Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

'Uncrackable' DRM lasts 24 hours

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | March 5, 2010, 6:16am PST

Summary: Ubisoft’s recently announced that a new DRM scheme for PC games that many claimed would be uncrackable. It appears that this DRM has been busted in 24 hours.

Ubisoft’s recently announced that a new DRM scheme for PC games that many claimed would be uncrackable. It appears that this DRM has been busted in 24 hours.

The DRM mechanism in question, rolled out initially in Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin’s Creed 2, took a new approach in that it relied on having a constant internet connection in order that the game files could be checked continuously for modifications or tampering. If modified files were detected or the internet connection dropped (or for that matter if Ubisoft’s servers went down), the game would shut down.

Now, I don’t condone software piracy in any shape, way or form, and I’m a firm believer in the idea that you should pay your way in this world. That said, this DRM scheme comes across as awfully heavy-handed and annoying. This DRM sounded so annoying that it was unlikely to stand for long.

And it didn’t.

A team of crackers going by the name of Skid-Row have managed to circumvent the DRM mechanism on Silent Hunter 5 in under 24 hours, releasing a crack for the game.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that I don’t condone game cracks either. Not so much on ethical grounds (you know if you’re using them responsibly or not), but because searching for them can lead you into some of the darker alleys of the internet, putting your PC at risk.

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

More from “Hardware 2.0”

iPad: Pre-orders start March 12th, available April 3rd

iPad TV commercial

Topics

Digital-rights Management, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Digital Media, Games, Security, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Full Bio
Disclosure
Contact

Vendor HotSpot

The 360° Conversation around Cloud Computing

TECH VISUALIZER brings the social conversation to life... powered by Brocade

Learn More »

Related Discussions on TechRepublic

Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?

cheat engine...

Ask a Question Start a Discussion

127

Comments

Add Your Opinion

Join the conversation!

Follow via:: RSS; Email Alert

Just In

Don't mention it.

AzuMao 27th Mar 2010

View in thread

Please Select
Please Select

0 Votes

+ -

Sorry, Charlie

Bill4 5th Mar 2010

Yeah, sure, sign me up for this: "a constant internet connection in order that the game files...be checked continuously." NOT. These guys own a lot of Time Warner and Comcast?

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

Even worse than..

AzuMao 9th Mar 2010

..Windows, which only needs a connection every time you reinstall it, every time you upgrade a piece of hardware in it, and every time malware messes with a system file, not constantly.

Ubisoft has truly risen the bar.. of failure.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

I own Assassin's Creed

dragosani 5th Mar 2010

Because of this stupid DRM scheme I will not be buying
Assassin's Creed 2, EVER!

Congratulations! Ubisoft you have lost a PAYING customer.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

Agreed.

DaemonSlayer Updated - 5th Mar 2010

I was even *thinking* of this game for a bonus for a new build. (A serious upgrade compared to this computer I'm no now.)

It's bad enough steam requires it when you bought the disks (and then downloads and installs the game despite it being multi-CD or DVD based, or so it feels like) for the game(s). But fortunately, an Internet connection is only needed for updates after that.

I won't put up with one that mandates this. There will be no PC version of this game in my future, and I doubt a console version either.

If I find any other game the same way, I'll avoid it too.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

DRM never works

User 13 5th Mar 2010

DRM only ever inconveniences the paying customer. I think DRM is more about creating artificial scarcity in a digital world where supply is infinite. Piracy? that's just a scapegoat, a straw man to hold up their geriatric business model.

I know I am not buying any of their games and I am an avid PC Gamer, I bought dozens of PC games last year. This whole thing is a disaster that hurts us all, if they had released it with non-invasive DRM it would have sold well and made an argument for more games on the PC platform, but now, no one is going to buy this junk and the piracy numbers will be held up for all to see why we need more DRM, Ubisoft screwed us all with this one.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

A convenient DRM - Steam

Bruce Lang 5th Mar 2010

The Steam system allows me (a dial-up home user) to; (1) purchase/ download/ update games online at work (high-speed). (2) backup and restore (while dialed-in) onto my home pc. (3) go into Steam's offline mode and play the game.

