Atari Founder: PC Piracy About to be Eradicated

[Junaid Alam]

Atari Founder: PC Piracy About to be Eradicated

Atari founder Nolan Bushnell says a new chip puts computer piracy on the verge of being eradicated.

Speaking at a conference hosted by Wedbush Morgan Securities, Bushnell said a motherboard chip on computers currently in production will wipe out piracy and thus boost sales in Asia and India.

"There is a stealth encryption chip called a TPM that is going on the motherboards of most of the computers that are coming out now," he said.

"What that says is that in the games business we will be able to encrypt with an absolutely verifiable private key in the encryption world - which is uncrackable by people on the internet and by giving away passwords - which will allow for a huge market to develop in some of the areas where piracy has been a real problem," he continued.

Bushnell said there was no stopping film piracy because they could simply be recorded and copied. Games, he added, "are a different thing, because games are so integrated with the code. The TPM will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay."

Source: Gamesindustry.biz [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/encryption-chip-will-end-piracy-open-markets-says-bushnell]


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[broadband]

ah this is really bad for some people, they dont know that the prices of legal games are really high outside of the U.S.?

there are stores that sell them in prices that one could consider a gamble (or whatever is written) honestly the only good way to get games at fair prices where i live is ordering by mail

 

[Nugoo]

Of course, this only works if people buy motherboards with this chip. But, yeah, this is bad for people in developing countries because it's much harder to find a legitimate version of a game than a pirated version.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Time taken for the Dutch to fit a chip override. Hours?

 

[shadow1138]

Haha fat chance of it working. 10 bucks says pirates are going to find a way to disable that chip in the first six months . Anw have they thought about the fact that this will drive a lot of people from buying new pcs ??? After all , do I really need to buy a new system every two-three years, if I can't get games for it?

I really can't get these guys.

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

I will see your bet on the same side and raise you another 10 shadow

 

[blackadvent]

Odds of someone finding an override: 100%

When? That's the question.

 

[Royas]

Heh, and right after this chip eliminates game piracy, pork bearing mammals will begin aerial operations.

 

[Easykill]

Wont work. Even though I don't pirate games, I don't want it to.

 

[stompy]

Heh, and right after this chip eliminates game piracy, pork bearing mammals will begin aerial operations.

Hah, true. I mean, like some people here have said, pirates will find a way to override, disable, or just plain by-pass the chip.

 

[Soulfein]

Of course, this only works if people buy motherboards with this chip. But, yeah, this is bad for people in developing countries because it's much harder to find a legitimate version of a game than a pirated version.

I must say, the price of PC Games is probaly the last thing a developing country worry about. This seems like a weak argument to fight it.

ah this is really bad for some people, they dont know that the prices of legal games are really high outside of the U.S.?

The reason that prices are so high IS the piracy. Piracy steals revenue from multi-million dollar games, so when people started pirating the prices are driven up. I think that with less piracy we can expect a drop in game prices.

Although I have no real evidence of this, a majority of the people who are opposed to this, in all likelyhood, are pirates themselves. Their opposition to this is due to the fact that this seems like it COULD work.

I'll put my money on people finding ways to remove the chip, but many people destroying their motherboards, causing motherboard companies to get profit.

I don't see why anyone doesn't go for the obvious route of stopping piracy by just changing it from one of the coolest professions ever to something like "Cocksucking". With a worse title, these Pirates would be detered. It is more fun to say "Arr, I'm a pirate" then "Squelch, I'm a cocksucker"

 

[Cousin_IT]

bring on the death of AAA copy n paste titles on the PC \o/

 

[zimbatm]

The reason that prices are so high IS the piracy. Piracy steals revenue from multi-million dollar games, so when people started pirating the prices are driven up. I think that with less piracy we can expect a drop in game prices.

I don't say you're wrong but to be equitable: multi-million dollar games that aren't even fun is also part of the problem ! Games magazines that get paid for good reviews are also part of the problem. It's too easy to stigmatize "evil pirates", these are things you pay when you buy the title.

 

[stompy]

Do you hear that sound?

'Tis the sound of a billion pirates laughing their collective asses off.

Bushnell doesn't know his asshole from his armpit; there is no such thing as 'piracy-proofing'. This will last for as long as it takes someone to find a workaround; no longer.

At least Bushnell'll get a few good laughs... until of course the inevitable...

 

[fyrh56]

...

But it is a strong argument; let me give you an example: COD4 is being sold at Gamestop for $59.99, which is roughly 40?. The same game is being sold here in Portugal for 75.95?. So, not only our average salary is a lot lower than USA's, but we are paying twice the money for the same exact game. I'd expect a price increase due to customs and whatnot, but a little research actually revealed that most games we get here aren't shipped from overseas, but pressed inside Europe's borders, so any kind of VAT tax should be minimal. But this is still Europe. Even if Portugal lags behind most of Europe, we still have it a hell of a lot easier than the vast majority of Asian countries.

That brings me to your next point. 80? ($130) for a game? I'm sorry, but they must be out of their goddamn minds. And COD4 is actually cheaper now, i remember seeing 100? figures when it was released. Mind you, this happens with nearly every game that is release here. I actually ebay most of my games because, even with custom taxes applied, they are cheaper than the European releases. Again, this is Europe. God knows how much they jack up the prices on Asian markets. I can still be arsed to order things online, but do you think most will (as opposed to pay a small fortune for a game)? Because it's "moral to do so"? HAH!

Back to the topic, Vista's BitLocker technology (which uses TPM chips) was already cracked long ago, so it's safe to assume that any software that features TPM-enabled encryption will get cracked eventually.

 

[Razzle Bathbone]

Sigh. They just never learn.

Once again, here's what will happen:
Many users will be locked out of their legitimately purchased programs because the stupid anti-piracy gizmo doesn't work properly.
Meanwhile, the pirates will need about five seconds to break it before they go back to business as usual.

Software companies who treat paying customers like criminals can go bankrupt and burn in hell. I have absolutely no sympathy.

 

[Jayact]

What is the point in announcing the fact that they're adding that chip?
It's going to have more people not buy the new PCs..

 

[smallharmlesskitten]

What is the point in announcing the fact that they're adding that chip?
It's going to have more people not buy the new PCs..

It's to protect themselves from liability. If a pirate got caught using that motherboard to pirate he could claim they led him into the pirating.

Don't ask me how thoug i dont study american law or any law for that matter.

i just remember watching a show on the crime channel on police busts on illegal prostitution and how some people claim they were led into commiting the crime by law enforcement

 

[aiusepsi]

As has been mentioned, the TPM chip is also used for Bitlocker drive encryption in Vista. That's designed such that if it isn't Windows being booted up, there's no way to decrypt the disk. It's a really, really tough cookie.

You know how they broke Bitlocker? You cut the power to the machine, get the machine open really, really fast, spray compressed air onto the RAM to cool it down to prevent the information stored on the RAM degrading, and then boot into another OS to sniff the encryption key out of the RAM.

It's not actually the TPM that's getting cracked, it's a flaw in the implementation of Bitlocker. The pirates are really going to have their work cut out for them to figure this one out.