Starforce Nazism?

**hellenes** · 03-12-2006, 01:15

A StarForce employee posted a direct link to pirated versions of Galactic Civilizations II in their official forums. Probably in retaliation to GalCiv maker StarDock making a stand against copy-protection.

Official story on the GalCiv 2 forums:

http://forums.galciv2.com/?ForumID=161&AID=106741

Starforce and other DRM invasive rootkits DO NOT STOP piracy. A IDE controller attached to the motherboard completely rapes the protection.
The only thing happenning is the legitimate customer being punished for purchasing the original copy.
When the braindead publishers will realise that unless they make multiplayer CD Keys (THAT CANNOT BE GENERATED) THE motivation for an original purchase piracy will continue?
Espessially with the rising internet speeds and declining ISP pricing.

Hellenes

**Kraxis** · 03-12-2006, 02:52

Well Starforce has never been nice... But perhaps moderate your use of words in the headline.

**hellenes** · 03-12-2006, 05:18

Originally Posted by Kraxis

Well Starforce has never been nice... But perhaps moderate your use of words in the headline.

I understand your concerns but the topic title is a question that is warranted to raise some serious concernes about the whereabout of the said group that come from a not quite lawwise stable country as Russia.
Also the on going violation of any understanding of personal rights and the fact that people get NO warning and practically do not choose to use or not Starforce "protected" software all are quite significant holes of democracy.

Hellenes

**Androo** · 03-12-2006, 05:52

My God, the mind boggles: a company which makes copy protection software provides a link to pirated software... Well if anybody still thought that maybe, somehow, the company that makes Starforce might actually be worthy of trust, this should disillusion them for life. It is extremely unlikely that I will ever purchase anything equipped with Starforce again.

**doc_bean** · 03-12-2006, 11:29

I already mentioned this in the GalCic2 thread.

I suggest everyone just report StarForce to the authorities. http://www.siia.net/piracy/ seems like a good place to start.

EDIT: looks like you can only report certain software titles...

**Navaros** · 03-13-2006, 03:45

That news is disgusting but it doesn't surprise me.

In my view Starforce is malware that should be illegal. Why would anyone expect moral behaviour from the creators of malware?

Starforce was made and the company is run by Russian hackers. They certainly have no qualms about being immoral, as evidenced by their history of being hackers.

**Androo** · 03-13-2006, 05:23

A very informative site, with a list of Starforce 'protected' games and a mirror for the Starforce removal tool: Boycott Starforce

**TB666** · 03-13-2006, 13:05

Starforce is probably the worst copy-protection there is and this only shows it more.
I'm sad when I see that a game that I wanna buy has it since it makes me question if it is worth it.
And I think alot of people refuse to buy the game just because of it and with actions like these I think I will join them.
SecuROM is the best copy protection right now.

**Crandaeolon** · 03-13-2006, 14:04

Starforce is horrible. I'm pretty sure that I lost a cd-burner to it, and have stayed clear since.

In my case it actually prompted me to use pirated software, namely Space Rangers 2 (which uses starforce.) Finnish gaming press gave high ratings for the game and it sounded like my cup of tea, so I decided to get it. After buying the game and noticing it uses Starforce, I immediately removed it and made a friend get me a pirate copy.

Stardock's stance is admirable, I bought three copies of Galciv 2 (two of which I donated to friends) just to make sure they get supported.

**Butcher** · 03-13-2006, 15:11

This story is spreading across the net like anything.

**frogbeastegg** · 03-13-2006, 22:23

Much as I dislike Starforce and their recent actions, this thread is not particularly productive. The complaints about Starforce have been said many times in the past, in many threads.

Closed.