I assume Assassin?s Creed 2 on Steam would also require an always active Internet connection. Too bad, another lost sale.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

Don't forget

Hallowed are the Ori 5th Mar 2010

Using Steam, if you install/reinstall your OS, you don't have to reinstall your games or restore a backup image, you just create a new shortcut, point it at the Steam executable and you're done.

I've even moved the Steam folder to a different drive in my system, and all I had to do was edit the shortcut to point to the new location of the Steam folder and I was good to go.

0 Votes

+ -

Ah, but what about when Steam goes out of business

Lerianis10 5th Mar 2010

Which it will at some point in the future? Or when Steam stops offering the game that you bought?

Need I keep going on?

NO DRM IS ACCEPTABLE FOR LEGITIMATE BUYERS! It's time for the game companies to realize that they are pissing off their best customers big time with this DRM bullhockey, and simply focus on taking out the commercial pirates.

0 Votes

+ -

Never pay full price on Steam

Shokuji 6th Mar 2010

In a nutshell, this is what you agreed to when you purchased your game through steam (and this is based off of their 'agreement' you're forced to accept):

1.) You're not buying a game, you're simply subscribing to content. You never own anything you pay for on Steam.

2.) Your compliance required, but they are not required to do anything even if the product is buggy or defective.

3.) You cannot sell or gift your account, because they said so.

4.) Your legally paid for games can be taken away from you at any time, for any reason. You do not own what you paid for.

5.) You must pay up front and there are no refunds, of any kind, for any reason. Once they have your money, it's gone.

6.) You don't own your (steam-enabled) store purchased games, either.

7.) You are always at fault, not Valve/Steam.

8.) Your purchased software on Steam is sold "as is", they may never fix your buggy or defective software.

9.) You get no guarantee of continuous, error-free access to Steam or any of the games you buy on it.

10.) You got a problem? Cancel your account.

11.) You can cancel your account at any time, for any reason... so can Valve/Steam.

...sound fair?

0 Votes

+ -

agree with that.

merc2dogs` 7th Mar 2010

was 'gifted' a couple of steam games. they were enjoyable, but after I purchased one game and -then- looked into the agreement, I determined that it was pretty much a rip-off.

You're stuck with the game, can't sell or trade it when you're done so it's useless afterwards.

'Normal' games I can trade off or sell outright if I finish them, or decide I don't like them after all.

Needless to say I haven't bought anything from steam since.

Ken.

0 Votes

+ -

Same as any other DD

WoW > Work Updated - 8th Mar 2010

I'm guessing you don't buy DLC on XBL or PSN?

Also:
8.) Your purchased software on Steam is sold "as is", they may never fix your buggy or defective software.
Can I go back to Gamestop complaining of an XB360 game being buggy? I don't think so...

RE: other items,
1. Read the EULA on other games not purchased through Steam? Yea, same deal. Use that Serial Number online to register, then try to sell that game...Good luck!
2. Same deal with other games not purchased through Steam.
3. That's true, try to sell your already used Serial Coded game to someone else.
4. While true, very rare this happens.
5. Open a PC game you bought at a store, then try to get your money back.

9. No need, you only need access to Steam to purchase, download and run the first time. I've played many of my games without incident offline.

While Steam isn't perfect by any means. I'd rather use it than any other type of DRM.

And don't think this won't be happening to console gaming as well. I can't count the number of times I've commented on this fact: the use of DLC on XBL and PSN shows that this type of DRM (content tied to an account, constant online access) WILL be coming to console gaming in the near future. This isn't just a PC gaming issue.

Edit: spelling

0 Votes

+ -

Console game issues

Third of Five 9th Mar 2010

Didn't something like that just happen with the PS3, in fact--because a chip thought that March 1, 2010 was February 29, 2010*, people were unable to access certain content, up to and including some of their games?

