Saturday, December 17th 2011
The Witcher 2 Contains Secret Sauce To 'Catch 100% Of Pirates'
Yes, really - 100% of those pesky "pirates" will be brought to book! The game's studio, CD Projekt RED (CDP Red) isn't letting on how it's doing so, either, claiming it's a "trade secret" and not giving out the name of the external company that's implementing the anti-piracy technology, claiming that to do so would damage their business. Seriously. The problem with identifying a dodgy copy of something is that the main info they have to track them down, are the IP addresses of the suspect. This has been shown many times over now, not to be a reliable tracker of who's doing what. At the most, it will pinpoint the account holder that it relates to, in some cases. However, this outfit reckons they've nailed this dealbreaking problem once and for all - and without any evidence on how they go about it. Snake oil, perhaps? The Polish company have therefore been sending out legal notices to thousands of suspects in Germany, chosen because this country has some of the strictest copyright laws in Europe. Presumably, they must be leaning on the ISPs to hand over customers' physical street addresses, although this isn't made clear, but read on for how this might be accomplished. In an email to PC Gamer, CDP Red VP Michael Nowakowski made the following statement:
So, there appears to be two options to how this tracking technology works:
1 There is no technology and this is just smoke and mirrors (with a dash of snake oil) designed to extort marks into coughing up money to make CD Projekt go away
2 They really do have some "tracking technology" in their games. Now, what could this be? Well, as they're not telling us, it's only right and proper to be highly suspicious of what it actually does and to put it in the same class as common criminal malware. This is because the only logical way that they can track the individual in any semi-reliable manner, is to lift personal information off their computer. Let's speculate on how this could be achieved. It would include stuff such as email logins, bank logins, Facebook logins, network traffic sniffing to read the contents of highly personal and confidential messages and any other login where personal information such as a name and address might be kept. You name it, they might be doing it. This kind of activity is of course highly illegal everywhere, so no wonder they'd want to keep quiet about it. It makes traditional draconian DRM schemes such as SecuROM and the like seem like a walk in the park by comparison, doesn't it?
So, do you really want to install software that does some or all of this on your computer, just to play a lousy video game? Obviously, that's a resounding NO!
Regardless of how they track down suspects, this exercise is extortion with a legal veneer, pure and simple. This is because there haven't been any independent studies showing that "piracy" reduces profits and makes companies go to the wall - they have all been big media industry sponsored. However, there are several independent studies that show it does nothing, or actually enhances sales by indirect means, such as reputation spread by word of mouth. Of course, the powerful media cartels based in America, are able to buy government reps all over the world to make them pass corrupt laws as if all this "piracy" really was hurting them - three strikes, PROTECT IP & SOPA are just three examples. Consider the blockbusting sales here and here of Modern Warfare 3 recently. This will be the most "pirated" game of all, yet it still outsold all of Hollywood put together...
There is of course, one sure fire and legal way to beat a company that tries such dirty tricks: the boycott. Don't buy their products and don't pirate them, then laugh as you watch them go under (all the while still blaming alleged "piracy", of course). I personally wholeheartedly recommend this course of action. Once again www.techdirt.com is recommended as the site to go to, as they expose abuses like this daily.
Sources:
TG Daily, PC Gamer
We're addressing only 100% confirmed piracy causes that are 100% possible to prove. We are not worried about tracking the wrong people. As this is the trade secret of the company working on this, I cannot share it. However, we investigated the subject before we decided on this move, and we aware of some past complications (the famous Davenport case). The method used here is targeting only 100% confirmed piracy cases. No innocent person was targeted with the letter so far. At least we have not received any information as of now which would indicate something like that.Notice how the Davenport case is "famous" rather than "infamous" - they actually went down in flames over their extortion tactics. Also notice how they covered themselves by saying "At least we have not received any information as of now which would indicate something like that." So, they could be targeting the innocent after all, they just haven't heard about it. Nice.
So, there appears to be two options to how this tracking technology works:
1 There is no technology and this is just smoke and mirrors (with a dash of snake oil) designed to extort marks into coughing up money to make CD Projekt go away
2 They really do have some "tracking technology" in their games. Now, what could this be? Well, as they're not telling us, it's only right and proper to be highly suspicious of what it actually does and to put it in the same class as common criminal malware. This is because the only logical way that they can track the individual in any semi-reliable manner, is to lift personal information off their computer. Let's speculate on how this could be achieved. It would include stuff such as email logins, bank logins, Facebook logins, network traffic sniffing to read the contents of highly personal and confidential messages and any other login where personal information such as a name and address might be kept. You name it, they might be doing it. This kind of activity is of course highly illegal everywhere, so no wonder they'd want to keep quiet about it. It makes traditional draconian DRM schemes such as SecuROM and the like seem like a walk in the park by comparison, doesn't it?
So, do you really want to install software that does some or all of this on your computer, just to play a lousy video game? Obviously, that's a resounding NO!
Regardless of how they track down suspects, this exercise is extortion with a legal veneer, pure and simple. This is because there haven't been any independent studies showing that "piracy" reduces profits and makes companies go to the wall - they have all been big media industry sponsored. However, there are several independent studies that show it does nothing, or actually enhances sales by indirect means, such as reputation spread by word of mouth. Of course, the powerful media cartels based in America, are able to buy government reps all over the world to make them pass corrupt laws as if all this "piracy" really was hurting them - three strikes, PROTECT IP & SOPA are just three examples. Consider the blockbusting sales here and here of Modern Warfare 3 recently. This will be the most "pirated" game of all, yet it still outsold all of Hollywood put together...
