Game Politics ([info]gamepolitics) wrote,
@ 2006-02-01 06:28:00
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Entry tags:boing boing, chilling effects, copy protection, fbi, jabrwock, starforce

Chilling Effects Dept: Starforce Whistles Up Feds on Blog Site

Following the recent, disturbing trend of threatening law enforcement action to silence online critics, StarForce, Inc. has apparently requested the FBI to investigate Boing Boing, a popular blog for alleged harassment.

Boing Boing's "crime?" It had the temerity to criticize StarForce's copy protection software, which the company licenses to publishers of computer games.

Boing Boing claims the copy protection, used to thwart software pirates, causes instability on installed PC's. The blog site has called for a boycott of games published by companies that use StarForce. Similarities.org has posted a large list of video-games that employ the copy protection scheme. StarForce clients include a number of well-known game publishers, incuding Ubisoft, Strategy First, Namco, and CDV.

StarForce's ham-handed response to the proposed boycott was a letter accusing Boing Boing of violating "approximately 11 international laws", noting that, "I [PR Director Dennis Zhidkov] have also contacted the FBI , because what you are doing is harassment."

Zhidkov did not elaborate on which laws he is accusing Boing Boing of violating.

Boing Boing responded with a short letter, which reads, "Thank you for your response. I have appended it to my original post and have forwarded it to the Chilling Effects project to be part of the permanent record of abusive attempts by companies to silence their critics."

StarForce has apparently threatened other critics of its copy protection, including posters commenting on C|Net, who called their copy protection a "nefarious Rootkit/Virus."

It remains to be seen what action, if any, the FBI will take. StarForce, by the way, has its corporate headquarters in Moscow.

-Jabrwock


(52 comments) - (Post a new comment)

How I read StarForce's response
[info]sir_bissel
2006-02-01 12:17 pm UTC (link)
"You broke like 11 laws and my dad can beat up your dad! So nyeah!"

(Reply to this)


[info]archenland
2006-02-01 12:28 pm UTC (link)
Looking down the list of games that install Starforce copy protection for any I own was amusing. I don't think I own any of them, however I have played many of them through "other" means which leads to conclude that not only is Starforce a danger to consumers' computers but it also is rather ineffective!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]longtimelurker
2006-02-01 01:22 pm UTC (link)
Here is how you go about seeing if you got the starforce malware installed on your comp. Go to my computer then the system settings then the device manager. Click on tools then display all hidden devices. Look under non plug and play devices for anything with starforce in the name. Turns out I had it and it was crashing my comp when I tried to play the Bard's Tale after playing a round of Auto Assault Beta which starforce looks to have also crashed.

I think also what was casuing my comp to take forever to exit out of windows then shut it selfoff.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]celadus, 2006-02-01 03:43 pm UTC
Starforce city of villians - [info]longtimelurker, 2006-02-01 04:04 pm UTC
Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]tweek_20k, 2006-02-01 05:16 pm UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]jdecamp, 2006-02-01 05:31 pm UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]longtimelurker, 2006-02-01 05:31 pm UTC
That's, like, easily twenty times worse. - [info]tweek_20k, 2006-02-01 05:33 pm UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]jindewinter, 2006-02-01 05:41 pm UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]mrfalcon, 2006-02-01 11:19 pm UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]celadus, 2006-02-02 01:48 am UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]longtimelurker, 2006-02-02 01:55 am UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]mrfalcon, 2006-02-02 02:39 am UTC
Re: Just why the hell would 'City of Villans' require inept copy-protection? - [info]mrfalcon, 2006-02-02 02:48 am UTC

[info]keddren
2006-02-01 12:45 pm UTC (link)
Great, it's Infinium Labs vs. HardOCP all over again, and we all know how well that went for Infinium...

(Reply to this) (Thread)
FutureMark also threatened HardOCP...
[info]kungfu_tse
2006-02-01 01:48 pm UTC (link)
You know, this reminded me of the time when FutureMark threatened HardOCP over Kyle's continued bashing of 3dMark program.

