mac users watch out!

I don't care what they do, but they better give me a choice, before accepting that crap.

Ghost will back your reg up and take them right along with you. I found that BoClean stops them cold, on a call home, but that won't take care of the problem as they are listed in your reg files as legit. I also use a rootkit scanner, now.

When doing the "Delete-You-Fools-Thing" -Wiped out my Vonage connection as well. Everything back to normal -Just too much work though. Who do I bill for someone who uses an ASPI driver, that knocks off a system?

the small font .edu was incorrect, but related. I kept getting kicked off the net, hence the time-out till this was taken care of.

{Edit} I was forced to change my router table/IP to assist in having this mess taken care of!~

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g
512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512.
ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v
--
AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~
2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13495513 Wed, 25 May 2005 20:01:23 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479767 salzan :

said by dadkins

:

If you don't have it already, you might want to look into getting Acronis True Image. Sure saves alot of time if re-installation appears to be the only recourse because of any damage that cannot be repaired. ;)

I agree and use TI8 myself. But in this case, Liquid Player was installed so long ago that this stuff would have been on all of the most current images.:(

said by Kiwi

:

Liquid player came with a CD writer about two years ago that died and had just kept the player.

Aren't stealth installs just great? :mad:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479767 Mon, 23 May 2005 23:47:32 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479446 Kiwi :

said by dadkins

:

Perhaps it is just POed people attacking PACE(and Cronce's home) because they found his crap on their systems. ;)

Thought about that, but why would a visitor to their site lose their DHCP settings, if it was aimed @ them?

PACE, must have direct involvement for that to happen ;)

This needs some serious people, willing to look into this! If I'm wrong, I'll be as happy as being right.

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g 512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512. ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v -- AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~ 2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479446 Mon, 23 May 2005 23:07:06 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479359 dadkins : Perhaps it is just POed people attacking PACE(and Cronce's home) because they found his crap on their systems. ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479359 Mon, 23 May 2005 22:57:11 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479194 Kiwi :

said by salzan

:

Did you find out which Adobe software includes PACE? I've been able to find out very little beyond my original posts on this.

I wonder if a program like Total Uninstall would be able to track all changes made by the driver install.

Well, I'm really and truly ticked now; it seems I have missed something and I don't know yet what -But up front it seems they are messing with my DHCP settings. None of the protection programs picks it up and I'm obviously missing something, I'll spend some time off line to follow up.

Meanwhile Adobe, is on their list I don't know the specific product inference; except that I use most @ work, these don't show up as an issue. I think It boils down to selective re engineering.

I was also 'Shut out' from their site - So, It gets deeper, as I made no reference from here, at home. As soon as I connected to the site and copied the following, I was shut down from the net.

This might prove interesting as It's the only item I got before having my DHCP settings wiped out, though It's related to work environments, not home use.

"Serious gamers will readily complain that not enough of their employers allow them to play games such as IDSoftware’s Quake III over the Internet. Allen Cronce, President of PACE Anti-Piracy, isn’t one of those employers. And he’s glad he has a SonicWALL. "We've been using SonicWALL firewalls to protect our corporate network for almost two years now,” Cronce commented. “Over the past couple of weeks, we've been attacked 5 times.”

All of the attacks, Cronce reported, came during “or shortly after periods where our employees have been playing Quake III over the Internet.”

Talk about an underhanded way to win a game: Cronce and his employees concluded that unscrupulous Quake players were using Pings of Death to “freeze” other players, thereby racking up points on their newly immobilized competition. If video game cheating were the only problem, Cronce might not have been so concerned. But, armed with the IP addresses of machines on the PACE network, the unscrupulous players have launched attacks ranging from Sub-Seven and NETBUS attacks to port scans looking for vulnerable machines on the PACE network.

SonicWALL has proven to be the clear winner. When the attacks come and SonicWALL sends Cronce an E-mail noting that an attack has been detected and thwarted, Cronce admitted, “We actually get this perverse feeling of joy.”

SonicWALL has not only provided the PACE Quake players with a moral victory. Cronce’s staff have been able to, using the SonicWALL logs and trace routes, tip off the ISPs of the attackers, who have then had their activity through those ISPs suspended.

