4 ms·

- separate by a significant interval in time the detection and any consequences of detection Why?

by finnw 15y ago

bad_user 15y ago
To reduce false positives. Consider the case in which an app has to connect to an online server for authorization. Well, what if the Internet connection is down? What if your server is unreachable for some reason? What if your server malfunctions? In such a case, triggering an error right away may punish legitimate users. And this is the biggest problem with DRM and why I think it is fundamentally flawed, making piracy totally justified - any draconian DRM scheme that's effective against piracy will also punish legitimate users.
- stcredzero 15y ago
  any draconian DRM scheme that's effective against piracy will also punish legitimate users. I disagree. Draconian schemes as they've largely been practiced do punish legit users and drive more piracy. I contend that not enough emphasis has been placed on the economics of producing cracks and not enough care has been taken to avoid the unproductive punishment of legit users. Basically, do subtle things to drive the cost of pirate software engineering through the roof while being as kind and attentive to your most faithful customers as possible.
awj 15y ago
The consequences of detection are also the validation step for people cracking your DRM. They won't release something until they can confirm they've broken it. It's much harder to work through removing DRM if you have to play the game for half an hour each time you want to test a partial solution. Games that dump you before even showing the title screen are actually making this confirmation activity easier.
- stcredzero 15y ago
  It's much harder to work through removing DRM if you have to play the game for half an hour each time you want to test a partial solution. Actually, I think it's best if the time interval is something like two weeks. Shift much of the revenue to downloadable content and online multiplayer. Make the consequences for having been detected completely invisible until then. This gives the pirates two choices: either they can release their crack early, and their customers will be screwed, because even if a new crack is released, those users will already have been identified, or they can wait until well after the release, when the downloadable content comes online, in which case, you've won a reprieve where there are no sales lost to that pirate.
DanBC 15y ago
See also an early scheme by Microsoft. "The Tree of Evil Bears Bitter Fruit" - there are differing versions of what was actually happening. (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=%22microsoft%22+tree+%22bitter+fruit%22&source=bl&ots=_FCq9kO8Qg&sig=GB09Y-FK-2VGWQQUeOM45KhVvAs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=54MgT4LEJ5Hf8QOilpzkBw&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22microsoft%22%20tree%20%22bitter%20fruit%22&f=false http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&#...)

- separate by a significant interval in time the detection and any consequences of detection Why?

by finnw 15y ago

- separate by a significant interval in time the detection and any consequences of detection Why?

To reduce false positives. Consider the case in which an app has to connect to an online server for authorization. Well, what if the Internet connection is down? What if your server is unreachable for some reason? What if your server malfunctions? In such a case, triggering an error right away may punish legitimate users. And this is the biggest problem with DRM and why I think it is fundamentally flawed, making piracy totally justified - any draconian DRM scheme that's effective against piracy will also punish legitimate users.

stcredzero 15y ago
any draconian DRM scheme that's effective against piracy will also punish legitimate users. I disagree. Draconian schemes as they've largely been practiced do punish legit users and drive more piracy. I contend that not enough emphasis has been placed on the economics of producing cracks and not enough care has been taken to avoid the unproductive punishment of legit users. Basically, do subtle things to drive the cost of pirate software engineering through the roof while being as kind and attentive to your most faithful customers as possible.

awj 15y ago

The consequences of detection are also the validation step for people cracking your DRM. They won't release something until they can confirm they've broken it. It's much harder to work through removing DRM if you have to play the game for half an hour each time you want to test a partial solution. Games that dump you before even showing the title screen are actually making this confirmation activity easier.

stcredzero 15y ago
It's much harder to work through removing DRM if you have to play the game for half an hour each time you want to test a partial solution. Actually, I think it's best if the time interval is something like two weeks. Shift much of the revenue to downloadable content and online multiplayer. Make the consequences for having been detected completely invisible until then. This gives the pirates two choices: either they can release their crack early, and their customers will be screwed, because even if a new crack is released, those users will already have been identified, or they can wait until well after the release, when the downloadable content comes online, in which case, you've won a reprieve where there are no sales lost to that pirate.

DanBC 15y ago

See also an early scheme by Microsoft. "The Tree of Evil Bears Bitter Fruit" - there are differing versions of what was actually happening. (http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=%22microsoft%22+tree+%22bitter+fruit%22&source=bl&ots=_FCq9kO8Qg&sig=GB09Y-FK-2VGWQQUeOM45KhVvAs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=54MgT4LEJ5Hf8QOilpzkBw&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22microsoft%22%20tree%20%22bitter%20fruit%22&f=false http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OC8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&#...)