There is of course, one sure fire and legal way to beat a company that tries such dirty tricks: the boycott. Don't buy their products and don't pirate them, then laugh as you watch them go under (all the while still blaming alleged "piracy", of course). I personally wholeheartedly recommend this course of action. Once again www.techdirt.com is recommended as the site to go to, as they expose abuses like this daily.
345 Comments on The Witcher 2 Contains Secret Sauce To 'Catch 100% Of Pirates'
You sound like the RIAA now, where they have claimed that because of Limewire they lost their "potential" income which is 6x the total amount of money in the whole world.
How many of you paid the artist or the photographer royalties to use your avatars... Enough said
I just can't think of anything that would be more entertaining and a once in a lifetime event.
if I make my own beer that tastes as good as budwiser and all my friends drink my beer and not bud-wiser does that make me a thief ?
if I "copy" the process of beer making from a tv show I on the history channel about anheuser busch does that make me infringement on anheuser Busch's copy rights ? what if one of my friends has never had a anheuser busch products and after tasting mine decides he will buy a case of Budweiser for his next party ? what then
copy != loss
cut and paste = loss
you are not being deprived of your property. you are possibly being deprived of monetary gain said property may afford you, but that is not definite and can not be assumed. and even if they could they are not stealing the money itself, and so it's not theft.
i'm not trying to lessen it's impact here. it's bad. maybe there's not a good enough word for it, but it very specifically is not theft.
b)yes
c)budweiser gets a sale, and you still broke the law.
it's really very simple. the ethics of it can all be argued, but if your intent is to get one over, you're in the wrong. if your intent is simply to make the best brew possible, you wouldn't be copying their brew anyway so no worries ;)
So the theft part:
Stealing Budweisers name
Stealing their recipe
Everythnig else is legit. You (hopefully) bought/made the equipment, ingredients and put the work into making your beer that tastes like Budweiser. It would be legitmate.
Yes they both involve having something that you should not, but that does not make them the same. This is precisely why they have different terms.
Also pirating games is a Gray area they downloading of the content it's self a lot of the time is not considered a crime in it's self.
Hell there is countries that is NEVER considered illegal :laugh:
It's the distribution that is illegal as well as profiting from the copied software/art.
Again, www.techdirt.com says all this stuff much better than I can.
I imagine the same applies to other digital files but I will look into it.
i realize i am being very technical, but that's who i am. i think ethically they are very similar, though in my mind it takes more scumbaggery to be willing to physically remove an item from a store or home. for each individual, if they never would have bought the item, them having a copy does not hurt anyone. it really doesn't. think about it logically - they wouldn't have bought it, they didn't stop anyone else from buying it, the developer likely wouldn't even know in most cases.
that doesn't make it ok, but it is ethically very different from physically removing someone's property from their store home or person, etc.
Anyway, it's interesting at least that for example, according to the Crysis 2 EULA, all the user gets is "access" to the software. So the discs you get are only giving you access to the software...so if you copy it, you copy "access", and not the software itself. If you follow the wordings of the EULA they themselves made. And therefore you can't be accused of copyright infringement because "access to software" is not by itself copyrightable. To circumvent that, they essentially have to void the EULA so that the discs revert to being the "software" themselves. lol
Let's look at the definition of "Stealing"Carry on.
example A: lets say I would like to attend a ball game
a scalper walks up and says hey you look like a cool dude ill cut you a deal
now said tickets have already been payed for the stadium and team already got there compensation. is it theft if I buy said tickets
example b: I want to have the latest episode of my favorite tv show on my pc that I didn't get to watch because I was not home
so I download it ? am I a thief ? no I am not I pay my cable bill had I been home I would have watched it anyway so am I a Thief for downloading something I would have enjoyed anyway had I been home ? what if I buy the whole series on dvd at a later date what then ?
example c: there is this new game out all I know about it is what he reviewer and youtube tells me but I am still on the fence I download it I find it entertaining but not worth the 60 dollar asking price I complete the game and delete it a few months later I see it marked down to 45 bucks wanting to replay it I purchase it am I a thief ?
Like I said if people could not monitor what was happening regarding file downloading etc how would people even know?
Piracy is the very definition of a victimless crime.
By the by @ Erocker in the UK property is defined as "A thing or things belonging to someone; possessions collectively."
And a "thing" is defined as a material object.
So again perhaps this all boils down to language.
if jack was never going to buy mw3. ever.
but he got a copy for free, how did that effect anything?
buy | don't buy | pirate
spend $60 | save $60 |save $60
play game | don't game |play game
it's really very simple. now yes there are pirates that otherwise would have bought a game, but there are very definitely those that never would. how are they affecting anyone?distribution of copyrighted content is different. but obtaining a copy in and of itself, if you never would have bought it, is not removing anything from the rightful owner. it's still wrong. it's only right that they are compensated for their work - but it is very different from stealing $60 from their wallet. it's not as if one pirated copy stops EVERYONE from buying it.
you can not say you own something that someone has not given you ..
IE my money
you can not be deprived of something that "I" never intended to be yours in the first place