*I believe it was the same problem that befell the original Zune at the end of 2008. For some reason, some chip that was apparently in both the pre-Slim PS3s and the first model of Zunes believes that 2008 was not a leap year, but that 2010 was.

0 Votes

+ -

I agree

Axsimulate Updated - 5th Mar 2010

I've been using computers since the very early 80's and every single form of copy protection from then to now has failed. There is a saying "Wherever there is a lock, there is a key"
I remember having the ability to add a custom chip set to disk drives and low a behold it was able to copy just about anything. Electronic Arts was the toughest back then, but it was eventually cracked as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Computers
http://cerebro.xu.edu/~ryanr/atari/doubler.html
http://www.atarimax.com/

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

Remember the "Owner's Manual" challenge?

Hallowed are the Ori 5th Mar 2010

I think it was in use in the early 90's.

I remember one combat flight sim game that as copy protection showed you the image of an aircraft, and you had to identify it by looking its name up in the owner's manual. Get it wrong, and the game shut down.

Of course, this was before stores began to deny returns of opened software, so people would Xerox the owner's manual, dupe the install floppies, and then take the game back to wherever they bought it for a refund.

0 Votes

+ -

James T. Kirk

Axsimulate Updated - 5th Mar 2010

Yep, I remember those and the ones where they would print the images on red paper so that if you tried to copy it, it would come out all black. However since I worked in the offset printing industry, I learned a neat trick to copy red paper out of necessity. Simply place the red piece of paper in a shallow pan of bleach and watch it as it turns near white in a few minutes.

0 Votes

+ -

Dune and X-Wing...

nix_hed 5th Mar 2010

bad memories of making copies of the manuals just so I could play.
Luckily for me though, my parents bought a flat-bed scanner and some
photo editing program for their 486, so it made my job of making copies
so much easier (hurray for the magic outline tool!)

0 Votes

+ -

@nix_hed

Axsimulate 5th Mar 2010

I remember Railroad tycoon, and I think it was called M1 Abrams. Which was really funny because I spent some time in the Army and we had to memorize silhouettes of various types of military vehicles from US to Russian. So didn't even need to look to play! I already knew all of them.
And for railroad tycoon, I was an avid N-scale collector for years before and knew most of the trains! Although the European ones threw me off for a while. happy

0 Votes

+ -

And, the "color blind" dots

Dr. John 5th Mar 2010

Remember the ones that were a mish mash of color dots. The game came with a colored gel sheet. You looked through the sheet, then could read the pattern to get the code you needed. One game had three gels. Looking at the same page, you could read three different codes through the three different lenses, all from the same page.

0 Votes

+ -

@Dr. John

Axsimulate 5th Mar 2010

Never saw that one.

0 Votes

+ -

Or, the other "Owner's Manual" challenge

Dr. John 5th Mar 2010

There were several Sierra games that you had to look up a specific word on a specific page of the manual to install and config the game. Like, "What is the 19th word on page 17 of the manual?".

0 Votes

+ -

@Dr. John

Axsimulate 5th Mar 2010

Yep, I remember those.

0 Votes

+ -

Yeah.. I ran into a couple of those too (nt)

Hallowed are the Ori 5th Mar 2010

0 Votes

+ -

Star Control

lehnerus2000 Updated - 6th Mar 2010

I think that Star Control used that method.

lehnerus2000

0 Votes

+ -

Here we are all talking about how we cracked games

I am Gorby 8th Mar 2010

This is the reason these companies put in DRM!
Game players tend to congregate in communities and share secrets on how to play/finish games. OK, so someone has the latest game of XXXX.
It won't hurt if I give you, my gaming buddy, a copy, so you also can see how awesome I was to complete "saving the monster by the wall in level 15". Then it won't hurt for that person to pass it on as well. And so on!

I'm reading that games cost more than major movies to produce! And here we are ripping them off!

