Latest Xbox Dashboard Update Makes Pirates Sad

[Ryurt]

[2010-11-01 04:11PM] ap2.5 already defeated, backup fable 3 running fine on beta dash! more data required for analysis!

It was defeated before the update even hit, I guess they sure did show all those pirates. This is Microsofts last gasp at stopping piracy on the xbox and it was stopped before it even started.

For the record any modded box can use xbox live, and the most up to date dashboard update, just not with Fable 3. Also modding a 360 takes <2 minutes.

 

[Xanthious]

The really hilarious side effect to banning consoles is that it actually adds MORE pirates to what is already out there. Don't believe me? Consider this, you think the pirates playing online just stop and give up? Hell no! They go buy another preowned console most likely and mod it and then sell the banned console adding another pirate to the mix.

Everytime M$ does one of their mass bans craigslist explodes with banned 360s that are pretty open about saying that they are unable to get online but can play copied games. Then add that to the people out there that sell their console to friends/family and then turn around and make a little bit of extra money selling them games for 5-10 dollars a piece.

I know more than a few people that have sold banned consoles to families that couldn't of normally afforded a 200 dollar console and 60 dollar games but can much more easily afford a 70 dollar console and 10 dollar games. They also make a little extra scratch off these same people updating their firmware every so often so they can play the most up to date games. Hell some of these people even have waiting lists of people looking to buy a banned console.

However, I guess M$ is happy to add to the piracy "problem" because by choosing this method to combat it that is exactly what they are doing. I'm sure the pirates that are out there making a rather tidy bit of supplemental income go so far as to thank ole M$ every time a wave of bans comes around because that's just more customers and money for them.

 

[Mysnomer]

For some reason a lot of people on the Fable 3 forum are having problems using their copies even when they're legit and not pirated.

Honestly, good for them. The game is fucking awful.

Oh, man. Well played. I saw your icon as I was reading the previous comment, and I'm thinking, Ooh, a respected member of the community, what does he think about serious issues like piracy and DRM. But you got me. You got me good.

 

[The Wooster]

For some reason a lot of people on the Fable 3 forum are having problems using their copies even when they're legit and not pirated.

Honestly, good for them. The game is fucking awful.

Oh, man. Well played. I saw your icon as I was reading the previous comment, and I'm thinking, Ooh, a respected member of the community, what does he think about serious issues like piracy and DRM. But you got me. You got me good.

I'm all about the ducats, man. I only do private dead horse flogging sessions now.

 

[Mysnomer]

Oh, man. Well played. I saw your icon as I was reading the previous comment, and I'm thinking, Ooh, a respected member of the community, what does he think about serious issues like piracy and DRM. But you got me. You got me good.

I'm all about the ducats, man. I only do private dead horse flogging sessions now.

If I'm interpreting this right, you're saying that there's no point in truly discussing this because it's all been said before? I guess that's true, but the sheer level of uninformed vitriol and claims make me think that some education is in order. But you're right, it's pretty unlikely that anyone came to this thread to learn something new and change their opinion.

 

[ionveau]

So, uh, no one sees anything wrong with the disturbing number of people on this thread who are referring to pirates as dirty, worthless human beings and wishing physical violence on them?

I'm just saying, mods ban people on here for mentioning that they pirate games, which isn't even a criminal offense.

Do you you know how many people go to court over this?

i know someone who is currently in jail for pirating.

*Sigh* Escapist, i thought you were a smart society

Your ether trolling yourself,

if your not, Btw if you know a person in jail for copy write infringement then he was selling the software online like a dumb dumb.

 

[The Wooster]

Oh, man. Well played. I saw your icon as I was reading the previous comment, and I'm thinking, Ooh, a respected member of the community, what does he think about serious issues like piracy and DRM. But you got me. You got me good.

I'm all about the ducats, man. I only do private dead horse flogging sessions now.

If I'm interpreting this right, you're saying that there's no point in truly discussing this because it's all been said before? I guess that's true, but the sheer level of uninformed vitriol and claims make me think that some education is in order. But you're right, it's pretty unlikely that anyone came to this thread to learn something new and change their opinion.