Cronce and PACE opted for the SonicWALL despite the fact that many DSL routers including the one currently deployed at PACE have built-in firewalling functions. “We wanted security separate from our router,” Cronce explained. As local DSL connection options improve and new technology makes upgrading their DSL router feasible (likely from a different router manufacturer), PACE doesn’t want to have to “learn a whole new way of protecting the network.” With SonicWALL, Cronce can “keep the company’s security infrastructure static.”

In addition to the long-standing SonicWALL protecting PACE’s 20-plus node network at the office, Cronce purchased a SonicWALL SOHO for his home. Even there, where the main activity is his wife’s web browsing, DoS attacks have already been spotted and SonicWALL protected the network. As Cronce pointed out, if you don’t have firewall protection, “once you start connecting to” seemingly innocuous services such as web gaming or are even just browsing the web over broadband Internet connections, “you can really get nailed.”

Up front this all really looks legit, but something is definitely wrong, as noted above -I have not had these issues before!

What's real! Well, It seems to strange that I'm now crippled on the net; after posting this! I'm not hiding anything, so it seems a vendetta has begun.

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g 512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512. ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v -- AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~ 2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13479194 Mon, 23 May 2005 22:39:25 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13478839 salzan : Did you find out which Adobe software includes PACE? I've been able to find out very little beyond my original posts on this.

I wonder if a program like Total Uninstall would be able to track all changes made by the driver install.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13478839 Mon, 23 May 2005 21:57:27 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13478317 Kiwi :

said by dadkins

Bought it a few weeks ago, replaced Ghost {Defunct after 2001} -But it has some 'ironies' to work out. For one it won't back up to a DVD like I hoped & needs to be setup on a drive connected to the system full time, then it has issues with USB connected drives. But heck, I'll get around to it ;) In this area I might need some help, perhaps. Still really need to get going & check it out -Having bought it :) Guess I know who to ask ;)

BTW -I'm wondering if anyone else bothered checking to see if any unlisted programs have any of the mentioned files, you think? A collection could be gathered. I have just found that Adobe is selective about who uses their software with PACE, the Government is excluded. Raises an eyebrow -Wonder why...Think that's a pretty good question! It's on their list after all.

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g
512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512.
ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v
--
AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~
2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13478317 Mon, 23 May 2005 21:02:21 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13478070 dadkins : If you don't have it already, you might want to look into getting Acronis True Image. Sure saves alot of time if re-installation appears to be the only recourse because of any damage that cannot be repaired. ;)

On this machine, a complete re-imaging takes 12-14 minutes. :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13478070 Mon, 23 May 2005 20:32:20 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13476955 Kiwi : I must have done ok, as this prompted me find a way to verify the end result -So, I bought Boclean and with a hint or two from Name Game

on how to use it {Does not run with a pop-up, but in the background} -Came up clean!

dadkins

-Truly and indeed a crock! I now have a small drive I use to install & check what progo's do before I load into my HD, that should beat the Beasts to death.

I'm also wondering, at this point if one buys a product second hand, how this affects the new user of that software..Hummmm.

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g 512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512. ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v -- AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~ 2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13476955 Mon, 23 May 2005 18:14:10 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461924 Kiwi : Here is how I was alerted to the issue @ hand.

I'm also wondering Name Game

why the PACE site won't list all the products affected, but are inclined to show a "Few"..Strange, as is this whole bag of worms. Nice catch there Name Game didn't bother to check that out, slap me backwards -But I used it to play ligit CD's that were bought, so I guess they didn't have much fun with me :)

Another strange Item is that the 'Corrupted' file was dated, though the upload from Adaptec was current -But hey, That invoked a search & destroy mission; so I'm happy ;)

I'm still interested on thoughts of this PACE companies practices, seems they have broken several "Rules" in development & implementation.

Although the FAQ may be on their site, it was NOT in the install of LP. Again, practice issues.

Ah, so -It seems this is a variant of a rootkit, now this privacy group will need to do some explaining.

said by Kiwi

:

I'm sort of interested? The latest & greatest!

Seems, this has some ear marks, perhaps. Though I also see some false positives, when running this.

{Edit} -Sorry, I inadvertently uploaded some personal info. Rootkit Revealer had some items of interest.

Cheers

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g
512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512.
ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v
--
AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~
2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461924 Sat, 21 May 2005 14:32:39 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461671 Martinus :

said by Name Game

:

When you use the Liquid Player to preview or purchase music, we collect and store the song names you're previewing...

'nuff.