Kyle responded and reminded Futuremark (which is based in Finland) that we have something called a 1st Amendment and freedom of speech in this country.

I guess the folks at Star-Force don't understand the concept of freedom of speech in their country either.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]sqlrob
2006-02-01 12:46 pm UTC (link)
Yes, it will be interesting to see what tack the FBI tacks because

a) It's still free speech.

b) Cory Doctorow is a Canadian living in London.

(Reply to this)


[info]sqlrob
2006-02-01 12:48 pm UTC (link)
Way back when it came out, I did not buy Broken Sword 3 for the PC because it contained StarForce. Instead, I bought it used for the XBox much later. Ubi lost a sale because of their "protection"

I have a simple rule for any games that go on my computer. If it requires Administrator level access, it doesn't get installed. Period.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]longtimelurker
2006-02-01 01:23 pm UTC (link)
The big problem with starforce is all the slowdowns, crashes and viruses can take advantage of it. It's crappy copy protection. I can understand the need for copy protection but when it does nasty stuff to legit users comps then it shouldn't be used.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
(no subject) - [info]sqlrob, 2006-02-01 01:44 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]kildorn, 2006-02-01 01:47 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]sqlrob, 2006-02-01 02:49 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]silver_derstin, 2006-02-01 04:19 pm UTC
(no subject) - [info]kildorn, 2006-02-01 04:38 pm UTC

[info]silver_derstin
2006-02-01 12:49 pm UTC (link)
As my history teacher says: "This is interesting stuff!"

I wonder how they expect it to work, though, freedom of expression and all... Just sounds like a desperate call from a company to save the remaining chairs and desks in their office.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]kildorn
2006-02-01 01:42 pm UTC (link)
It's a really cute scheme. Half the time the devs aren't totally aware they're using star-force. Basically it's sold to management as a way to prevent evil pirates from stealing your income (which is a valid fear, in some lines of thinking. Opportunity cost is a fickle master.).

So it's rolled into the game, shipped out, and suddenly issues abound.

Copy Protection has had a number of bad things happen. From one of the elder scrolls games which performed BETTER if you used a no-cd hack due to the copy protection scanning the disc every 15 seconds, to starforce's current issues:

Up to 10 minutes to complete disc scanning in some instances
Low level driver interference if you happen to do any development work
Really mucks things up if you use ISO mounting utilities for any reason
Can require you to buy a newer CD-ROM in order to play some games, as older firmware just goes "buhhuh?" when it starts trying to ask (not just a starforce issue, bad sector burning causes this as well).

Starforce is very high on my never touching my computer list. But it's gotten too evil now.

Yes Virginia: CD Verification Software shipped in DEMOS. Apparently, it's a high fear that we may download a demo off of a website and give it to OTHER PEOPLE, so I need a cdrom driver installed and simply never called to check on a non existant CD.

Sadly, the devs who care aren't in a position to stop it's deployment. Sales and management need to become aware that at a certain point, it's too much punishment for valid users of the product.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]gray17
2006-02-01 12:52 pm UTC (link)
Man, company's are touchy when they get called out for having unstable products that get installed without people's knowledge. Anyways, this will never succeed. The complaint is a valid concern, and saying it falls well within most laws regarding freedom of the press.

(Reply to this)


[info]ianc14
2006-02-01 01:27 pm UTC (link)
You can get sued for criticizing now?

This is seriously wrong.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]kildorn
2006-02-01 01:45 pm UTC (link)
SLAPP lawsuit (threat in this case). Common for companies who simply want to bury criticism via legal threats/costs. Due to the american legal system and the basic misunderstanding of technology, you can stall the litigation in discovery long enough that most small companies/citizens would go bankrupt trying to defend themselves. And the judges tend not to know the jargon enough to grant summary judgement. It's getting better though. But see SCO vs IBM for "how long can people stall a court case without even presenting real evidence"

(Reply to this) (Parent)
sorry to post twice
[info]ianc14
2006-02-01 01:29 pm UTC (link)
But lookming at what this software does i see you cant use a SCSI drive if youy also have a IDE drive.

So if your SCSI drive is faster your out of luck.