Well discussing things on the internet with the intent to change people's minds is, in my personal experience, generally a waste of time. That being said you do make a good point about education. There's lot of people who just type in the first thought that comes into their head when they see the title.

That being personally I've contributed to at least a dozen threads about piracy generally from a pro consumer stance but a lot of people have argued the point with far more technical detail and actual knowledge. Check out the posts of a user called Rak The Undead. He generally nailed the subject without being for either side.

My thoughts can probably just be summed up with my 3rd Crit Miss strip [http://cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/galleries/display/64/64124.jpg].

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

Exactly. Because it isn't legally binding.

I mean you can't force someone to agree to something based on the past. You have to disclose the information beforehand.

In this case, the sign would be located outside the room. And no EULA that I am aware of does what that comic does.

You can read the UELA before you buy the game? I'm impressed! Because normally I don't get to see it until after I try to install the game, after the purchase, and if I don't agree to it, I can't return the game. Which means that it happes exactly how this comic does...

Don't be an idiot, you're not forced to install it or agree to it.

Yeah, you bought it and wasted your money but that's not important.

It's only a waste if you don't agree with the UELA, which you can't read until after the purchase.

 

[Yopaz]

Screw Pirates, it makes me sad too. It looks like shit.

Agreed, I dislike the new one, and I loved the old one, the one before that was awful though... I wish they'd make a choice to use the old one with the stealth thing to keep away pirates and let those who want the kinect use the new one.

 

[Akalistos]

Latest Xbox Dashboard Update Makes Pirates Sad

Xbox 360 videogame pirates that recently updated the dashboard will find their illegal abilities sorely reduced.

A major anger independent developers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104876-Major-Xbox-Live-Dashboard-Update-Hits-Tomorrow]. According to new information, Microsoft evidently also included a stealth update that protects the Xbox 360 from piracy.

The update, being referred to as "AP 2.5," apparently locks out copied games from Xbox Live and will stop them from booting up at all. The method of its operation is not yet clear, but AP 2.5 basically involves a new disc check.

If that disc check isn't passed, the console running a pirated disc will be flagged for a ban from Xbox Live. The game itself won't load, and will give the player an "unrecognizable disc" error. Hackers have already determined that Fable III [http://www.amazon.com/Fable-III-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0JGDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288892155&sr=8-1] has this AP 2.5 protection, and it'll likely be in all future discs as well. This is said to be the first time that "backup" games have been negated in such a way.

The battle against videogame piracy will never end, but Sony got off a good salvo [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104338-Medal-of-Honor-Gets-Head-Shot-on-PS3-Piracy] earlier this year and now Microsoft is doing some damage of its own. If we hear about a large number of Xbox Live bans in the near future, they'll probably be the result of this new piracy defense method.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-kinect-dash-anti-piracy-blog-entry]

Permalink

I'll ask you this Tom Goldman; Why care when you bought the game?

 

[dickseverywhere]

huh this is actually pretty clever because you can get stealth chips that will hide the modded drive firmware so you can still go on live if you switch the chip to stealth. with this though when you put in your burnt copy of one of the new games it flags you for live ban so when you next try to go on live you're screwed whether your chip is stealthed or not.

 

[RDubayoo]

If this does screw up somebody's legit copy of a game, then I hold you pirates out there directly responsible for it. Make all the excuses you want, measures such as this would never be necessary if you purchased your games like every normal law-abiding citizen.

 

[Mysnomer]

Well, I just got a free Xbox 360 (never owned one before), so I set it up, decide to retrieve my Gamertag online (I had previously set one up to play Halo at a friend's house). Screen comes up, "Do you want to download this update?" I press "A" and then sit down at the computer to do some reading while the console downloads. Scrolling over my Escapist tabs, I come to this thread and suddenly realize that I don't want the update b/c I'm not going to play new games for quite some time, and I haven't decided whether or not I want to mod the console. Rush over and hit "B," canceling the update with only about 50% on the bar. Xbox resets, and suddenly I'm looking at the brand new dashboard.