I'm glad I've never been acquainted with that Liquid Player outfit. It makes WMP sound as really kosher!
--
From the GSV "Ethics Gradient"]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461671 Sat, 21 May 2005 13:52:46 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461549 salzan : Wal-Mart's Music Downloads service uses the Liquid Digital media system. Liquid Press announcement So, by extension, is this DRM scheme (PACE) is being installed on all Wal-Mart customers' machines who use the WMP Plugin download they get "to make their shopping experience more convenient"?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461549 Sat, 21 May 2005 13:35:32 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461315 Name Game : Liquid Digital Media is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes our information gathering and dissemination practices. This document will be updated to remain consistent with new products, services, processes, and Internet privacy legislation.

Please read on to understand how your personal information is treated when you use our products and services.

What information do we gather? How do we use it?

Liquid Player & Passports

When you use the Liquid Player to preview or purchase music, we collect and store the song names you're previewing to ensure proper royalty payments to the musicians and song owners. We also gather the Liquid Player's version, your computer's IP address, machine type and operating system type and version for quality control. In addition, our Web servers gather the referrer URL, Web browser name and IP address to understand Web site usage ("traffic analysis") to improve the site.

When you use the Liquid Player to purchase music, we also gather your unique passport ID. Passports are used to ensure that your music is secure and to protect artists' intellectual property rights. We use two types of passports: Full passports and FastTrack passports. Full passports allow you to download tracks and move them between multiple computers. FastTrack passports allow you to download and listen to music on one machine. A Passport is a file stored on your computer.

When you register for a Full passport or when you register for a Liquid Player Plus upgrade, we collect and store on our servers your name, email address, address, city, state, ZIP/postal code, country, phone number. This information is stored in the Passport. We use your email address to send you an email message confirming your purchase and upgrade to the Liquid Player Plus. In addition we gather and verify your credit card information. We submit this information to one of our payment-processing partners for verification. The payment-processing partner keeps the credit card number after processing. This allows them to maintain error and transaction logs that make it possible to synchronize credit card information with customer names. Our payment-processing partners do not share this information.

Liquid Digital Media does not keep your credit card information on our servers. The credit card information is stored in a protected manner inside the Passport kept on your machine. Do not give your passport to other people! During the registration process, the Liquid Player will ask you for a password to keep your Passport private. We will ask you for a phrase to help you recall a forgotten password. This phrase is stored on our servers to assist you in recalling your password. We also store information that allows us to see who changed or issued the passport.

When you register for a FastTrack Passport, we gather your name, email address, post code, and country. We collect this information in order to restore a lost Passport, and for fraud detection.

At registration time, we also remember if you've chosen to receive periodic communications from Liquid Digital Media.

Liquid Affiliate and Liquid Commerce Web sites

more info here
»www.liquidaudio.com/privacy/
--
Gladiator Security Forum »www.gladiator-antivirus.com/ Missing Kids »www.missingkids.com/]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461315 Sat, 21 May 2005 12:56:33 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461193 Name Game :

said by Kiwi

:

I have sent this to Spybot S&D.

Just located a missed entry -Liquid Player uses the dang thing too, that's my secondary player -Goodbye, Liquid Player!

{Edit}*Wow* Almost doubled the speed on my internet connect, apparently completing the, Er -'Unofficial' Uninstall of the last malwared program made a significant difference!

Now I am interested in this thread..;) Find any more apps..make a list guy.
--
Gladiator Security Forum »www.gladiator-antivirus.com/ Missing Kids »www.missingkids.com/]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461193 Sat, 21 May 2005 12:33:51 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461038 Kiwi :

said by salzan

:

Great that you removed it. :) Were the file names and registry locations/entries that were listed correct or were they changed? It sounds as though the individual vendors can rework the program to suit their own needs. That sure doesn't make it easy to detect/remove. In fact, it kinda sounds like some of the more devious malware...

Also not too surprising it messed up the ASPI drivers, a crude but effective way to keep you from burning CD's loaded with their precious PACE software. :uhh:

How did you find out about Liquid Player? Any clues you could share to help others find this crap would be greatly appreciated.

Accident actually, as an after thought I decided to re check the tpkd in the reg and I must have over locked Liquid Player entries -Because it was saturated through that progo (Or perhaps I didn't want to know I was going to lose LP0) ;) Liquid player came with a CD writer about two years ago that died and had just kept the player.

