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Irritation-Ware
Copy protection with a mean streak

Users in our forums have grown increasingly irritated with a new copy protection system dubbed Starforce. While stopping software piracy is the scheme's goal, the system instead causes system slowdowns, PC instability, device conflicts, is nearly impossible to remove manually, and remains long after you've uninstalled the software it came with.

Dubbed "cutting edge activation technology" by the product's creators, the software quietly installs device drivers without informing the user. Once installed, users can open Device Manager, click on "view" and then "show hidden devices" (Screenshot) to see their new uninvited house guests.

Once four different device drivers are installed, the software monitors your CD-drive to confirm you're using the original CD, while the system encrypts executable files, but also non-executable files included in the application. The software also collects system information and creates an error report should anything go wrong.

Plenty does.

Users report that the software gobbles up computing cycles, slows CD drive read-times, creates CD-R read errors even after removal, and is responsible for a number of device conflicts - particularly with external USB drives. Users who have tried to remove the product manually have often damaged their systems to the point of needing a fresh OS install.

If users aren't irritated by the system issues, the unannounced installation, or the privacy implications of such a program, they usually are bothered to learn that the drivers are not removed when a user removes the host application. Users also aren't alerted to the driver installation by the end-user license agreement present in most of the games that employ the protection technology.

Users have developed this cleanup utility to remove Starforce, though needless to say - users who remove the protection won't be playing the game they paid for, unless they do some digging. Ironically many users who loathe piracy are turning toward no-cd cracks or other cracking tools to play games they've plunked down hard-earned cash to enjoy.

"So ironic, i have never in my life been to one of these Warez sites before, until the bloody copy protection gets so virus/Nazi like i have to," complains a user at Gone Gold, a website dedicated to the latest PC game releases.

So does the system prevent piracy? From a quick glance, nearly every title that uses the protection scheme is cracked and available on torrent trackers, IRC, or Usenet. The latest game to employ the scheme, Soldiers: Heroes of World War 2, was released several weeks ago and the U.S. version has yet to be cracked - though several in the "scene" inform us it's expected this week.

Is a two week piracy delay worth wrecking the systems of potential customers?
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FDisk
O.O?
join:2003-08-18
Israel

2 edits

1 recommendation

FDisk

Member

All I got to say.

All those copy protections are worth.... (look below).

.. []
.. []
.. []
.( )( )

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: All I got to say.

LOL

They just don't get it do they ?

Now they'll lose honest customers just because they tried to prevent people like me from playing their games...
Anonymous88

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: All I got to say.

There is no reason to be pissed off because people like me create such huge problems for honest people like you

How about you join us ?

Plldwnyrpnts
join:2003-04-19
Chicago, IL

1 edit

Plldwnyrpnts

Member

Re: All I got to say.

"How about you join us ?"

Been a member for 5 years now.

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: All I got to say.

said by Plldwnyrpnts:
"How about you join us ?"

Been a member for 5 years now.

Nice to hear that!

RR Conductor
Ridin' the rails
Premium Member
join:2002-04-02
Redwood Valley, CA

RR Conductor to Anon

Premium Member

to Anon
LOL

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
Netgear WNDR3700v2
Zoom 5341J

KrK

Premium Member

Re: All I got to say.

What's really pathetic is anyone attempting to bypass or disable StarForce protection *EVEN ON GAMES THEY BOUGHT* is in violation of the D.M.C.A. and could be imprisoned/fined or sued for their circumvention efforts....

... especially the people who "crack" or develop the bypass and then explain it/distribute it to others.

I knew the day would come when people would begin to realize that the people that make these cracks are actually doing us a valuable service and aren't "terrorists".
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: All I got to say.

said by KrK:
What's really pathetic is anyone attempting to bypass or disable StarForce protection *EVEN ON GAMES THEY BOUGHT* is in violation of the D.M.C.A. and could be imprisoned/fined or sued for their circumvention efforts....

... especially the people who "crack" or develop the bypass and then explain it/distribute it to others.

I knew the day would come when people would begin to realize that the people that make these cracks are actually doing us a valuable service and aren't "terrorists".

What it is doing is a violation of the law too
Also a Virus WITER can say the same thing about removing his Virus

What it is doing is a violation of the law too
aslo a
Joe12345678

Joe12345678 to KrK

Member

to KrK
said by KrK:
What's really pathetic is anyone attempting to bypass or disable StarForce protection *EVEN ON GAMES THEY BOUGHT* is in violation of the D.M.C.A. and could be imprisoned/fined or sued for their circumvention efforts....

