Reading these posts gave me an idea for a copy-protection scheme that might be more effective than most...

Quake III now requires that the game CD be in the CD-ROM drive before the game will play -- it checks for a valid authentication number. However, anybody with a CD-burner can make his own copy of the CD, and install and play the game pirate-style.

Id Software (the Quake people) wouldn't even have to do this -- they could just say they had done it and it might deter piracy: If they printed a warning label on the CD, something like: WARNING: This CD contains a hidden sector that will NOT copy. Copied CDs without this sector will delete executable files in your Windows directory."

Or, they could actually do it (is that technically possible?) but there might be unpleasant legal ramifications.

I would certainly be reluctant to make or use an illicit copy of a CD under those circumstances! (Not that I would in any case... :-)

tanstaafl.



"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"