Starforce Petition!

[MistressDeath]

Anyway, I have never bought a Starforce game. I ran into the Starforce virus while installing a demo during it's early stages. It killed my system to the point I didn't trust it because of the BSOD. I had to reinstall Windows so that I could trust and be happy with my pc again. I started telling all my friends to wait until you know what protection a new game is going to use before you buy or install the demo. My friends and I think the same way and will not install a demo or buy a Starforce protected game. It pains me to see the games that I have missed out on. But it also makes me feel good knowing my pc is sound and that I am able to play all the other copy protected games with high efficiency. It's true that all protections install something. But at least the others don't kill my pc, but are just quiet in the background not causing my pc harm. There is nothing worse than ghosts in the machine for any type of pc user. Not really sure why you received that BSOD. Starforce will not endure as game sales will drop. DTools 4.0 will beat Starforce's current versions. Starforce will come out with a new version to stop DTools 4.0. This new version will reek even worse havoc on all pcs that install the game or demo. It's kind of ironic if you think about it. Starforce was created because the the pub/dev were losing a small percentage of sales to warez and pirates. But in all actuality they will lose more sales because of no one will want to buy a Starforce protected game. 85% of computer gamers don't even know what warez is or pirating. They just live in a bubble and hang out at EB. This boycott is great idea and I support it very much. Pub/Dev's please use Securom or Safedisk. Even though these can be bypassed by current means at least your games cannot be copied by normal users and normal means. You are hurting the very customers you are working so hard to create your games for. You are going to learn a tough lesson. Don't bite the hand that feeds you and your family.

Hmmm, this brings back memories of Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines. Something that is created to benefit that actually ends up doing more harm.

MD

[XdaywalkerX]

Originally Posted by MistressDeath

...
Hmmm, this brings back memories of Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines. Something that is created to benefit that actually ends up doing more harm.

MD

Starforce=Skynet

...where is my "radioactive-protection-suit" - may it rains a few bombs next time... you never can tell - but you can "talk to my hand" - in german he said "Sprich zu der Hand" - i don't know what he said in english...

[Grumpy]

It appears the Starforce Petitions and the Boycotting of purchasing Starforce protected games is starting to take effect!
Codemasters is no longer using Starforce to protect its games! They have moved to Securom 7.
(Thanks to cdsteam for the information)

[XdaywalkerX]

never even dreamed of saing it - I LOVE SECUROM - but i think this protection install drivers too... or i'm wrong?

[coffin filler]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

@Coffin Filler,
Well lets all pray it is not SF as then I too will be missing out on a top game as I also wont be installing it!
It really does make it hard to pre order games now as I dont want to take the chance that when I do recieve it will be protected with SF!

AMEN...AMEN

[nerva]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

It appears the Starforce Petitions and the Boycotting of purchasing Starforce protected games is starting to take effect!
Codemasters is no longer using Starforce to protect its games! They have moved to Securom 7.
(Thanks to cdsteam for the information)

Its not true

Sorry to disapooint you about this. Codemasters announced Securom 7 in Heroes of The Pacific a month ago in their news letter as a 1 game contract because starforce would have slow down the game to much. They said that they might use it more often if there is no release of it in the near future but it came out as clonecd the day it was retail store so i guess (or better said im pretty sure) the next important games like TOCA 3 and CMR 2006 will have sf3 again as the Beta versions have sf3 already (v 3.5).

----------------

never even dreamed of saing it - I LOVE SECUROM - but i think this protection install drivers too... or i'm wrong?

you r right dude!
and just look how many problems it has on Myst 5 UbiSoft forum

Seems that publishers begin to realize the pirate threat - so StarForce really hrlps in it, and after that Securom and Safedisk begin to make more relible protections.

[Evil Homer]

Originally Posted by impic0

Well sorry, but this thread makes no sense since you "sign" against the (almost) only copy protection that is still hard to crack. so what do you want? that software is protected by weak copy protections that erverybody can crack with help of some "tool"? i don't think publishers will agree with you. wouldn't it make more sense to start a petition against copy protections?