... especially the people who "crack" or develop the bypass and then explain it/distribute it to others.

I knew the day would come when people would begin to realize that the people that make these cracks are actually doing us a valuable service and aren't "terrorists".

There may some IT guy that thinks that it is spyware, keyloger or a Virus and takes it off.

click_310
Eat my shorts
join:2002-12-06
Savannah, GA

click_310 to Anonymous88

Member

to Anonymous88

Re: All I got to say.


Now they'll lose honest customers just because they tried to prevent people like me from playing their games...
A lot of people buy games because they don't know how or where to get them for free. I don't condone piracy but people who use no-cd cracks for games that they buy because of this stupid copy protaction system will stop buying games, as soon as they discover that they can get teh same game for $0.00 !

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: All I got to say.

Well to be honest I have purchased a copy of Call Of Duty after playing a demo only. I do purchase games that I like, but I prefer to try it out illegally (full version).

I just downloaded Ground Control 2 and Deus EX IW and they suck!

Removed both within an hour...

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran to Anonymous88

Premium Member

to Anonymous88
said by Anonymous88:
LOL

They just don't get it do they ?

Now they'll lose honest customers just because they tried to prevent people like me from playing their games...

The developers of FarCry lost me as a customer when I saw the warning label on the box.

Don't they realize that the more invasive they make the copy protection, the more they encourage piracy? Ever notice how older companies, such as LucasArts and Sierra, seem to understand this (check out Jedi Knight 2. No protection at all. I bought it. AVP2, serial needed only for Internet play. I bought it.), while newer ones don't?

Kim Jong
Mo Dollar Plz
Premium Member
join:2002-09-01
North Korea

Kim Jong

Premium Member

muahah

'though several in the "scene" inform us it's expected this week' people in the 'scene' don't talk about 'scene'.

Dream Killer
Graveyard Shift
Premium Member
join:2002-08-09
Forest Hills, NY

Dream Killer

Premium Member

BS

That kind of "protection" should be illegal. It behaves the same way as a virus does. It's just not beneficial to user or vendor.

Wejo
@208.2.x.x

Wejo

Anon

Re: BS

I bet we can find some lawyers ready to sue the hell out of them !

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

dadkins

MVM

LOL!

Doesn't Alcohol 120% bypass it?

mustang03282
join:2003-01-10
Bridgeton, NJ

mustang03282

Member

Re: LOL!

i use alchole120% to emulate my kids games only about half the games work when playing off a virtual cd rom.
I have droped over 500$ in reader rabbit and jump start cd's for my 3 year old son and 5 year old daughter I think i have a right to make a backup of the cd or play the game without using the cd. Who in their right mind would want to let a 5 year old handel cd worth 75$

I wish there was no cd hacks for kids games

HiVolt
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON

HiVolt

Premium Member

WTF?

Isn't it friggin illegal to deliberately cause malfunction of someone's computer, even if the supposedly pirated software is removed?

KeepOnRockin
Music Lover Forever
Premium Member
join:2002-11-08
Beaverton, OR

KeepOnRockin

Premium Member

Yawn


If it isn't another copy-protection scheme. It will miserably fail just like all the others have. The good software release groups will have cracked this before they release their "warez" onto the internet.

This is just another way to keep the honest people honest. It does nothing to deter people who want still want to pirate the "protected" software. They will find a way.
Hardcore
The Sausage King
Premium Member
join:2002-08-23
Albany, GA

Hardcore

Premium Member

Re: Yawn

It reminds me of the hell I went through with Warcraft III and it's patch that surreptiously installed SafeDisc with it...and ruined it. I ended up being on the phone with Blizzard and email tagging them until they released a patch that corrected the problem.
B04
Premium Member
join:2000-10-28

B04

Premium Member

Talk With Your Wallets, Folks


What crap. Take your money elsewhere -- it got Intuit's attention in a hurry when TurboTax's crazy boot sector hijacking copy protection got publicized and people started switching.

I thought we got over this kind of nonsense after the days when Lotus required a run-time floppy.

Good thing I don't play games. What a boatload of crud you people put up with.

If there were a way to take a chunk of flesh before every game play and verify your DNA, these companies would do it -- and a lot of sheeplike users would comply! (No offense, sheepexplode See Profile.)

-- B

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: Talk With Your Wallets, Folks

Then just don't buy any games!