(Reply to this)


[info]silver_derstin
2006-02-01 01:51 pm UTC (link)
After reading the Ubisoft boards, I see that the situation is slowly degenerating in a war between Starforce Haters and the devs that do not really CARE about their customers. It's sad, but true.

(Reply to this)

Well, it depends on what country you're in
[info]gnomicide
2006-02-01 02:05 pm UTC (link)
If you're in the states, it is notoriously difficult to win any sort of libel or slander case.

Outside the states is a different matter. Somebody says doctorow is in the UK, which makes him much more vulnerable to libel lawsuit.

Remember these threats when game companies use, or talk about using StarForce. Ask them "Do you want your customers to face lawsuits for complaining about your game?" Wait, maybe that's not a good idea.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Well, it depends on what country you're in
[info]elisatsun
2006-02-01 02:39 pm UTC (link)
Indeed, UK libel laws can be quite thorough, although there is also the use of 'Fair Comment' which means you can't get sued just for saying something like 'I don't like McDonalds' for example.

There's a simple rundown on UK libel laws here if anyone is interested: http://www.urban75.com/Action/libel.html

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]scazza
2006-02-01 02:44 pm UTC (link)
Causing instability or not, starforce is one of the most useless copy protection, just like any other. There is no effective copy protection available, and its sad that companies like ubisoft are paying them for their services when they don't work. They stop average people from doing it sure, but given a few hours, the professional "groups" of rippers will havethe game online on newsgroups. Plus the starforce software has also been rendered useless now that there are those programs that hide the ISO mounting tools like Daemon and alcohol.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]sqlrob
2006-02-01 03:09 pm UTC (link)
There is no effective copy protection available

There, I fixed it for you.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]houstondragon
2006-02-01 04:04 pm UTC (link)
Poor Zhidkov. It was probably a lot easier for StarForce when they could just get the KGB to go shoot people for them. =)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]silver_derstin
2006-02-01 04:21 pm UTC (link)
It's sad, but it sounds true :(

(Reply to this) (Parent)
Oddly enough
[info]goodrobotus
2006-02-01 05:21 pm UTC (link)
A few months ago Starforce offered a sum of money (something like 2000 dollars) to anyone who could prove that installing Starforce would make their computer stop responding, they would also pay for plane tickets and hotel.

The lack of response had them claiming that it was all a sham created to deface their product. Fortunately a few people pointed out that you would have to take the computer to their office in Moscow and repeat the problem there, which required resetting your computer after the last time it broke, or, in the case of damaged hardware, meant you had to get new hardware, travel to Moscow and, for all you know, the problem wouldn't repeat. Just because a problem cannot be reproduced on demand doesn't mean there is no problem.

I've personally never had a problem with Starforce protection, but my wife lost a CD Rom drive immediately after using one. I was willing to let it slip as co-incidence, but I'll never be sure, and how, using the above example, am I supposed to reproduce a CD-Rom breaking when said CD-Rom is already broken?

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: Oddly enough
[info]longtimelurker
2006-02-01 06:47 pm UTC (link)
Go look at their new offer. Their offer is a sham like Dr. Dino's. No way in hell you could win it since they aren't honest about who would be judging it nor is there any evidence that the money is earmarked for it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]howdoyouplead
2006-02-01 05:46 pm UTC (link)
In Soviet Russia games protect you!

(Reply to this)


[info]autolycus
2006-02-01 05:59 pm UTC (link)
And not only is this the reason I stopped buying games from those companies, but ceased downloading demos entirely.

I'll stick with my console and cool companies that don't try to obliterate my hardware.

(Reply to this)


[info]winter_b0rn
2006-02-01 06:55 pm UTC (link)
Another site has called for a boycott of StarForce. It also lists information on how to tell if you have the StarForce protection software on your computer.

It's sad that some companies would choose to employ software like this in an attempt to protect their cash flow. :-/ Time to amend which companies from whom I purchase games.

