Another post got me thinking about this issue.
I support, nearly 100%, the right of publishers to protect their products from piracy. However, at the same exact time, I resent the way they do so and seek out and pretty much always find a way to circumvent that measure so that I can enjoy my legally purchased software without arbitrary restrictions (such as a disc in the drive).
However, the most troubling I have found I discovered because of a mistake. Not my mistake, the post office's mistake. They lost my package, one with a lot of valuable discs
. Over $300 worth of rare discs as well as game discs. I also lost a game that is primarily played online (but not subscription based).
Well, I decided to just attempt to play the game anyway using the ISO copy of the game I made as a backup. I didn't have the serial key that is located in the game box that was lost in the mail, so I tried to "circumvent" that. Well, the biggest problem I hit was the online issue. When I connected, it detected the serial was already in use, since it wasn't mine that I attempted to use. I quickly gave up, preferring not to push the issue.
I believe the future of software anti-piracy security is in the internet. Key codes attached to servers will prevent a lot of piracy, IMO. If you connect to a server to use a program, and that program detects the key is already in use, it can refuse your use of the server. Software that has necessary aspects of online connectivity would not even allow the disabling of the server connection (as a means of circumventing the anti-piracy).
This brings up all new issues... what happens if your machine is not connected? Should you be forced to have an internet connection to play an offline game?
What do you think? Is this the new direction of anti-piracy security?
I support, nearly 100%, the right of publishers to protect their products from piracy. However, at the same exact time, I resent the way they do so and seek out and pretty much always find a way to circumvent that measure so that I can enjoy my legally purchased software without arbitrary restrictions (such as a disc in the drive).
However, the most troubling I have found I discovered because of a mistake. Not my mistake, the post office's mistake. They lost my package, one with a lot of valuable discs
. Over $300 worth of rare discs as well as game discs. I also lost a game that is primarily played online (but not subscription based). Well, I decided to just attempt to play the game anyway using the ISO copy of the game I made as a backup. I didn't have the serial key that is located in the game box that was lost in the mail, so I tried to "circumvent" that. Well, the biggest problem I hit was the online issue. When I connected, it detected the serial was already in use, since it wasn't mine that I attempted to use. I quickly gave up, preferring not to push the issue.
I believe the future of software anti-piracy security is in the internet. Key codes attached to servers will prevent a lot of piracy, IMO. If you connect to a server to use a program, and that program detects the key is already in use, it can refuse your use of the server. Software that has necessary aspects of online connectivity would not even allow the disabling of the server connection (as a means of circumventing the anti-piracy).
This brings up all new issues... what happens if your machine is not connected? Should you be forced to have an internet connection to play an offline game?
What do you think? Is this the new direction of anti-piracy security?