Oops! I've gotten a bit preachy there, but don't you see your hypocrisy. You love the games, laugh about copying them, then complain about the current DRM.

I hate the rootkit like DRM that some games employ. I don't want any game altering my PC. I can put up with Steam-like internet checking.

0 Votes

+ -

flight sim DRM

aiellenon 8th Mar 2010

I think that was F19 I used to love that game,
you'd play for hours and then you'd have to land
to end the mission and crash and have to start
from the beginning because the landing was really
tough.

0 Votes

+ -

Yep...

Hallowed are the Ori Updated - 8th Mar 2010

I thought its name was F17 and the plane was a stealth fighter, but I remember the rest just as you described.

And yeah, the landings were indeed a b!tch.

0 Votes

+ -

Time has proven that people claiming "it can't be done" are WRONG! {nt}

WinTard 5th Mar 2010

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

Every Time in fact.

DaemonSlayer 5th Mar 2010

EVERY TIME they have came out with the unbreakable, it got broke. Sometimes within hours of release. I think the only real thing that was unbreakable was the trick of using Native Americans on the radios back in WWII. (IIRC, it was WWII anyway.)

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

RE: 'Uncrackable' DRM lasts 24 hours

linlucy 5th Mar 2010

50%off ca,ed hardy t-shirt$15 jeans,coach handbag$33,air max90,dunk,polo t-shirt$13,,lacoste t-shirt $13 air jordan for
sale,$35,nfl nba jersy for sale (paypal accept)( http://www.paypalshops.us/ )

free shipping

accept paypal credit card

lower price fast shippment with higher quality ( http://www.paypalshops.us/ )

BEST QUALITY GUARANTEE!!

SAFTY & HONESTY GUARANTEE!!

FAST & PROMPT DELIVERY GUARANTEE!!

Packing: All the products are packed with original boxes and tags also retro cards/ code
numder

Features: AAA QUALITY, COMPETITIVE PRICE AND SERVICE
1) The goods are shipping by air express, such as EMS,the shipping time is in 5-7 business days
2) They are in stock now;
3) Various styles and color for clients' choice
4) The Products are fit for most people, because of our wholesale price

ugg45$ puma *****$35,nike jordans six ring,yeezy$%5!!

new era caps$13 ***** ******** jeans,t-shirts sunglass,caps

true religion jeans$35,ca,ed hardy jeans$35,nfl jerseys$20

LV,CHANAL,********$35--------- http://www.paypalshops.us/

NIKE SHOX+AIR MAX+TL3+OZ+NZ ONLY $35

UGG TIMBLAND+LACOSTE SHOES+ED HARDY SHOES$35

DIESEL T-SHIRT,GSTAR T-SHIRT,CA T-SHIRT,50% OFF FOR SALE $15

DIOR SUNGLASS,DG SUNGLASS$15

our website: http://www.paypalshops.us/

Reply
Flagged

0 Votes

+ -

ZD Net, Can't You Stop This????

martyh@... 5th Mar 2010

When are you going to put a stop to these scumbag spammers? Call Mossad if you can't do the job yourself.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

That'd be epic

voyager529 Updated - 5th Mar 2010

I'd LOVE to see Ziva David get five minutes with
this spammer. "You're making ZDNet less
convenient to post to! No one here wants your
******** anyway!" *drop kick* *ambulance
arrives, Ziva tells them to keep driving*

0 Votes

+ -

...keep driving...

Dr. John 5th Mar 2010

...and to send Ducky in half an hour.

0 Votes

+ -

send DiNozzo first

bart001fr 8th Mar 2010

maybe the spammer can off him for us.

I've never met a more obnoxious or ineffectual character in any show.

0 Votes

+ -

No! No! He's terrific! (nt)

I am Gorby 8th Mar 2010

0 Votes

+ -

Make sure to report the post as spam [nt]

Liath.WW 5th Mar 2010

Subject says all

0 Votes

+ -

But only one person can do that.