(Reply to this)

Wow... Ubisoft just lost a customer. =\
[info]murdercrow
2006-02-01 09:33 pm UTC (link)
The REALLY sad thing is that I was anxiously awaiting Oblivion, and before I heard that it was going to use Starforce, I was even willing to pay for it. But now, I have a choice of either spending 50 bucks and getting something that can very well reduce performance and even break my CD/DVD drive, as well as opening my computer up for viruses, or I can download it and a crack, pay nothing, and not have to deal with StarForce.

Guess which path I'm taking. =\

(Reply to this)

Alternatives?
[info]odc100
2006-02-02 12:01 am UTC (link)
I believe Gamejack (now Gamecopy) at the moment supports Starforce 1 and 2. It also supports the securom 5 protection and others.

http://www.engelmann.com/index.php?file=5stargamecopy

What this means is that you add your .exe game files to Gamejack's emulator, and it will figure out the copy protection and launch them without a nocd crack or the cd in the drive.

I've tried it with a few games and its worked fine, no tries with starforce though. I recommend it for those who dislike copy protection and cd cracks.

Only problem is that its always behind the latest copy protection schemes, but it usually doesnt take that long to catch up.

Oh yes, it also allows you to copy game CDs with copy protection intact, I have never used it for this but it could be a good backup feature.

(Reply to this)


[info]ashsaber
2006-02-02 12:18 am UTC (link)
I think Starforce would be much easier to handle if they put a label somewhere on the box that said "Protected by Starforce" or somesuch. They should also have to put a disclaimer in the manual or on the box that says: "This copy protection may cause adverse affects to your hardware." As it is, the user is given no warning that Starforce is being installed on their machine. On top of this, any criticism is threatened with legal action. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more to Starforce than meets the eye.

(Reply to this)

This is one reason why...
[info]phoenixzero
2006-02-02 01:26 am UTC (link)
I never bought SC:Chaos Theory nor will I buy any software that uses that crap. They're not screwing customers, they're screwing the consumer that legally bought a copy of the game.

Other reason I haven't bought it is that I'm still trying to drag my way through Pandorda Tomorrow.... I've just lost interest in it, maybe I should have waited a little longer to buy and play it. I bought it soon after finishing the first one and installing a new videocard (my old one sucked too much).

Hell, a few months ago Bioware was nice enough to remove their "protection" with Neverwinter Nights so, no more need of a No-CD crack, heh.

If someone ends up being able to fully prove the problems with StarForce, there's going a nice big class action lawsuit, I'm sure. If Ubi Soft doesn't care now, they will when they and every other company that uses it (including Starforce Inc) get sued. Then again, might be a little hard to sell Starforce Inc if they're only in Russia.

(Reply to this)


[info]postal_dude
2006-02-02 02:14 am UTC (link)
Not all of the StarForce games actually install the StarForce drivers on your computer.

I have Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend, which utilizes StarForce technology (which I was unaware of until I tried to find out why I couldn't use GameDrive to run it), but I don't have the StarForce drivers on my computer -- it seems to be integrated in the application itself.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
check again
[info]darktravesty05
2006-02-02 08:36 pm UTC (link)
right click on my computer on the desktop>properties>click the hardware tab>click device manager and once that opens go to view>show hidden devices and then look for the non-plug and play drivers expand the window and you will find i think it is like 3 or 4 starforce drivers they are hidden if you have them look for the starforce removal tool at the boycott starforce website url=http://www.glop.org/starforce/#detectget the tool and remove it.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: check again - [info]postal_dude, 2006-02-02 09:47 pm UTC

[info]aniki21
2006-02-02 11:26 am UTC (link)
The ironic thing about copy protection like this, is that you end up only catching and pissing off the legitimate customers. There's a crack around every copy protection/DRM out there, and the people who steal and copy games/music/movies will always know what it is - leaving the people who actually paid for the game/music/movie to deal with the shitstorm when the copy protection fucks them over.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]jabrwock
2006-02-02 10:16 pm UTC (link)
It's like those commercials they make you sit through at the movie theater where they accuse the audience of being a bunch of scub-baggy crooks. *After* they just charged you $10 for a ticket and $10 for a drink...

(Reply to this) (Parent)

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