Completely agree with you, anything that can be reworked by a third party that involves such random/deep reg changes; has the potential of killing almost anything. Those companies only care about their program, not our system. The upside is that I was expecting NERO to be loaded out with this monkey and was not. I'm not surprised at all that the SCSI driver was mutilated.

Again I wished I had followed with recording all the fles, but I was so surprised by the number & depth, I ended focusing on getting rid of the mess instead of tracking.

Guess I could load LP back up and re delete, the problem there though is each set of reg entries were progo specific -As already noted by PACE-Anti-Privacy, these are changed at will from third party sources; each set was different. Apparently though the uninstall worked on that one system, that's even more bizarre, coming from the source of the issues.

I hope Spybot S&D give this thing the once over...

{Edit spelling}
Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g
512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512.
ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v
--
AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~
2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13461038 Sat, 21 May 2005 12:05:42 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13459454 salzan : Great that you removed it. :) Were the file names and registry locations/entries that were listed correct or were they changed? It sounds as though the individual vendors can rework the program to suit their own needs. That sure doesn't make it easy to detect/remove. In fact, it kinda sounds like some of the more devious malware...

Also not too surprising it messed up the ASPI drivers, a crude but effective way to keep you from burning CD's loaded with their precious PACE software. :uhh:

How did you find out about Liquid Player? Any clues you could share to help others find this crap would be greatly appreciated.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13459454 Sat, 21 May 2005 02:23:46 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13457254 Kiwi : I have sent this to Spybot S&D.

Just located a missed entry -Liquid Player uses the dang thing too, that's my secondary player -Goodbye, Liquid Player!

{Edit}*Wow* Almost doubled the speed on my internet connect, apparently completing the, Er -'Unofficial' Uninstall of the last malwared program made a significant difference!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13457254 Fri, 20 May 2005 20:24:39 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13456942 dadkins : Three words: What A Crock! :huh:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13456942 Fri, 20 May 2005 19:39:20 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13456804 Kiwi : email, I have maintained the privacy of the sender:

Noted to this company: Please send the uninstaller for the reg entries created, that I was completely unaware of. There was no indication that your software was being installed; I have no reason or purpose for it and want it removed off my system ASAP. It would be a recommended Endeavour to inform owners of software that you intend to install PACE-Anti-Piracy on their paid for system. I find the methods used meet the criteria for spyware.

Thank you for your opinion.

Removal of the Interlok driver is simple. If the software you installed which used out technology did not properly remove our components in It’s uninstall you may do so via two simple methods.

1)If the software which used our technology included the option, you may remove our components via Windows “Add/Remove Programs” feature found in the ‘Control Panel’.
2)You may download our Interlok Extentsions installer from our website and use It’s uninstall feature. You will need to launch the installer from our website and use It’s uninstall feature. You will need to launch the installer then choose the “Uninstall” option. The following link will take you there [Not linked].

Yet another available option (If you are using Windows XP) is to use a restore point prior to the installation of the software which used our technology. To do this you would have to have this Windows feature enabled. For further information on restore points and how to use them, please refer to Windows Help.
We hope this information has been helpful.

Are you suggesting I install and then uninstall –Exactly why was this not optional on removing the infected software and because of this scenario why should I trust that the install does not further lay waste to the reg files. There was no “Install/Uninstall” related to Windows for InterLok or PACE! I noted the list of critical issues/problems related to your unannounced installation. If I had not suspected a reg entry causing issues, I would not have found your pretty well hidden files [At least to the unsuspecting]. As it happened your software corrupted the Adaptec SCSI ASPI driver. So, you see that such malware with documented issues should not be blindly loaded onto an owners system. [To keep this short I tagged the issues off their site, at this point].

None of the suggestions we provided you suggest to "install and then uninstall". Typically any software installer application will give you the option to 'install' or 'uninstall'. If you choose 'install' it will actually install the software. Choosing 'uninstall' will of course uninstall the specified software.

We leave the choice up to you on how you wish to continue with the information we have provided to you.
We also leave the option to the software developer on how they wish to use our technology. We give them the tools and they build the software. We cannot explain why the option to uninstall our technology was not provided other then the software developer choose not to incorporate this feature.

Again we thank you for your opinion and perplexed on your claim that our technology has corrupted your "Adaptec SCSI ASPI driver" as this would be the first such incident in the 15+ years of our technology being available to the public.

Do you know what version of our driver was installed at the time of installing the software developer's product in question? Did you attempt the basic of computer diagnostics and installed the latest version of available drivers? We were unable to determine this based on your initial response to us.

