Author Topic: Copy Protected CDs (Read 3002 times)

AKSWulfe · « **Reply #30 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:05:00 PM »

Gavor, since I am currently using a NO-CD crack for IL-2 to prevent it from being worn out I don't need to know how to copy it.

However, I am using NTI CD-Maker 2000, is it possible to copy the OFP CD without it "going bad"? I've read elsewhere that if you dupe the CD, the copy will work- but after time the game will slowly kill itself in which it just continuously degrades.

I believe it copies just fine, but eventually the game will simply go kaput. Now, if you know where a NO-CD crack is for OFP- that would help me much moreso than actually copying it.

Oh, and Gadfly, CD's do wear out from continual use. You know, you have to leave it in the drive to get the game to run- well that laser in there ain't just a perty light. It degrades the quality of the bits over a period of time, especially if it reads the same spot of a CD multiple times.

I had four CDs go kaput because of this crap. EAW, RedBaron2 and RedBaron3D, and MechWarrior 3.

Now, this was entirely the fault of the company by requiring me to leave my CD in the drive for hours on end and have it repeatedly read the same fuggin spot over and over and over.

So if you want to use your analogy, it's like Ford giving me a car with a shoddy drive train. After many uses, it simply breaks and I go careening off the side of the road. It sure as toejam ain't my fault it went to crap.

So, you can call me a thief, but since I paid my hard earned money for their product and they stiff me with this toejam that results in degradation of the product- then you bet your diddlying bellybutton I will make copies of it.
-SW

gavor · « **Reply #31 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:07:00 PM »

I did. I think some of your original posts were to me so it was easy to assume you were calling me a thief.

My apologies if I have launched a tirade unfairly. At least you understand my position

. Warez = bad....honest backups = smart.

I was enjoying this little knifefight, even if it was only in my mind.

Gadfly · « **Reply #32 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:08:00 PM »

You are not required to buy or use the software, but you are required to abide by the law, and ignorance is never an excuse.

Failure to read a contract does not absolve you from its contents. So, justify it any way you like, it is stealing.

Not making a backup, but making copies for distribution, free or not, or utilizing pirated software is WRONG! period, no way around it.

Gadfly · « **Reply #33 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:10:00 PM »

I call roadkillte, Swulfe. I am using the same Command and Conquer disc from 1995. It has worn out 3 computers and plays just fine. Make a backup, but don't make 10 for yer Buds.

AKSWulfe · « **Reply #34 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:12:00 PM »

I DO want to make copies- copies for myself.

It ain't a back up because the data isn't changing, it's simply a copy.

That in itself is not illegal. Nor is it stealing.
-SW

Gadfly · « **Reply #35 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:15:00 PM »

However, Swulfie, if you are talking about a burned CD, I would bet you are correct.

AKSWulfe · « **Reply #36 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:17:00 PM »

Ah, okay. Well, when there's a nice little ring 4 tracks thick that rotates the entire way around the entire CD- I suppose someone could of keyed it.... I suppose.

Someone should buy you a nice big pair of plyers to remove your head from your ass- CDs do wear out. I see it everyday.
-SW

Dead Man Flying · « **Reply #37 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:26:00 PM »

CD copy protection only hurts those who legitimately purchase software. For an early Christmas present, I bought my wife the Sims: Hot Date expansion pack. We tried for two nights to get it to run, but it would crash to the desktop after the initial loading screen.

The problem? The idiotic copy protection scheme didn't like my Plextor CD-RW drive, so it wouldn't let the game run. I grabbed the no-CD patch for the game and now everything works just fine. Had I wished, I also could have just downloaded an ISO (with no-CD crack) from any of a dozen websites, and that would have worked right away as well. Instead I paid for the product and, as a paying customer, suffered because of the copy protection scheme.

How does this do anything but encourage me to just pirate this crap in the future?

-- Todd/Leviathn

gavor · « **Reply #38 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:30:00 PM »

SWulfe, I use my copy of OFP exclusively as I normally do with all my backups. If a CD is to get broken or scratched to hell i'd rather it's the backup. My backup of OFP has worked faithfully through the whole game and a few MP sessions also. Maybe i'm wrong, but I never noticed the game degrading. Perhaps i missed something.