Guys, you both miss the point, it's not the fact that the game is protected that is the problem, it's what StarForce does when installed.
So it doesn't matter if later someone finds a fix for it (eg:daemon v4) and you can copy the game, you are still installing starforce when you install the game and that will still mess with most computers at some stage or other.
From what I hear and read when U finally go 64bit you'll be lucky if your machine runs at all if you've installed a starforce infected game.
So I also am joining the boycott, I do have quiet a few of the infected games but I will never buy another and hopefully nor will most of U.
I also think this should be a sticky, very important and very relavent issue for todays gamers.

[thebluegr]

Just to clear some confusion here: almost ALL protections (Starforce, Safedisk, Securom) load device drivers (SecuRom installs drivers from v7 onwards). For example, safedisc installs a driver called "secdrv.sys" in windows\system32\drivers - there is an update for it here:
http://www.macrovision.com/products/...ownloads.shtml

However, these drivers are not obtrusive (I have the Safedisk driver installed in all my PCs) and cause no issues (apart from an error with older Safedisc drivers, fixed from the page above). Each well-known protection apart from StarForce loads ONE driver (e.g. secdrv). On the other hand, StarForce installs a LOT of drivers (about 6 or so) that mess with the normal operation of the PC and they tamper with things they are not supposed to (e.g. the PC's IDE channels). That's what's causing the BSODs and system instabilities. The issue is not that StarForce uses device drivers, it's about the damage these drivers cause to the systems they are installed, as well as the things they do behind the back of the user. Note that StarForce is the ONLY protection that has an uninstall program for their drivers - they "silently" aknowledge that their own program is causing problems to PCs it's installed on. No other protection offers uninstall programs, because no user has had issues with these drivers.

I'm mentioning this because StarForce authors claim that all protections use device drivers and that user eggagerate when they talk about the SF drivers. This is not the case, as their drivers are far more complex and affect many things in a system they are installed on.

To sum up, the issue here is that StarForce drivers are complex, they are many (not one, as most protections), they tamper with things they are not supposed to and they do a lot of nasty things "under the hood". This causes system instabilities, BSODs and a lot of unnecessary grievance just to protect some games. Finally, SF protected games do NOT work on Windows 64-bit without a vendor patch, and very few vendors have supplied such patches

Like others do, I too recommend all my friends not to install SF protected games for the sole reason that SF drivers are a major pain in the ass

Wikipedia has a nice article about StarForce here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starforce

There is also an article with the response of Starforce to many user's comments here:
http://www.simhq.com/_technology/technology_061a.html
and a discussion thread about it here:
http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boa...;f=37;t=007110

There is also a very good page dedicated to boycotting StarForce here:
http://www.glop.org/starforce/

Note that StarForce itself has a page containing their latest drivers, an uninstall program and some answers to common questions here:
http://www.star-force.com/protection/users/

[crc953]

Originally Posted by thebluegr

they tamper with things they are not supposed to (e.g. the PC's IDE channels)

You are very far from the truth.
A short analysis of sfcure demonstrate that SF hook two Microsoft drivers:
1= classpnp.sys: all Read/Write operation
2= netbt.sys; all operation (except load/unload)

1) means that SF spy everything that is read/write, from optical discs or hard discs
2) netbt is netbios over tcpip. It means that they can send to anyone what the spyed at stage 1)

Many thanks to eip.
You unplug your CD readers? Unplug your internet connexion!!!

[GTrunner]

I also support this petition!
I had a problem with Colin McRae Rally 2005, didn't work & f****d up my computer. I also could not returned it to the store becouse ''I opened it''.

I definitively won't buy another Starforce protected game ever.

[coffin filler]

Yawns, Rubs eyes and conceeds that there will always be a few of "them".