I'm sorry, where was the EULA in all this? Nowhere. I canceled the download, so why then does it seem to have happened anyway? You know what? I never agreed to any EULA. Not for the update, and not for use of the console, so I will make every effort to hack my console and make it generally as Microsoft disapproved as possible.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Just a question from a non pirate but is that update legal? I don't remember being informed of this and I thought they had to tell you exactly what is in an update?

Probably wrong but I thought I'd ask.

I thought this was in the EULA you have to accept when you first install the update

EULA is not legally binding.

And, by that some token, the user almost certainly has no recourse in a court as a result. The truth of the matter is this: if some user was a pirate and they tried to sue, even money says Microsoft would let the matter be taken to court just to shame a pirate. If the user was not a pirate and their xbox bricked because of an update, it would just be settled out of court.

 

[RicoADF]

Just a question from a non pirate but is that update legal? I don't remember being informed of this and I thought they had to tell you exactly what is in an update?

Probably wrong but I thought I'd ask.

I thought this was in the EULA you have to accept when you first install the update

EULA is not legally binding.

It really should be though. It would make things a lot easier and help the industry a lot.

Right... http://xkcd.com/501/

That's really not what happens.

You can only read an EULA once you buy the game, you cant return a PC game you've bought in some places, thus your basically in that situation of by the time you read the 'contract' you can't decline it and get you $ back.

 

[bpm195]

Latest Xbox Dashboard Update Makes Pirates Sad

Xbox 360 videogame pirates that recently updated the dashboard will find their illegal abilities sorely reduced.

A major anger independent developers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104876-Major-Xbox-Live-Dashboard-Update-Hits-Tomorrow]. According to new information, Microsoft evidently also included a stealth update that protects the Xbox 360 from piracy.

The update, being referred to as "AP 2.5," apparently locks out copied games from Xbox Live and will stop them from booting up at all. The method of its operation is not yet clear, but AP 2.5 basically involves a new disc check.

If that disc check isn't passed, the console running a pirated disc will be flagged for a ban from Xbox Live. The game itself won't load, and will give the player an "unrecognizable disc" error. Hackers have already determined that Fable III [http://www.amazon.com/Fable-III-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0JGDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288892155&sr=8-1] has this AP 2.5 protection, and it'll likely be in all future discs as well. This is said to be the first time that "backup" games have been negated in such a way.

The battle against videogame piracy will never end, but Sony got off a good salvo [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104338-Medal-of-Honor-Gets-Head-Shot-on-PS3-Piracy] earlier this year and now Microsoft is doing some damage of its own. If we hear about a large number of Xbox Live bans in the near future, they'll probably be the result of this new piracy defense method.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-kinect-dash-anti-piracy-blog-entry]

Permalink

I'll ask you this Tom Goldman; Why care when you bought the game?

Because if for some reason a game fails this disc check even once your console is banned. So unless the system gets absolutely zero false positives some legitimate customers will be getting screwed.

 

[JoJo]

This update made pirates sad? They were already sad to start with!

 

[SimuLord]

Just a thought, but wouldn't the easiest defense against piracy be a sufficient-length checksum? If enough of the content is modified to defeat the copy protection, one would presume that the software itself would bear a mark, and with a fast enough processor the check could be concluded without wasting TOO much of the player's time.

 

[Th37thTrump3t]

Wait, wait, sorry, but how does this work? Is every unreadable disc getting this "flag" or just a pirated one?

'Cause I have discs with scratches and I wouldn't want to be accused of piracy.

Not any unreadable disk, just ones that fail a screening to prove that they are legit. Basically when you put a game into your 360 and play it, the xbox looks for a code hidden on the disk to prove that it is not a copy. If it fails to find that code, the game is considered pirated and unreadable.

 

[fanklok]

Just a question from a non pirate but is that update legal? I don't remember being informed of this and I thought they had to tell you exactly what is in an update?

Probably wrong but I thought I'd ask.

When was the last time you read update and patch notes for any hardware ever?