Just checked, and you are right. Maybe the downloadable version is a good solution for you.

Yes.

Thank you ,but i don't intend to buy twice the same game.If Ubisoft was half honest or cared about those who pay its games ,she would have released a patch to make it OK.

I can still play it because i do have 32bit XP.But i have 64bit processor,2GB RAM and modern hardware and passing to 64bit OS is in my immediate targets so to take full advantage of my hardware.And honestly having a game bought in late 2005 which won't work with 64bit OS,is something that makes me angry.If i had bought a game 3 years ago,when there wasn't the minimun hint that the processors would go 64bit,then yes,i would have admitted that ubisoft couldn't have predicted such an evolution.But now we are talking about 64bit processors for over a year now and windows 64bit is a reality and the incoming new windows will also be 64 bit.

I have no more money for ubisoft to buy also her downloaded version ,which i presume is without starforce? I think i will have money only for someone else who will liberate me from the limits of starforce "protection".It's when the legal customer gets punished for being legal and has to resort on feeding illegality.

I have been playing war simulators for decades,my job is in the military too,i have always supported the genre ,because it is specialized and thus doesn't attract the kids who want "bang bang! i killed you".But it is the first time i encounter this protection and certainly will NOT reward ubisoft for the way that treats its customer by buying also the downloadable version.I don't intend only the fact of the 64bit ,but also why on my box there isn't any mention of the warning about possible conflicts as i read exists on the US box.On my game the warning exists only inside the manual.

I have taken the fist on my face once.No more.

Excuse me for the tone,but i have had enough with this thing.It is time to tell things straight and i will pray for the day that a EU law comes out and finally starts controlling these gentlemen ,like they do with any other commercial sector in the EU.

Regards and i am out of this discussion.Hail Starforce.

P.S:I don't know what exactly a rootkit is,i just read that Sony had it.I can only say one thing.Well,thank God that it doesn't have a rootkit too! There are enough things wrong in this protection and the way the game is sold already that make the rootkit danger the last concern i have.

I agree with both you guys. This is growing tiresome. But I'm just looking for the truth. Will Starforce have a negative impact on my hardware? Until I know for sure..........

Sea Demon

Can't this be fixed somehow by devs or StarForce? Like a patch or something? Or does StarForce depends on this "feature" to "prevent" pirating?

Well, it's CLEARLY cracked by now, so, StarForce became irrelevant, it doesn't need "extra" protection anymore, it is as good as any other protection software, old or new.

This is a good time to start developing a new protection system though, with all the negative publicity StarForce is receiving if someone can offer a good protection technology that CERTAINLY doesn't harm the user (no rumors, no tests needed, plain safe) he can capitalize on StarForce's demise, start coding.

I assume that is too much to be expected from a company that censors critical questions and deletes critizism and locks user accounts at their forum.

And beyond that security issue, the technical issues with DVD and CD drives remain. I just reminded of of the trojan/virus issue, because it almost never is mentioned in discussions. But it's a biggy. You only think it's minor as long as you are not hit. And if you are hit you probably wonder why and do not link it to the existence of SF on your system.

The notification for my copy of UbiSoft SHIII is on page 4 of my Users Manual.

NOTICE: This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some disc and virtual drives.

*WHEW*

Thank God! No Rootkits!

:rock:

I got this game late so I am a little behind on what's going on but I have already reinstalled it once after reformating my hard drive. If it's my understanding it's gonna harm my system????????????
"Everything's ruining fine" but if it is going to be messing my system up then it's gonna be collecting dust.
Roy

Probably a better way to put it - yes it can harm your system, kill your optical drives, and grant a trojan or virus Level 0 access so that it has the ability to Flash your BIOS and completely destroy your system, including flashing your drives. Sound like a nice program yet? Oh, the developers are from Russia too - outside of our laws.

-S

I would have thought if this were true it would make CNET, PCWorld, etc news sites as a headliner.

I don't think anyone has made a big deal about it just yet is all. Like who is StarForce to the Joe Public? No One. Now if it were Sony....

-S

It is perhaps a bit less important than it might seem, because most Windows users work with administrator privileges (because a lot of programs just expect to have that and will not work properly from other accounts), which means any trojan that gets user level also gets an opportunity to install drivers, which means it can get ring 0 acces after a reboot. That is, for most people, the only difference: does the trojan get ring 0 right now, or only after you reboot.

It is more significant if you are working as a nonprivileged user or if you have security software that warns you about unauthorized driver installs.



