StarForce is a worm: r-force
p2p news / p2pnet: StarForce isn’t only nasty, it’s a worm.
So says r-force.org.
"Right after the recent findings that Starforce will reboot your computer when it find ‘suspicious’ activity, it has now been found it also travels across networks," says a Digg post.
"This means Starforce has FULL access to the internet as it is a ring0 driver, so it could potentially be sending information back to their servers and wont show up on firewalls."
StarFarce, "attempts to stop game customers from copying their property, but it has the side-effects of destabilizing and crashing the computers on which it is installed," Cory Doctorow posted on BoingBoing recently.
And a CDFreaks story says StarFarce installs a driver, "that gains RING0 access (the highest level of access to your computer)."
"The installation requires Administrator level access to install the driver, which runs all of the time regardless of whether or not you’re playing a game with Starforce DRM. With such a high level of processor access (sharing the same levels the operating system enjoys), the Starforce driver can do anything to your computer at any time. This very ability is demonstrated, since the Starforce driver will force a reboot (not a shutdown) when it thinks it has discovered suspicious activity related to copying. The reboot occurs instantly, and any and all unsaved data could be lost."
Head over to r-force for an on-going email interchange in which the word ‘libel’ is mentioned.
(Thanks, DaBlade)
Also See:
Digg – Starforce now found out to be a worm., March 24, 2006
BoingBoing – StarForce threatens to sue me for criticizing its products, January 31, 2006
RING0 access – StarForce saga continues, March 21, 2006
r-force – Starforce Admin; Not happy with posting warez, now they resort to libel, March 22, 2006
March 25th, 2006 at 5:57 pm
Don’t bother reading it – the discussion is at the level of “oh yeah, well my Daddy can beat up your Daddy” by a bunch of kiddies who can’t spell (or use a spell checker, obviously).
March 25th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
Is there a list of games that use this garbage? I will stay as far away as possible from any game that is known to use it. Hear that, software companies? I will NEVER buy a game with Starforce on it!
March 25th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
I find it amusing that the creator dug himself into a hole. By saying that the SATA/SCSI virtual representation is a known problem he is saying that the product was defective to begin with and that they released it as such. UNBELEIVABLE!
March 25th, 2006 at 10:01 pm
http://www.similarities.org/starforce.html
http://www.glop.org/starforce/list.php
You should also boycott games made by any company that uses starforce on ANY title. Make sure you contact the company about it, explaining why they have lost a sale. Only let up if they pledge not to use starforce on any titles in the future.
March 26th, 2006 at 9:03 pm
Like one of the posters here, I don’t want StarForce and refuse to knowingly buy any game with such in it. I did check the list provided by another right under this posters post. Happily, I don’t have one single game with StarForce on it.
After the behavior of StarForce over the issuing of GC2 without the copy-protection, I am happy to say I won’t ever buy one single game with a a copy-protection that screws with your computer. The enterainment cartels will have to figure out what they are doing wrong as sales plumment from “no sales” as this word gets out. It is as bad as the Sony Rootkit but worse in that it will shut down your computer. Already, most companies with intranet won’t allow you to install games and this is one of the very reasons why.
StarForce acts like a bully whenever someone takes a shot at them because they know that if it is truely known down to the last detail and the customers find out just how screwy their system of protection is that their market place will suffer.
It already has as far as I am concerned.