Gadfly · « **Reply #39 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:41:00 PM »

DMF, first, just as a helpful hint, you should not use your CDRW for your primary drive. $200 vs $40 bucks for something that DOES have a wear factor.

Secondly, your logic is not. Sorry.

Dinger · « **Reply #40 on:** December 19, 2001, 09:43:00 PM »

Uhhh... Lizking, the validity of "licenses to use" intellectual property is a matter for the courts. The fact is, the damn things are marketed and, yes, sold, just like any other product. In spite of what some piece of paper might say, by putting it in my machine I am not signing any contract to anything. THat's a load of crap.
I mean, gee, think about it for a second. If I'm putting out a piece of software, I want to have the strongest case behind me too. That doesn't mean their case has any legal basis whatsoever.

Dead Man Flying · « **Reply #41 on:** December 19, 2001, 10:07:00 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gadfly:
DMF, first, just as a helpful hint, you should not use your CDRW for your primary drive. $200 vs $40 bucks for something that DOES have a wear factor.

My CDRW is my only CD-ROM drive. In addition, this is no guarantee that something will or will not work. Prior to this drive, my old 8x CD-ROM drive wouldn't properly install Falcon 4.0 thanks to the copy protection scheme. The CDRW drive fixed this problem. I don't have the time, patience, or money to install new CD-ROM drives that may or may not work with the copy protection du jour.

Quote

Secondly, your logic is not. Sorry.

My logic is perfectly sound. Did you know that even using the no-CD patch with my game is in violation of its user agreement? So basically, to get my legitimately purchased game to function at all on my computer, I must break the user agreement by applying a third-party patch that substantially alters the executable file.

Had I pirated this game in the first place, it would have worked upon install and saved me the money and hassle. What exactly is the copy protection protecting? My logic was that ineffective and flawed copy protection schemes will drive potentially legitimate customers to either cease buying a company's products or to simply pirate them instead.

If the argument is that software costs so much because of piracy, how does implementing an expensive protection scheme ultimately save money? It costs money to program or license such copy protection. It does not actually prevent piracy, which is as rampant now as it ever was IMO. And it inconveniences legitimate customers, turning them into future non-customers and/or pirates instead. So companies have now lost just as much money to piracy as always, but now they've lost even more because of the added short term costs of implementation and long term costs of user dissatisfaction.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: Dead Man Flying ]

capt. apathy · « **Reply #42 on:** December 19, 2001, 10:12:00 PM »

as far as audio cd's i burn them all the time. they do wear out. i buy a cd, i burn it, i put the original on the shelf. i take my cd's to work and they last about 3 weeks. when they wear out i threw them away and burn another. if they actually had protection that could stop me from burning them i'd just d/l the mp3 and they wouldn't get a dime

gavor · « **Reply #43 on:** December 19, 2001, 10:15:00 PM »

A good point thats well made DMF. Its the legit consumer that gets burned the most often (good english Gavor). They are the people who dont know much about PC's and trust a game to install and work, the game they just spent their hard earned $$$'s on. The pirate/cracker or whatever doesnt give a #&^$, he/she will go get the latest NOCD patch, download the warez version or ISO image or copy it outright using the latest burner and burner software. In the past ive had to use a no-cd patch and sometimes I use them so the game runs quicker.

Half-related tip: If you have HDD spaec, go look for daemon tools. It allows you to make CD images of your CD's(very large though) which can then be mounted as virtual CD's. Very quick to access and handy if your having probs. Its NOT a way to pirate CD's unless you can afford terabytes of HDD space. Each CD takes up 6-700M.

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: Gavor ]

moose · « **Reply #44 on:** December 19, 2001, 11:36:00 PM »

Basically, this is my viewpoint.

A - I like being able to rip my cds to MP3. That way, my cd wallets (i have two of them both chock full) can stay in the car and I can still listen to my Kenny Rodgers music while flying Nikis.

B - It's legally my right to make backups of games I buy. So, in that pretense, why is it legal for a company to prevent me from making that backup? My EAW cd finally crapped out for no apparent reason. No scratches or anything. On install, one of the files is corrupted. No more EAW for me.

I do understand that game companies need to protect themselves. I bet there's a better way to do it though.