If you want to play some games you can always download, besides there is a huge community of cracked servers online.

Spend your money on something worth it

Oh and here is a link to removal tool

»www.jeffjones.org/files/ ··· lean.zip
Anonymous88

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: Talk With Your Wallets, Folks

From GG forum

List of games

AceSaga N/A ? N/A StarForce

American Conquest N/A CDV Software Russia StarForce 3

Anito: Defend A Land Enraged N/A Anino Entertainment Asia StarForce 1
Anstoss 4 N/A ? Germany StarForce 3

Army Men N/A 3DO Russia StarForce

Bandits: Phoenix Rising N/A Tri Synergy N/A StarForce 3.03.036.001

Breed 1.0 CDV US StarForce 3.3.33.06

Breed N/A CDV France StarForce 3.3.33.08

Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon N/A

Revolution US StarForce

Chrome N/A Strategy First Russia StarForce 3

Codename: Outbreak N/A Virgin Interactive Russia StarForce 1

Cossacks: Back To War N/A CDV Software Russia StarForce 1

Cossacks: European Wars N/A GSC Russia StarForce 3

Curse: The Eye of Isis N/A Dreamcatcher Interactive N/A StarForce 3

Cycling Manager 3 N/A GMX Media N/A StarForce 3

Dead to Rights N/A Hip Interactive N/A StarForce 3

Demonic Speedway N/A ? Poland StarForce 3

Desert Rats vs. Afrika Corps 1.0 Monte Cristo France StarForce 3.3.31.19

DTM Race Driver 2 N/A Codemasters N/A StarForce 3.3.35.02

Emergency Fire Response N/A Dreamcatcher Interactive N/A StarForce 3

Enigma: Rising Tide N/A Tesseraction Games N/A StarForce 3

Etherlords N/A Fishtank Interactive Russia StarForce 1

Etherlords II N/A Strategy First N/A StarForce 3.03.031.021

Fire Chief N/A Strategy First N/A StarForce 3

Fire Department N/A Monte Cristo N/A StarForce 3

Gangland N/A Whiptail Interactive N/A StarForce 3.03.031.021

Heroes of Might & Magic IV: The Gathering Storm N/A 3DO Russia StarForce

Horse Race Manager N/A Cyanide N/A StarForce 3

Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter N/A Interplay UK StarForce 3

IL-2 Sturmovik N/A Ubi Soft Russia StarForce 1

Kicker Manager 2004 N/A Deep Silver N/A StarForce 3.03.036.001

Kill Switch 1.0 Namco France StarForce 3.3.33.08

Korea: Forgotten Conflict N/A CENEGA N/A StarForce 3

Magna Carta N/A Korea N/A StarForce 1

Magnamedia N/A Russia N/A StarForce 3

Mercedes-Benz World Racing N/A TDK Mediactive Spain StarForce 3

Might & Magic IX: Writ of Fate N/A 3DO Russia StarForce

Narsillion N/A ? Russia StarForce 1

Obscure N/A Hydravision Entertainment N/A StarForce 3.3.36.01

Pax Romana N/A Dreamcatcher Interactive N/A StarForce 3

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time N/A Ubisoft Russia StarForce 3