Hallowed are the Ori 6th Mar 2010

They should accept multiple complaints on the same post... which would it much easier to sort out the ones that really need to be removed from the usual noise I'm sure they get everyday.

0 Votes

+ -

GET LOST ! ! (nt)

hkommedal 6th Mar 2010

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

That's insane "relied on having a constant internet connection"

T1Oracle 5th Mar 2010

Who was naive enough to think that couldn't be bypassed? Who was naive enough to think that wouldn't inconvenience *paying* customers *more* than hackers?

This was a dumb move by Ubisoft and who ever approved it should be reprimanded (likely an exec).

Regardless, the only way to thwart pirates is to snatch licenses once piracy has been adequately verified. Trying to remotely disable the product only hurts users.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

agree

TxM2xTx 5th Mar 2010

Why on earth should there be a constant internet connection available. Waste of bandwidth for no good reason.

And this also tells me you can't play the game offline. No sense in buying it then.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

And it isn't even on online game....

Liath.WW 5th Mar 2010

This is why I've not bought this game, or any games that use DRM in a long, long time. DRM makes me wary of games I'd really like to play, too. Blizzard's games fall here.

At least not until they release official patches that remove the DRM. Egosoft is good for this, and I own just about every game they have released -- after they released the patch.

It is a good thing I have a spare computer that I solely play 'other' games on. I don't use it for any other purpose. Keeps the BS on my main system to a minimum.

0 Votes

+ -

approval of scheme

zclayton2 8th Mar 2010

Nah, whoever approved that insanity should be fired for incompetence.

Consumer relations: fail
Ease of use: terminal fail - my game machine isn't connected - its running windows.
Strength of security: Epic fail - 24 hours, really - how secure is that?

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

If only...

hamitron 5th Mar 2010

1) Users did not steal software

2) Game developers did not use DRM

Gone would be the need for all these restrictions and it
for sure would reduce the traffic to "darker alleys" of
the internet. It would be interesting to know how much
this would affect PC infection.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

RE: 'Uncrackable' DRM lasts 24 hours

rmark@... 5th Mar 2010

I wonder how much money they spent on that DRM? I bet it would take thousands of copies of the games to be sold just to break even on the cost of developing and integrating the breakable DRM.

They need to realize that someone is going to crack it so just put some easy to defeat copy protection in place to keep the mass pirating to those that are really trying to do it. It should yield about that same profits.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

Another uncrackable DRM was cracked, by a kid...

paul613 5th Mar 2010

Years ago. Remember? I think it was for DVDs. A teen figured out that you could disable it by holding down the Shift key--or maybe it was the Control key--during bootup! He posted his findings. The DRM company sued him but went belly-up.

Reply
Flag

0 Votes

+ -

It was the Shift key.

Hallowed are the Ori 5th Mar 2010

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-132035.html?tag=content;col1

And don't forget the DRM method that was foiled by users simply using a "magic marker" on the edge of the disks.

Reply
Flagged

0 Votes

+ -

That one was Sony!! (nt)

JLHenry 5th Mar 2010

0 Votes

+ -

Sony BMG made the CDs, but SunnComm Technologies made the DRM "code"

IT_Guy_z Updated - 5th Mar 2010

And SunnComm is no longer in business.

0 Votes

+ -

I thought you liked DRM, Kirk...

Wintel_BSOD 5th Mar 2010

It keeps you and your buds in Redmond and Planet Hollywood happy.

happy

0 Votes

+ -

Thanks for the link.

msalzberg 5th Mar 2010

It's good to be reminded that crazy, racist, moronic posters are nothing
new.

0 Votes

+ -

Not a huge surprise

Steve Goldman 5th Mar 2010

Coming out with a new DRM mechanism is like issuing a
flat-out challenge to crackers. It's like saying, "here,
betcha can't beat this." Of course they're going to beat
it. If not for the ability to get what they want then
just to say, "we beat it, now whatcha got?"