Please let us know as we take pride in resolving any issue that comes to our attention. We appreciate your initiative in contacting us for support in getting to the bottom of what it is you are experiencing.
We hope to hear back from you very soon.

I added the italics, to make a point.

So this is a privacy based company that allows the software vendors to manipulate the "Privacy" software -Well, that's an easy way to get a bad name fast! I don't use "Restore" -There are good reasons and one is inadvertently re-installing walware. It surprises me that this company can even guess at the results if a third party can indeed change how it functions.

At the very least, there should be a notification of installation and that It has the potential to damage your system files, as already noted (Won't repeat) by salzan.

I'm also surprised that a "Software Privacy" company suggests methods of uninstalling It's software -All too much for me.

Cheers

Malware
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g 512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512. ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v -- AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~ 2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13456804 Fri, 20 May 2005 19:19:12 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13451470 salzan : Not a lot of readily available info out there about this but it seems to have several variations depending upon the application. Low end programs install a "driver" similar to StarForce as dadkins

mentioned. A different version may be associated with high end programs, many of which require a "dongle" with the activation code to function. Considering the number of companies using this protection scheme, I suspect many people have PACE that don't have a clue it's on their systems.

Problems known to be related to PACE:

* Inaccessible floppy drives. This could also apply to any other device using IRQ 6.
* BSOD on shutdown or start up with "DRIVER_POWER_STATE_ERROR". This is related to the above.
* Spontaneous reboots.
* Corrupt registry entries (could be related to spontaneous reboots if Windows is writing to the registry when this occurs.)
* Missing (not zero-byte, but none) paging file (swapfile.)
* Inaccessible boot device.

The only uninstall info I can find at the Pace site requires you to download and run the driver install program. If the program finds you have PACE drivers present you're supposed to choose the "uninstall" option. I don't know exactly what happens if you don't have the PACE drivers installed. Maybe it just goes ahead and installs them....:(

It would be interesting to know where the companies mentioned in the partial clients list use this technology. For instance, if Adobe is using it in house for internal security, fine. If, however, it's being bundled with Photoshop demos, that's not so fine.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13451470 Fri, 20 May 2005 02:13:02 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13451031 TheJoker : I seem to have the PACE entries also. I've never used Sonic's MyDVD, but I do have Sonic's Backup MyPC (previously Veritas Backup Exec Desktop). I'd bet that's where mine came from.
--
TheJoker]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13451031 Fri, 20 May 2005 00:32:52 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13450479 salzan : I'm interested but I'm still trying to figure out what this is all about. I have Sonic MyDVD but it's version 4.6.0. I can't find any of the files that should have been installed with PACE. I also have Adobe products but haven't yet figured out which ones are affected, if any.
This page has this partial list of products.

# Adobe (Adobe Systems, Inc.)
# Agfa (Agfa Division Bayer Incorporated)
# Antares (makeres of Auto-tune plug-in)
# Avid (Avid Sports LLC)
# Corel (Corel Corporation)
# Curious Labs (Curious Labs)
# Digidesign (Digidesign, Inc.) makers of ProTools
# Disney (The Walt Disney Company)
# Dolby (Dolby Laboratories, Inc.)
# Electronic Arts (Electronic Arts)
# Inprise (Inprise Corporation)
# InstallShield (Installshield)
# Kodak (Eastman Kodak Company)
# Lexicon (Lexicon, Inc.)
# Linotype (Linotype Hell GmBH)
# Morisawa (Morisawa and Company, Ltd.)
# NetObjects (NetObjects, Inc.)
# Opcode (Opcode Systems, Inc.)
# Pantone (Pantone, Inc.)
# Pinnacle Systems (Pinnacle Systems)
# Sanyo (Sanyo)
# Steinberg (Steinberg, Inc.) makers of Cubase, Nuendo and other packages
# Trakker Technologies (Trakker Technologies)
# Waves (Waves Ltd.)
# Yoon Design (Yoon Design Institute)

I've been using this info to try to find any trace on my systems:
"How can I tell if I have PACE on my system?

Pace installs the following Registry key trees:
HKEY/LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Enum/LEGACY_TPKD/
HKEY/LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet002/Enum/LEGACY_TPKD/
HKEY/LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/TPKD/
HKEY/LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/LEGACY_TPKD/

There may be more.