Pro Rugby Manager N/A Digital Jesters N/A StarForce 3.3.33.08

Rally Championship Xtreme N/A Warthog Entertainment Software N/A StarForce

Rendezvous 3 N/A ? Russia StarForce

Restaurant Empire N/A Enlight Software N/A StarForce

Revolution N/A Activision Value Publishing N/A StarForce

Runaway: A Road Adventure N/A Tri Synergy N/A StarForce 3

Seventh Seal: The Resurrection of the Dark Lord N/A ? Asia StarForce 2

Shtyrlits 3: USSR Agent N/A ? Russia StarForce 1

Siege of Avalon N/A Digital Tome Russia StarForce 1

Silent Storm N/A Nival N/A StarForce 3

Silkolene Honda Motocross GP N/A Midas Interactive Entertainment N/A StarForce 3

Sniper N/A ? N/A StarForce 3

Soldiers: Heroes of World War II 1.05.1 Codemasters N/A StarForce 3.03.036.001

Tennis Masters Series: Battleground of Champions N/A Microids Asia StarForce

Tennis Masters Series: Battleground of Champions 1.1 Microids Czech StarForce 3

The Heroes of Three Kingdoms N/A N/A Asia StarForce

The I Of The Dragon N/A Primal Software Russia StarForce 3

The Westerner N/A Focus Home Interactive France StarForce 3.3.31.21

TOCA Race Driver 2 1.0 Codemasters N/A StarForce 3.3.35.02

TOCA Race Driver 2 1.1 Codemasters N/A StarForce 3.3.36.01

TOCA Race Driver 2 1.2 Codemasters N/A StarForce 3.3.36.01

Track Mania N/A Nadeo N/A StarForce 3.03.035.004

Trackmania N/A Nadeo N/A StarForce 3

UFO: Aftermath 1.00 CENEGA Spain StarForce 3

V8 Supercars 2 N/A Codemasters Australia StarForce 3.3.35.02

Wildlife Park N/A Encore, Inc N/A StarForce 3

World War II: Frontline Command 1.0.0.0 Strategy First N/A StarForce

World War II: Frontline Command N/A Strategy First N/A StarForce 3

X2: The Threat N/A Enlight Software N/A StarForce 3.3.30.5

Xuan-Yuan Sword 4 N/A ? ASIA StarForce 2

Also they apparently include this protection with the demos of some of these games ???

Why ?

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

1 recommendation

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: Talk With Your Wallets, Folks

I thought the decision to include it with some demos was particularly interesting.....

Make demo users beta testers?

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK to Anonymous88

Premium Member

to Anonymous88
I hope people who buy this software all send nastygrams to the companies about how annoyed they are...

Also, I'd put in lots of tech support help requests for all the side-effects the copy protection has too.

exocet_cm
Writing
Premium Member
join:2003-03-23
Brooklyn, NY

exocet_cm

Premium Member

Action

[whisper]...lawsuit...[/whisper]

David
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL

David

Premium Member

This is one reason why

I have a dual boot computer...

I can just simply reinstall windows 98SE within 24 hours and it does not bother me at all.

I don't want the games garbage tainting my powerhouse OS on the other boot partition..
netvger
join:2003-01-27
Redwood City, CA

netvger

Member

Re: This is one reason why

Careful, using separate partitions doesn't offer total protection either. Protection schemes like Macrovision's SafeCast/C-Dilla also write to space in the first track of your hard disk, which is usually used to hold your master boot record and sometimes boot loaders or drivers. Intuit used SafeCast for Turbo Tax 2002.
Freezone
join:2000-09-29
Southfield, MI

Freezone

Member

Re: This is one reason why

Intuit is still saying sorry to users for that crap. They were quick to realize that people buy their program to do more than just their own taxes and that sometimes users need to use it on diff comps. I am sure Intuits competitors loved the year 2002 version.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Transmaster

Member

Poop for Brains

How do these idiots expect make any money, thank God I am not a gamer I gave up with Commander Keen

ctceo
Premium Member
join:2001-04-26
South Bend, IN

ctceo

Premium Member

Re: Poop for Brains

Hehe, I loved Commander Keen. I think I still got a COPY (hint, hint) somewhere

»www.idsoftware.com/games ··· rticons/

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

1 edit

Transmaster

Member

Re: Poop for Brains

I liked the Keen series to, enjoyed the Leisure Suit Harry
series, as well

StudioTech
Off The Air
join:2001-10-10
Edison, NJ

StudioTech

Member

20 years of trying...

Anyone who had a Commodore 64 back in the day will remember that disks were coded with errors deliberately to foil some copying software. The drawback to that was that the 1541 disk drive which most of us had back then would then literally bang it's read head against itself. Do that enough times, and it would either make the head go out of alignment or become disable altogether. This scheme sort of reminds me of that.

•••••

skelet0r
Premium Member
join:2004-04-26
Florence, AL

skelet0r

Premium Member

Simple as this

It is really as simple as this. I am 28 now and have been playing games since the Atari 2600 and Commodore 64, so I pretty much grew up on games. I begged for 2 years before I could get a NES, and it had pretty much spent every free cent I had on video game systems and games. Around 6 years ago I got my first PC after seeing a friend playing Unreal Tournament, and changed my major three times to learn more about computers. One of the main reasons, besides UT and porn, that I got a PC was because I spent alot of time with my friend who taught me the fine art of file-sharing. Basically I have spent around 10,000 dollars for systems and games that lose thier value exponentially after the next better system comes out. They show no respect for gamers anyway, charging insane prices for games and new systems when they hit the market, only to drop the price to $99 after the system bombs or they decide to make a new system. The way I look at it, they owe me, so screw them. Right now I modded my Xbox with over 100 games on the HD and have over 75 PC games that I acquired. I plan to only pay the very minimal on any system or game that I buy from now on out, and although I could, thoretically, never pay for a game again, I will if the game is actually worth the money.

