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StarForce
Technologies provides multiple protection options for protecting digital information, such as anti-cheat solutions, C++ obfuscation, generation of cryptographic obfuscation, optical disc DRM, limited activation number per machine/optical disk drive, audio and video files, and protection for
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Uninstalling a StarForce-protected game does not remove the StarForce driver from the system. The StarForce SDK provides functions for implementors to remove the driver during uninstall of the game, but this is not automatically carried out. An official utility program exists to remove the StarForce
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Currently (May 2014) the use of StarForce solutions became much easier for end users due to "driverless" security technology and binding to a computer. The company also is developing cloud services to protect content and e-mail that are designed to simplify the process of information protection used
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Some gamers have advocated boycotts of games or publishers known to use StarForce. These gamers claim that StarForce software causes system instability and crashes and that
Protection Technology refuses to address the damage their software causes. In 2006, a $ 5 million lawsuit was filed against
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Starting from StarForce 4.0 it includes a removal service. This service automatically uninstalls StarForce drivers after a StarForce-protected product is uninstalled. After the drivers are uninstalled, the service uninstalls itself as well.
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for using StarForce in their games on the allegations that StarForce compromises PC security, slows down PCs, causes crashes, and even damages optical drives. However, the case was dropped two years later due to lack of evidence.
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digital media such as images and documents. The relevant protection brands are Audio/Video, C++ Obfuscator, Crypto, Content, Disc, E-m@il, MMOG, ProActive (additional versions for businesses and traders), and
Universal.
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Ubisoft decided to investigate the extent of the StarForce boycott and ran a poll on their forums, the outcome of which was against the use of StarForce. As a result, (along with general discontent on the web), in
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Everybody remembers
Ubisoft's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. It held for 422 days without a piracy crack. This world record for AAA-class games is still unbeaten and no other solutions managed to make a game last
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driver from the system. The program is hosted at a third-party website with a link on the official StarForce website. Instructions for manual removal have also been provided by the community.
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released a vast array of documentation about how StarForce 3 works. Alongside many technical details, it revealed how several resource-intensive procedures were implemented, such as
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326:. StarForce later closed the thread, posting an apology and stating that the employee "just wanted to show that every non-protected game can be cracked".
161:. Their presence is intended to prevent crackers from using demo executables to help break retail executables (as the two will usually be quite similar).
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security and stability. Tweakguides subsequently countered Boing Boing's claim, stating that there is no evidence of StarForce doing anything harmful.
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StarForce
Professional v3.0 has been released recently and there is no known way to successfully backup games protected with this version.
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322:. Stardock also posted an article, partially in response to inaccurate reporting of their own reasons for releasing the game without
149:, however, both ask the player for permission to install the drivers and include a help file with information on how to remove them.
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torrents during a discussion about the popularity of the game. Their action was publicized on various websites, including
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When StarForce 3.0 was released, it initially provided extremely strong protection – the StarForce 3.0-protected game
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StarForce ... has granted a sole right to distribute the StarForce
Removal Tool utility to www.onlinesecurity-on.com.
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was uncracked for 422 days. It also marked a significant step up in the effort required to reverse engineer it.
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StarForce 3.0 drivers are installed with certain older game demos, freeware, and downloadable games, like
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289:, mentioning several problems claimed to be associated with the protection system, including
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80:, protection against unauthorized copying, modification, and analysis (decompilation).
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699:"Galactic Civilizations II, Copy Protection, and Piracy » Forum Post by Frogboy"
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On March 5, 2006, a StarForce employee publicly posted a working link to a
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onto computers along with the protected product, which is generally not
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This article is about the copy protection software. For other uses, see
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Here is our little contribution to the reverse-engineering community.
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423:"Is your game's copy protection system frying your machine?"
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StarForce 3.0 has received criticism for installing its own
611:"Anti-copying malware installs itself with dozens of games"
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is a
Russian software developer with headquarters in
455:"Kotaku | Gaming Reviews, News, Tips and More"
733:Tweakguide's analysis of the StarForce controversy
647:
645:
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678:"Penny Arcade! - In League With Demonic Forces"
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613:. Boing Boing. 30 January 2006. Archived from
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573:"Update/Remove driver - StarForce Support"
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293:performance degradation and weakening of
117:and functions protected within a complex
891:Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal
653:"Starforce Linking to Illegal Torrents?"
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420:
345:"Interview: The Return Of... StarForce?"
728:StarForce Drivers Removal Tool Location
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405:"STARFORCE.RE.TOOLS.READNFO-RELOADED"
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917:Compact Disc and DVD copy protection
536:"Ubisoft officially dumps Starforce"
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421:Anderson, Nate (31 January 2006).
14:
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716:
591:"How can I get rid of StarForce?"
478:"PC Game Piracy Examined: Page 9"
367:"StarForce Game Copy Protections"
206:, ATC International, MediaHouse,
655:. www.neowin.net. Archived from
256:, StarForce 3.0 was replaced by
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407:. scenenotice.org. 2006-03-29.
518:"Steam Community: Discussions"
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178:StarForce's customers include
1:
497:"Ubisoft Drops StarForce DRM"
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264:Removal of StarForce drivers
210:, New Disc, Buka, Snowball,
7:
550:"StarForce Drivers Removal"
343:Ciolek, Todd (2009-06-16).
285:claimed that StarForce was
247:Heroes of Might and Magic V
100:Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
92:
21:Star Force (disambiguation)
10:
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495:Smith, Luke (2006-04-14).
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76:. Its main activities are
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16:Russian software developer
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769:Digital rights management
307:Galactic Civilizations II
304:search engine listing of
140:Peter Jackson's King Kong
137:along with the software (
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31:
789:Extended Copy Protection
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680:. www.penny-arcade.com
143:being one exception).
70:StarForce Technologies
701:. forums.galciv2.com
281:On January 1, 2006,
78:information security
881:Defective by Design
437:"Boycott Starforce"
125:Driver installation
115:virtual file system
28:
522:steamcommunity.com
230:Community response
170:in everyday life.
159:TrackMania Nations
106:In March 2006 the
84:Protection options
26:
904:
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886:Software cracking
848:Windows Media DRM
499:. Extremetech.com
146:Colin McRae: DIRT
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717:External links
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484:on 2019-11-05.
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723:Official site
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283:Boing Boing
277:Controversy
135:uninstalled
108:warez group
51:.star-force
705:2008-12-24
684:2008-12-24
663:2008-12-24
621:2010-04-14
596:2008-04-03
555:2008-04-03
503:2010-04-14
373:2010-03-12
330:References
302:BitTorrent
291:disk drive
208:Russobit-M
165:Driverless
896:StarForce
828:PlayReady
806:LaserLock
577:StarForce
391:"missing"
349:Gamasutra
27:StarForce
911:Category
865:FairPlay
860:Widevine
833:SafeDisc
777:Software
771:software
196:Aeroflot
111:RELOADED
93:Security
874:Related
838:SecuROM
784:CD-Cops
354:longer.
287:malware
258:SecuROM
237:Ubisoft
192:Mail.ru
174:Clients
44:Website
823:OpenMG
801:Denuvo
459:Kotaku
318:, and
316:Neowin
224:Akella
220:Cenega
74:Moscow
56:
853:Janus
843:Tagès
636:"See"
212:2Play
184:Corel
816:list
794:list
312:Digg
253:GTR2
250:and
222:and
153:Lite
53:.com
33:Type
216:GFI
204:AMD
49:www
913::
644:^
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467:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