For the right to make a backup, a lot of countries allow making backups for personal use. However, as fas as I know the manufacturer of the media is not obliged to make it easy or convenient for you to do so. And there even has been legislation introduced in the US and EU to ban technology that allows circumvention of copy protection. So, even if you have the right to make a backup, it's prohibited to have a device capable of doing that.



Also, we shouldn't be too worried about this specific copy protection. After all, this one is known well enough that there will be a lot of noise about it when some game uses it, perhaps until the government not only criminalizes circumvention of copy protection, but also talking about copy protection. So do not pre-order games if there is uncertainty, and do not buy any SF-protected games. Problem solved. Sure, you may have to avoid a game that you'd like to play (in my case, SH3), but that's no real disaster, merely inconvenient.

A bigger problem is copy protection in general, copyright, and intellectual property in general. Copy protection, because it restricts what the customer can do with the property he bought, and demonstrates clearly the disrespect companies have for customers (or consumers, as they prefer to call us). Intellectual property in general is a problem too. From an utilitarian point of view, because what once started to promote new and innovative work is becoming more one-sided, and even becoming a way to outlaw competition for some companies. And one can also object to it because intellectual properties infringe on physical property rights.

For those who'd like to read a bit more about this, have a look at the links here:
http://blog.mises.org/archives/001771.asp
Especially "Against Intellectual Property", which discusses many aspects of the problem.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.
However, isn't StarForce in itself a RootKit or more familurely a RAT.

It installs several drivers and registry entries that,

1. Control the way in which the HardWare in your system is run which can be harmful to HardWare.

2. Block you out from making any changes to it so that /YOU/ can configure it for use on /YOUR/ machine. Which is bad considering not all machines are the same.

3. Adds Cyber Doors for the collection of information on your machine and for product support by SF Technicians.

4. Assaults or Blocks any copying media even if you are legitimately copying something you yourself have made.

5. Disables CD\RW Drives\Software,etc.

As I stated above not all systems are the same, but having had SF since SH3 I myself have dealt with SF and can say all in my list applies for the copy I had and the effects on my machine.

But still, even if not all I listed is true for the updated versions of today. Starforce is still a RootKit software because against your authority, it controls certain parts of your computer and does not let you configure it.

RATs are the IT term for such a program, they are used by hackers for remote control of an infected PC, often hiding under the guise of a new HardWare device much like SF does.

Absolutely right! I´ve always said that in such an environment a virus doesn´t need SF to harm your system, but it seems that many people here still are paranoid about it.

It doesn´t add "cyber doors"! :roll: SF can send out technical informations if you tell it to do so and there´s nothing wrong about this.

Quite a few things only show up in the Non-PNP driver list, like the SafeDisk copy protection, VMWare, Nero´s ElbyCDIO driver and many other drivers. It´s all perfectly normal!

It adds remote access to your computer so it can obtain information without allowing you to set the means or manner in which it sends the report. That is like your flatmate busting a hole in the wall into your room and saying, "If you need to tell me anything, talk through this hole." without you having any say in the matter.


Yes other commercial software does sometimes put itself in that list but there is a large difference between them and SF.
The ones you mentioned, if purchased in material form rather then electronic. have documentation to tell you about those settings, in case the program has any problems so that you can troubleshoot.

StarFoce does not, they add this software and control devices against your will and before it became widely known, without your knowledge as well.

StarForce adds new software and configures existing software without prompting you or allowing you any choice in the matter except to not use the product you purchased that unfortunately came with it. It has caused countless issues with system stability including my own. It added itself to my Win 98 system when I installed SH3 and had a conflict with my Win 98 RAID Drivers forcing me to do a complete overhaul of my win 98 system and purchase XP. True, 98 is obsolete and I would have had to buy XP sometime but I had not expected it to be so soon.

As of yet however, StarForce does not effect my XP system's performance except that it disabled my alcohol 120% and refuses to recognize my LG CD\RW. When before reinstalling SH3 on my new system both worked fine. I had hopes that SF had more compatibility with XP then 98 so I chanced it and now regret it.

You write that SF adds cyber doors and remote access to our computers. Do you have any proof for that? At the moment I think you don´t really know what you are talking about and that you simply confuse terms. Or maybe I just don´t get what you are trying to say...

It is not the responsibilty of Starforce to inform you about their copy protection, the publisher alone is responsible for that. You absolutely cannot blame Starforce that a game installer or whatever doesn´t inform the customer about what gets installed.

Have you tried the SF driver update?

This is not only tiresome but becoming a witchhunt against people like myself who have no problems, agree SF might be a problem and disagree with its premise, yet still have SH3 and play it. So all of you guys with banners, have you uninstalled SH3? Even you SH3 modders? :88)