Latest Xbox Dashboard Update Makes Pirates Sad

[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?

 

[Kouen]

LOLZ

Shitty DRM has infected the consoles! Now console gamers know the bane of PC gamers' existance!

It's funny that they will ban suspected pirates from Xbox live, private PC servers for the win!

Yeah but this stuff doesn't get in the way of regular console gamers, which is the major gripe of PC based DRM. Your attitude is why most developers are pretty much giving up on PC gamer.

That's because there are so many hardware variations of PCs that interfere with DRM. My two external CD drives fuck up most DRM because it thinks I'm loading an iso file or something... My problem with DRM is it interferes with playing the game I bought. Is it too much to ask for developers to properly implement DRM on PC? That's all I'm asking.

(By the way, I don't pirate and don't plan on it because I like the rows of boxes!)

I Think Steam so far is the only DRM in recent times to get it right, since many people do not realize its also DRM, The developers behind DRM just dont seem to get it we need invisible behind the scenes DRM not a brick wall that stands between us and our games, like say the Ubisoft always connected to the server one.. that took the piss

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

Pirates sad? How about the new update makes me sad?

The new dashboard update gave my Xbox 3 red rings...

 

[xDarc]

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.

It would help the industry alright, TO ROYALLY SCREW YOU HARDER THAN THEY PRESENTLY DO.

I am so tired of all the greedy publisher and dev studio sympathizers on the escapist with no sense of consumer advocacy or self respect. I mean, how can anyone in their right mind say go ahead and take away any semblance of fair use, control or actual ownership of your purchased product?

The level of control that the game industry seeks is simply un-American.

 

[LitleWaffle]

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.

Yeah. Go honesty. HAH!

So... don't get Fable 3 until this has been sorted out. Check.

Also, nice try Microsoft, but I hope that wasn't the only trick up your sleeve. They will figure it out within a month or so.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

now im just awaiting Anonymous to throw a hissy-fit and bring them down because they cant steal without consequences XD

 

[Azaraxzealot]

Yet another innocent casualty of the War on Piracy.

we shouldnt blame the companies for wanting to combat piracy, they need to make money so they can continue to make consoles and publish games. we should blame the pirates for making companies take these measures.

seriously, if people never pirated, then this shit wouldnt happen.

 

[zxBARRICADExz]

I give them 1 month tops to crack it and everything goes back to normal. Also why would you play online if you had a hacked console?

because having a j-tag'd box is cool to tell people about on live... and because those people that do have one are fuckin cunts.

MS needs to start updating firmware more often to catch these bastards.

They actually hack the CD drive and not the console itself. I read into it because i was gonna do it to mine. Also I wouldn't do it and play online. I wouldn't even connect to the Internet with it.

J-Tag is mostly software.. it allows packet sending to be modified to xbl servers. but ya drive swapping is as old as the moon when it comes to the 360.. eventually with a proper firmware update they will be able to block out anything hardware that dosnt belong.. ..oh shit! i forgot!..they'll just ban so these folks buy another box to fill their pockets even more..

And the sad part is most of the banned people will. If i hacked a console then got banned from using its games at all i would stop playing that console period.

good..one less hacking assface to worry about wrecking a good online experience.