Paul_CJ
@bellsouth.net

Paul_CJ

Anon

Now this is interesting

Users also aren't alerted to the driver installation by the end-user license agreement present in most of the games that employ the protection technology

Now this is interesting, a company could be sued for not informing the costumers about this software (being installed on this computers) in their licensing agreement.

Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium Member
join:2001-11-29
Verona, PA

1 edit

Combat Chuck

Premium Member

I'm surprised..

..people are just now figuring this out? Star Force has been around and running poorly for a while now.

I find it funny that most of the games that use SF are steaming piles of crap that aren't worth the price of the plastic and foil they're distributed on.

BTW, don't consider that list all inclusive, there are others.
gojeda3
join:2002-12-15
Pompano Beach, FL

gojeda3

Member

Illegal...

Starforce is illegal....as illegal as a virus would be.

••••••

Gandalf1315
Freelance Philosopher
join:2001-05-23
Indianapolis, IN

Gandalf1315

Member

catchy title

I quit PC gaming about a year ago. I probably bought a $1000 a year worth of PC games for 4 or 5 years in a row. All my gaming is with consoles now. PC gaming just became too much of a hassle. I even had a dedicated gaming PC. It has now became my dedicated Linux PC.
suzuki1
join:2003-01-22
Philadelphia, PA

suzuki1

Member

Re: catchy title

CAN YOU SAY LINUX:) AND CROSSOVER:D
KraftDinner9
join:2004-02-04
Strathroy, ON

KraftDinner9

Member

Now I know better

I used to think that buying a game or app would be best, as long as your pc met the system requirements. But now that I've heard this, I'm thinking that pirated software could be better than the retail copies.

SFisEVIL
@suscom.net

SFisEVIL

Anon

Re: Now I know better

Pirated software has been better since they started putting CD checks on games. None of them even remotely qualify as proper CDs, causing lots of older CD-Rom drives to give up. My copy of HOMM III needs to be ejected and re-inserted about 10 times in order for it to not just hang at the splash screen because of SecuROM.
ugluk6
join:2004-07-13
sweden

ugluk6 to KraftDinner9

Member

to KraftDinner9
yes (sadly?) this is the case for many softwares. not just pc games. but of course the annoyance is worst with pc games, because of the damn cd checks!

i always download a no cd patch for the games i buy, they always run better and smoother afterwards. and you dont have to listen to the damn cd drive spinning sound! (i hate that noise lol)
copylover
join:2004-07-13
Austria

copylover

Member

different experience

I play some games protected with this Starfuck on it. I don like it. But I never had any such troubles. Though my friends here. Neither a slow down nor a crash. Once, with a new external USB drive, I had a problem. But I got both a driver update and the removal tool, from their helpdesk. Btw, the removal tool comes from the StarForce people, and not from a "user". Maybe some one wants to make money with a stolen software, here.

I don like protection, but I have learned to live with it. Is is simply worldwide fact. So why waste time arguing.
Jsonfield
join:2002-12-23
Saint Louis, MO

Jsonfield

Member

Talk with your Wallet (- I like that phrase)

I hope the day dont come where i pop in a bought music cd and load up nasty driver viruses.

Do you think they are planing this with other software?

Freshie
@207.61.x.x

Freshie

Anon

Re: Talk with your Wallet (- I like that phrase)

Check out the news of the Beastie Boys new album, or Velvet Revolver.
These CD's install anti-copy software when you put it in your drive...

CrazyPunk
@a2000.nl

CrazyPunk

Anon

Re: Talk with your Wallet (- I like that phrase)

I was gonna buy Soldiers heroes of ww2 , but when im reading about this Starforce i dunno.......
It has been said before on this forum.... but when i buy a game, and paid like 40 Euro's/Dollar for it, i want to make a copy of it. I wont be the first time to me that a Original Cd will be damaged (im a bit chaotic some times with my cd's).
Ive got no problem supporting a developer by buying there game , if the game is good.....but this .... I understand if u made a game, and u wanna portect it , but this is bull.
If it was only that u cant copy the cd (for backup!!!) i would be fine by me , But crewing up ure system
Thats a no go for me!!!!
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