Pace installes the following files:

On a Windows 2000 Professional system:
C:\WINNT\Tpkdboot.reg
C:\WINNT\System32\Drivers\tpkd.sys"
:(]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13450479 Thu, 19 May 2005 23:03:20 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13450358 Kiwi : I'm sort of interested? The latest & greatest!

Seems, this has some ear marks, perhaps. Though I also see some false positives, when running this.

{Edit} -Sorry, I inadvertently uploaded some personal info. Rootkit Revealer had some items of interest.

Cheers]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13450358 Thu, 19 May 2005 22:45:02 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13449526 Kiwi : I'm surprised nobody seems interested! Considering the Reg depth and invasive nature of this product!

I remember the StarForce fiasco, but fortunately avoided the effects -Didn't run their software...But, on an unrelated note Black&White was "Fun" - Fixed that one & they wanted to know how, but kind of "Give it to us"..Huh!

Wondering where the folks are on this issue, that being Zzzz "Security". Has this site gone to sleep..No realistic input or thoughts, it seems! Particularly as I see nothing related to this on a DSLR search.....

Come on, this deserves some input?

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g 512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512. ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v -- AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~ 2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13449526 Thu, 19 May 2005 21:10:08 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13448512 dadkins : Kinda reminds me of StarForce Game "Protection" Driver(I have the removal tool if anyone needs it). You remove the game, guess what's still on your machine... :(]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13448512 Thu, 19 May 2005 18:50:37 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13448401 Kiwi : I won't state here how I notified them, but they will definitely get the message:

Told them I was going to have them reviewed for unsolicited software installation and lack of an uninstall. I also stated their software met the criteria for spyware. -Short version.

Spent 2.5 hrs going through the reg files & finally killed them off {Wish I had remembered each & every action} So, I don't need their uninstaller. I'm amazed @ the products tied to this dang thing and I do have a slight glitch I'll have to fix, due to deleting the blasted PACE entries. An uninstaller should be provided.

If I take the software product(s) off my Rig, that used PACE Anti-Piracy ~Then, It's prudent they have no further Rights to my Rig!

I'm ticked, over this.
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g 512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512. ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v -- AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~ 2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13448401 Thu, 19 May 2005 18:37:28 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13442526 dadkins : »www.paceap.com/contact.html

Contact them and ask what has to be done to remove that BS!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13442526 Wed, 18 May 2005 23:48:21 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13442075 Kiwi : Based on your response, I searched the forum for DRM -Nothing anywhere around here on PACE; found this:

»Re: How To Save The Internet

Now, unless NERO, PowerDVD or the removed MyDVD; planted this seed -I have nothing else that would even hint @ a reason to have this in my reg files. Certainly no warning or uninstall. Crafty, whom-so-ever dealt this one out!

Looks dicey to remove without an uninstall....

Thanks.
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g 512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512. ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v -- AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~ 2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13442075 Wed, 18 May 2005 22:44:55 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13440835 dadkins : Either way, this is BS! I don't have a Tivo, so this most likely won't affect me, but ANYTHING that installs without notice is MALWARE!

All this DRM crap is getting out of hand! :mad:]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13440835 Wed, 18 May 2005 20:12:11 EDT Re: PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13440318 Kiwi : No comment from the experts, on this item?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13440318 Wed, 18 May 2005 19:01:03 EDT PACE Anti-Piracy? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13432633 Kiwi : I'm still getting used to WINXP Pro reg files & while going through the reg files I found a reference that did not add up, perhaps?

PACE Anti-Piracy:
»www.museresearch.com/press_relea···ilok.php

Seems to have a rather large key component under it, is this something to be concerned about; have no idea how this was installed. Certainly not detected by any protective software, am I overly concerned about this entry?

{Edit} -Now it gets interesting...»www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2005/02/soni···and.html Seems this tracks back to the kernel killer MyDVD

»q.queso.com/archives/001606

Seems it's spyware.

Cheers
--
2.66g/533fsb Intel CPU @ 3.48g
512meg Twinmos PC3700~466 DDR @ 2.8v -PCpower&Cooling 512.
ATI 9500 Pro @ 9700 Pro @1.6v
--
AMD ASUS A7N8X-E ~
2500+ @3200 ATI 9500 Pro, Corsair 512LL.-- Aristotle.net]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13432633 Tue, 17 May 2005 21:02:17 EDT