Atari founder cries wolf about piracy-ending chip
By Ryan Block 
posted May 26th 2008 12:09AM
posted May 26th 2008 12:09AM
So news is making its way around the internets that at the Wedbush Morgan Securities Management Access Conference, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell proclaimed the end of PC gaming piracy as we know it, thanks to a "stealth encryption chip." The magic chip he's referring to that "will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay"? The TPM chip -- what's been on motherboards for years, that apparently Bushnell just found out about. While the tinfoil hats in the house will likely attribute TPM (Trusted Platform Module) and other onboard crypto-chips to the eventual downfall of privacy and personal computing, to date we've yet to see piracy stunted or civil liberties breached because of the little bugger. FUD you later, Nolan.[Thanks, Carl]
Says the guy with the Windows Genuine Advantage icon :) The irony is like milk and honey at my lips.
I don't pirate stuff btw, just a reminder for all my friends who do, while buying new designer phones and shoes every 2 months.
OpenSource and GPL + evaluation downloads are taking more and more over, by the time this "Chip" gets in actual use it will be rendered useless because of the new growing business model.
It´s doomed from birth.
Who is he trying to convince?
Here's a good short video about Trusted Computing, what it is and why it really doesn't sound that awesome:
http://www.lafkon.net/tc/
interesting to see so many dismiss the the trusted computing platform when I bet they don't even know much about it.
It could well sound the end of freedom in the computing world and you'll only be allowed to run specified programs, files and OS's that you have been granted permission for.
So, go ahead and mock someone for mentioning and bringing this system back into the minds of people and when the future many are predicting happens, you only have yourselves to blame for not standing up.
Personally, I find it hard to believe that such a restrictive environment could work, but then it has the backing of some massive companies and as the music industry has shown (considering that just one of the companies behind the trusted computing group is bigger than the entire music industry) that if you have the right people pushing your agenda you can get anything to happen.
The moment such a scheme is implemented you could plot a trend that showed the death of PC gaming.
"Hey! Goose! I'm gonna gut you even if it hurts me."
Meh!
Ummmm,
Both this article and Atari's founder are apparently quite ignorant.
TPM has NOTHING to do with ending piracy. TPM isn't even capable of doing this. TPM is purely a certificate store to enhance the USER's privacy and security. It's is utterly useless for any other purpose, specially the 'real time crypto' functionality that has been FALSELY attributed to it. This is not what TPM does. Not even close. FUD much?
For more ACCURATE information regarding what TPM is and isn't, refer to the box titled 'Are TPMs Evil?' on this page: http://www.osxinternals.com/book/bonus/chapter10/tpm/
Even if they did manage to get it working and make games unpiratable, do they really think that this will increase their sales? People download pirated stuff just because they can and it's free, they wouldn't buy it otherwise. Those who would buy the game do. Look at an economics demand curve, if the price is zero, the demand is way about what it would be if the game was at its real price.
Nolan you old fartknocker, whats all the hub bub, Bub. There is already a software piracy solution out there and its starting to make its way into newer PC software/games more and more. Uncommonly referred to as "HOME PHONING", it simply makes a validation key/authentication/piece retrieval call to a server EVERY time the software is run. The assumption (and rightfully so) is that the majority of modern PCs are web enabled and connected. Don't like it? FU, don't use the software/game! This effectively puts "the ball back in the hackers court", so ANTI UP BITCHES ;^)...
PS. So sit back in that jacuzzi and let us youngsters fight this round since you and the other old timers already lost yours, miserably!
How did these old timers lose "the battle"? Rosenthal, Bushnell and the like are the real pioneers of the current multi-billion dollar gaming industry.
(IMO - Ryan should ease his rhetoric as he is merely an observer of technology than an innovator himself. I understand his posts must provoke spirited conversation but most of the time they just amplify his ignorance)
Wishful thinking, Vista uses the TPM chip for some anti piracy already and I've been told it has already been hacked. Apparently whenever the chip was used they just sprayed compressed air over the ram, booted into Linux and sniffed out the keys from the RAM used for the TPM chip. End of priacy... yeah right.
In the words of Master chief from Another Halo Comic Strip, "I'm gonna call you Nolan Douchenell from now on, okay?" (or something like that0
An end to PC piracy might be a good thing - it might be necessary in order to save PC gaming.
PC game sales are dying - no PC FPS has since surpassed the original Half-Life, released 10 years ago. As a result, fewer big-budget PC games are produced each year, and developers who have traditionally focused on the PC are turning to game consoles. If this trend continues, there won't be any hard-core PC games produced in the future!
Watching PC Gamers deny the problem of piracy is like watching the U.S. deny their recession. It's very simple: if fewer people buy a game, less money will be put into making the game and there's less incentive to make future games. If an end to piracy leads to increased sales, it will lead to more games and bigger-budget games! And that would be a good thing for gamers.
That's because no game has been as good as the original Half Life.
Companies started to rely on better graphics to sell games, not the content. While some games manage to have both (Crysis is actually pretty fun), most don't, and the easiest one to have is good graphics.
WOW sold more games that wii+ps3 and xbox360 altogether.
This is actually good news, instead of downloading crappy games, people will be forced to buy them... This will force gaming company's to finally start producing good games or else no one will buy them ! just my opinion.
P.s
Some one out there will eventually find a way to crack this system or find a work around.
Im Sorry To Say a TPM wont Do Anything...Look At OSx86 and Vista OEM Hacks...
I'm pretty sure that PC games are pirated because of prices and such, mostly.
Anytime I'm tempted to pirate a game it's either because I can't afford it or because it's rated 'M' (I'm 16), and the only system I own is PC.
there are several other reason for piracy, for example to play uncatalogued, foreign or hard to find games
You don't have civil liberties in the U.S. unless you're a minority. Read up on the constitution.