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Spring 2024 - Week 9

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Video Game Anti-Piracy�

Anthony Yu

haha just kidding

Copy Protection

• Digital information is just 1s and 0s
• What’s stopping people from just copying the digital signals?

​

• Since we are not computers, digital information has to be decoded into analog signals at some point
• I.e. it doesn’t matter if you encrypt a jpeg if you still intend the user to see the picture
• What’s stopping people from just copying the analog signals?

Copy Protection

What’s stopping people from just copying the analog signals?

• kinda complicated
• may be tedious
• text
• may decrease quality
• You can make it illegal*

What’s stopping people from just copying the digital signals?

• idk
• ban it

Copy Protection – Digital

What are some methods of digital copy protection you’ve seen before?

Copy Protection – Digital

What are some methods of digital copy protection you’ve seen before?

• Ex: word from the manual, activation key, internet server check

​

What’s a common feature between all these methods?

Copy Protection – Digital

What are some methods of digital copy protection you’ve seen before?

• Ex: word from the manual, activation key, internet server check

​

What’s a common feature between all these methods?

• They all require something other than the code itself

Playstation 1

• CDs can have a bit of wobble in them, while still being in spec
• Sony encoded region information into this wobble
• And checked for the existence of a wobble at all
• Common consumer hardware was incapable of recreating the wobble

​

Additional security measure → store the boot text in the disc, check to make sure it’s correct

Playstation 1 - Solution

Solution 1: quickswap

• figure out when it’s reading the region info and swap in a real disc
• Can you see any problems with this?

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Solution 2: mod chip

• solder go brr
• mod chip be like “everything fine officer”
• Could this backfire?

Playstation 1 - Return of the Game Dev

Solution to the Solution

• Game devs could ask for region information outside of boot
• This should normally fail
• But if it doesn’t, …

THIS IS A USA CONSOLE THIS IS A USA CONSOLE THIS IS A USA CONSOLE THIS IS A USA CONSOLE

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

Playstation 1 - Return of the Hacker

Solution to the Solution to the Solution: Import Player

Some PS1 titles have to use two discs – you swap the disc in the middle of the game.

• The second disc does not go through the boot check

You can also use the import player to bypass mod-chip detection

THIS IS A USA CONSOLE THIS IS A USA CONSOLE THIS IS A USA CONSOLE THIS IS A USA CONSOLE

Playstation 1 – how many rounds

Another solution: stealth mod chips

Another solution to the solution:

“LibCrypt stored currupted [sic] data in the CD subchannel, if the data was detected the game would start, when the subchannel data is missing (incorrectly burned CD-R) the game stopped working or started giving problems during gameplay (Wip3out crashes when you reach the finish line). … LibCrypt was much tougher back then since CD burners couldn't burn subchannel data”

Another solution to the solution to the solution: patch libcrypt out

Cat and Mouse

Spyro 3 - Year of the Dragon

Make the game cracker think they succeeded

…

then make the game slowly but increasingly unplayable, resetting your progress at the final boss fight

​

It was eventually fully cracked.

Cat and Mouse

It seems that, no matter what, someone will figure out a way to bypass all protections a manufacturer adds on.

So why try at all?

Cat and Mouse

It seems that, no matter what, someone will figure out a way to bypass all protections a manufacturer adds on.

So why try at all?

Money

Most sales of a new product (especially games) happen near launch. It’s still worth it to try and protect these early sales.

Modern DRM

Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to bypass copy protection:

Modern DRM

Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to bypass copy protection:

Step 1:

idk how to do it

Modern DRM

There is a reason I spent so long on the Playstation.

Organizations making modern copy protection and DRM (digital rights management) systems don’t really want to explain how they work.

​

Generally:

• Integrate extensively with an executable to make it as difficult to patch out as possible
• Require online authorization, especially for any sort of online activity

Additional Topics You Can Look Into

High-bandwith Digital Content Protection (HDCP)

• copy protection for data as it travels through connections (HDMI, DP, etc.)

Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Wikipedia

• laws and stuff

[PSA] Strong anti-piracy measures implemented by Nintendo for online. : r/SwitchHacks (reddit.com)

The Woman Bulldozing Video Games’ Toughest DRM | WIRED

• cracking Denuvo

Checksum - Wikipedia – hello crypto people

Additional Topics You Can Look Into Pt. 2

Keeping the Pirates at Bay (gamedeveloper.com)

• more on Spyro 3’s anti-piracy from a developer that helped make the game

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Questions?

Thanks for coming! ❤️