Boing Boing Threatened By Software Creator 351
mfh writes "StarForce has issued threats to Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow in retaliation to Cory's post about the anti-copy malware that installs itself along with many popular (and unpopular) video games." From the BoingBoing post: "Yesterday, I posted about StarForce, a harmful technology used by game companies to restrict their customers' freedom. StarForce attempts to stop game customers from copying their property, but it has the side-effects of destabilizing and crashing the computers on which it is installed. Someone identifying himself as 'Dennis Zhidkov, PR-manager, StarForce Inc.' contacted me this morning and threatened to sue me, and told me that he had contacted the FBI to complain about my 'harassment.'"
The FBI? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, there's only one response to this nut. Laugh at him because he obviously doens't have a clue as to how to bring legal action against you.
Simple Fix - Don't Buy (Score:5, Insightful)
Bravo for posting information on this - the public needs more information to make educated choices.
Re:Yay, more useless litigation... (Score:5, Insightful)
Classic SLAPP Technique (Score:5, Insightful)
One nice thing is that states like California have fairly strong anti Slapp laws and lawyers that specialize in this sort of case
the problem with "don't buy" (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, WE know it. Now. Thanks for posting. But we already knew. We already take care of our computers. We already check on CDs if they are REALLY CDs. We already make sure that our Games don't hassle us with "I don't wanna run as long as you have that CD Emu soft running".
But we don't count, folks. We are a minority. We think before we act. And most of all, we think before we buy.
We're a small minority. We don't count.
How is this harrasment? (Score:3, Insightful)
Software is written that destabilizes a system, causes a crash and could potentially damage hardware.
What am I missing?
Re:The FBI? (Score:5, Insightful)
An odd choice as a PR figure, though...
This is going to backfire, like Sony (Score:5, Insightful)
This controversy is good. Games must be stopped from installing code which runs with kernel or administrator privileges. That's introducing too many security holes now, by preventing users from running as a nonprivileged user. Users can't lock down their machines and still run games. That's no longer acceptable.
Re:Two sides to every story (Score:5, Insightful)
If there have been documented cases of it causing problems, then it doesn't really matter if there have been other cases where it was fine. Even if only 10% of end users see problems, don't you think everyone still would like to know about it, so they can make informed decisions?
Or, to put in another, more emotionally charged frame: If there was a baby-food that worked fine most of the time, but in 10% of cases caused the baby to explode violently, don't you think people (particularly potential customers) should be told that there were risks? Just because someone could say "well, MY baby didn't explode" would not somehow absolve the company of responsability of the 10% that did.
Re:The FBI? (Score:3, Insightful)
The thing is, right now it's not a big enough issue outside the techie/geek community for that to work. Just ask First4Internet, and "whichever of those big companies it was whose DVDs couldn't play in car CD players or something". The two minutes of bad press they got was pretty damning, but how many people really remember it, or care enough to act on it?
Re:Geeks embrace copy protection and DRM (Score:2, Insightful)
Too bad. (Score:3, Insightful)
You want to stop it? Flood the publisher of these games with email telling them that you will not buy games with this use this DRM.
They have the right to put it on and we have the right not to buy.
Re:The FBI? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well I assume he doesn't have the slightest idea how US law works, or how it's enforced, or that Cory Doctorow [wikipedia.org] is Canadian, or that he lives in London.
Re:Geeks embrace copy protection and DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
Signed drivers in Vista (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Don't you love how every time these people... (Score:5, Insightful)
An opinion might read like "It seems to me that my system became unstable after I installed some software. or I don't like the food at McDonald's.
...so if Mr BoingBoing can't prove his statements he might be in for a rough ride...
A statement of fact should be presented with backing documentation, something like After installing on a clean machine, using SomeMonitoringSoftware and SomeSoftwareToBeTested, it was noted that there were packets lost and the silent step-down was initiated by WinXP.
WTF Zonk, afraid /. 'll get a nasty letter? (Score:3, Insightful)
There, I fixed it for you.
Re:The FBI? (Score:3, Insightful)
I hope the FBI was able to sort things out for him.
Re:the problem with "don't buy" (Score:5, Insightful)
And they tell their friends, and slowly the pool of available knowledge of these matters, and people's awareness of them, is increased.
And the snowflake becomes a snowball, and the snowball becomes an avalanche.
Saying "we don't count" is apathy bordering on self-pity.
Stop it! And instead do what little you're able! It all adds up. :-)
Re:Yay, more useless litigation... (Score:5, Insightful)
What a terrifying seven words...
Re:Don't you love how every time these people... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How is this harrasment? (Score:5, Insightful)
Uh, no. Cory said that the Starforce driver caused performance degradation over time, eventually making it impossible to burn discs. He did not say that the drive was physically damaged.
Starforce is only paying out if you can show them a physically damaged drive. It's a classic straw man. They know that drives are not physically being damaged, but by focusing attention on that idea, they are misdirecting people away from the fact that their software leaves Windows unable to burn discs.
Re:Two sides to every story (Score:2, Insightful)
Not exactly the sort of thing that the silent 99% of the user-base is going to connect with game software, which is sort of the point of the noise that is being generated.
Re:just delete all the drivers related to dvd (Score:3, Insightful)
You did. Read the EULA.
These games should be carrying a warning similar to cigarettes in that case.
They do. Read the EULA. No one reads the EULA.
Re:Simple Fix - Don't Buy (Score:3, Insightful)
Wait. I'm a paying customer. So I need to have MY system hosed so the industry can solve THEIR problem?
Allow me to make a modest proposal. Get the software from an illicit source that's provided the value-added service of removing such shennanigans. It would be fair to also purchase the software off the shelf - even if it remains shrink-wrapped. But I won't be suprised if, after having invested the effort in aquiring said software through illicit sources, an individual wouldn't be keen to also invest money in a purchase. We'll see how those 800 break-even purchases go.
Granted - there's always the issue of illicit copies containing malware. The difference, it seems, is the malware that comes off the shelf doesn't get reported.
I understand that this does little to allay the fears of the game industry. But you'll have to forgive me for being somewhat confrontational when the "band-aid" the industry picks doesn't actually solve anything, and harms the very individuals that support them.
Re:just delete all the drivers related to dvd (Score:2, Insightful)
They do. Read the EULA. No one reads the EULA.
I have heard others say that some games using StarForce do not mention it on the exterior of the box. Every place I have shopped at will not let me return a game once I rip the plastic off the box. I don't recall any games slapping the whole EULA on the box.