Now i am not confesing to know all there is to know about SF or indeed prots in general. However i do have an understanding above the average user who has not looked into or wanted to know more about game protection ect. There are indeed many misunderstanding where SF is concerned. People do sometimes over exaggerate the problems SF can cause but make no mistake about it, SF is EVIL Joking aside though i have read many peoples posts (here @ GCW and "other" forums) playing down the FACT that SF can and dose cause unstable PC's in many different ways. Now one thing many people dont realize (apart from the Legal issues regarding SF and how it "works" within your OS) People dont realize that from having a SF protected game installed it can effect other non gaming related processes. For example a non gaming related issue would be = Not being able to backup other non SF protected games (without needing to know more than many people do) and this isnt just related to backing up games. It "can" effect the writing of other formats to DVD or CD. Now i dont know about you but if there is a possability that a SF protected game can hamper my DVD-RW's writing to disk opperations then that should be made clear by the Dev of SF should it not ?. (this can also tie into the legal argument about SF) and if indeed its a prot of even a virus/Malicious program because a virus/Malicious software dose things it dosent have the users permission to do (and yes i know im being very basic here). So to some up. Is SF capable of all the roomers. Probarly no is the correct answere but it is capeable of causing an unstable PC and its capeable of not only effecting gaming processes but also non related gaming opperations to.

Sorry to of weebled on for so long but this is something i feel very strongly about and as a consumer i feel if i were to purchase a SF protected game (which i have never personaly done and never would) i would not be privvy to all the information needed for me to make a educated decision and the lack of truthfull info is wrong, The lack of warning on SF proteced game cases and a list of possable effects is wrong. And if another product was being sold in this way there would be laws being broken,trading standards would be involved,the product would be taken off the shelvs until either the correct warnings were implemented on the case or SF was ammended ect ect.

So to all who claim SF dosent do damage to your PC 's (mabey you were one of the lucky ones?). SF dose have the Potential to and dose in fact cause many people problems. (problems the consumer should be made aware of before Purchase).

All of my above post has been posted (by myself and others) here at GCW previously. In my previous posts concerning SF(some of which are in this actual thread) It amazers me that people still post here trying to state that SF dose not cause problems in any form Do people actualy read the whole of threads before making a post ? ( i think not) I think to many times people respond to the later part of threads rather than to read the whole thread. If they did then there might possabily not as many incorrect posts. (JUST because something hasent effected you dose not mean it wont/hasent effected others and in many cases people wont even know what SF has done to their PC). So many times i read the same posts that have already been discused earlier in a thread (expecialy long threads that im subscribed to). SF Is a naughty Entity from a naughty region designed to do naughty things to our beloved PC's. (mabey that will help some to understand before they post)

[glenbo]

funny you say that..about it messing with other back ups..etc.
after my last fight with star force (toca 2) i ended up with one dead cd rw drive and one dvd rw drive that would not burn succsefully from the moment starforce hit my machine.
i fixed that drive by reflashing it.(about 4 times)

i later bought a new phillips dvd rw drive,working fine...then i decide to install toca2 again and bang! same thing happens.

since then i have sold all my starforce games to the local gamestation store...its really not worth the hassle.(and i aint just talking backing up hassle..im talking starforce in general)

[coffin filler]

Originally Posted by glenbo

since then i have sold all my starforce games to the local gamestation store...its really not worth the hassle.(and i aint just talking backing up hassle..im talking starforce in general)

yep but their will still be those who state SF is not responsible ( I am begining to wonder if they are in fact SF employees)

[glenbo]

thing is unless people read statements in forums,nobody is to know any better.
good job that the only 3 half decent star force games so far have been colin mcrae,splinter cell 3 and toca 2...the rest aint worth wasting 40 quid on anyway lol :P

[HodgePodge]

Everyone needs to know what is going on with this copy-protection program and how it can hinder, even damage your computer. I will not be buying any game which requires StarForce to be installed too.

Thanks again for the list.