Half Life 2 DRM dream?
p2pnet.net News:- In its efforts to protect the authenticity of its work, Valve may have stumbled onto something: it may have created Digital Rights Management we can all live with.
The technology exists; it just needed the right minds and intentions to make it work.
By serving file-sharers with fake copies of Half Life 2, the company was able to flush out those who didn’t buy the game.
Authentication involved setting up an account with Valve’s gaming community system called Steam and letting that check which copy of the game was being run.
In a statement detailing the banning of the accounts, Valve said this system helped identify who had got hold of pirated copies.
“The method used was extremely easy for Valve to trace and confirm, and so there is no question that the accounts disabled were used to try and illegally obtain Half-Life 2,” read the statement.
Rob Fahey, editor of online news site gamesindustry.biz, said the mass banning showed off the power of the Steam system.
“Before now, he said, it has been hard for game makers to do anything about piracy once the game was being played.”
“But with this, Valve is taking really effective steps against people using illegitimate copies of Half-Life 2.”
Valve makes a valuable point: if you don’t like the way things work on the Internet, set up your own damned network.
This doesn’t make Valve the new poster-child for DRM. After all, they still purposely went out and deceived their customers and fans.
In addition, Valve is dealing with a community that thrives on challenges and which will set up its own networks, produce fake keys, copy’s, cheats and so on.
In short; Valve’s Steam network is a look into the future.
Others will realize that setting up their dedicated networks and service channels along side the internet may serve them in the long run.
Just stay off the highway.
Raymond Blijd - fk2w
November 25th, 2004 at 9:47 pm
very true thats why it is better to download the pir8 version and use your firewall to prevent it from dialing home – works for me
)
November 26th, 2004 at 12:17 am
or better, just BOYCOTT these assh*les
November 26th, 2004 at 2:51 am
Half-Life 2 has already been cracked. All that Valve is doing is aggravating paying customers. They’re obsessed with trying to hunt down people and in the process they’re making it difficult for paying customers to purchase their game.
It’s ridiculous that someone has to activate their game online in order to play it. If someone doesn’t have an internet connection how exactly will they pirate the game? Furthermore, if they think that this will prevent people from making a copy for a friend they’re wrong. If someone knows how to bypass copyright protection, odds are that they’ll know where to find a fully functional pirated version of the game.
What a bunch of fools.
Drake
December 2nd, 2004 at 1:30 pm
I did purchase the original HL and was waiting for this to come out … but with this activation … NO WAY!!
They’re not getting another penny from me unless they scrap this.
April 2nd, 2005 at 2:32 am
what are they kidding me? lol there are so many “real” copies of HL2 on overnet its not funny and the ones ive run into have steam cracked and stops the program from ever reaching the server. so it plays fine offline and the abundance of “cracked CS servers is proff you cant stop the pirates no matter what silly method they use
April 2nd, 2005 at 2:32 am
what are they kidding me? lol there are so many “real” copies of HL2 on overnet its not funny and the ones ive run into have steam cracked and stops the program from ever reaching the server. so it plays fine offline and the abundance of “cracked CS servers is proff you cant stop the pirates no matter what silly method they use
November 16th, 2005 at 6:17 pm
fgd