15-05-2005 19:01									#1
	Legal no-CD patches Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

The makers of X2-The Threat have just released a patch that removes CD protection. It's now possible for any owner of the game to launch the game without needing the CD, not needing an "external" program

I have noticed several small gaming companies prefer not to use CD protection altogether. Restricted Area doesn't ask you to have the DVD in your drive, and paradox games (at least EU2 v1.08 and Vicky) don't require the CD either.

I hope this trend will grow further. For two reasons:
1. It is very easy to find illegal no-CD fixes for mainstream games, because there are some excellent distribution channels. Any experienced pirate will have its games running in no time, regardless of protection. Maybe the gamemakers will realize this one day, and will stop wasting their money on useless security "protections".

2. As time goes by, the hard drives are becoming huge, and people accumulate large collections of games simultaneously installed on the hard drive. I think it's the first time that one can simultaneously have hundreds of commerical games on the harddrive since the appearance of the CD-ROM.
Now, I imagine I'm not the only one who hates searching in the CD collection whenever I whimsically want to play some game. The no-CD patches are very convenient in this regard, and are growing increasingly so

	15-05-2005 19:06									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

Also the simple pleasure of not having to swop CDs to change games is a joy. I have nearly all my games NO-CDed just for this reason. Oh, and I hate the whirr of the CD drive. Oh, and games boot a lot faster.

I don't know why the gaming companies bother. CD protection hacking is like a routine job these days. NO-CD hacks come out on day of release.

-Jam

	15-05-2005 19:29									#3
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Or even before.

	15-05-2005 19:44									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Harddrives were invented so that users could install multiple games on the one drive rather than having to swap between disks. This is pre-286 era. We have actually regressed.

3. Hackers tend to release superior products. Copy protection uses up resources - in some cases preventing users from playing a legal copy due to performance factors while a copy-protection-free version will give a much faster performance.

	15-05-2005 20:15									#5
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by Skanky Burns We have actually regressed.

Indeed. There used to be plenty of games that didn't make you put the CD in the drive after you installed the game... Fallout, CtP1, Caesar 3, to name a few great ones.

	16-05-2005 00:17									#6
	Support Apolyton

Except for those games which required passwords derived from the manual. :grrr: F those games.

	16-05-2005 00:24									#7
	Got spare money?

Smac didn't need CD, SMAX does :/

	16-05-2005 00:58									#8
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

I'm all for no-cd patches, legal or otherwise.

	16-05-2005 01:25									#9
	Remove this text

there are people who don't buy games any longer

but there were always people like that (my dad I don't beleive ever beleived in buing games..)

(we would get shareware games for 3 bucks if he was feeling generous (and didn't want to spend the effort to download them))

I currently buy multiple games a month (close to 1 a week)

Jon Miller

	16-05-2005 01:26									#10
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Legal No-CD patches are good. Otherwise, CD checks are just yet another reason why pirated products are often superior - no CD changing hassle, faster boot. Alright, I can understand games that use data from CDs, but 95% games only use the CD to boot up.

	16-05-2005 03:22									#11
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

why use no cd cracks etc,when you can just use cd replication tools like clone cd+daemon,then its just copy cd+throw it away

	16-05-2005 06:01									#12
	Get a bigger avatar today!

Because it takes up at least twice as much space.
That said, for a large number of games I play currently, it is through that method.

	16-05-2005 06:04									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

Daemon Tools made my C: drive look funny in Windows Explorer

	16-05-2005 07:39									#14
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

quote: Originally posted by Cataphract887 why use no cd cracks etc,when you can just use cd replication tools like clone cd+daemon,then its just copy cd+throw it away

Never throw CDs away, I learnt that the hard way

	16-05-2005 11:24									#15
	Increase the size of your Attachments

I always find that, with a few exceptions, I'm much more likely to play something that doesn't require me to put the cd in the drive than I am something that does.

This even if the cd is right there on the desk in front of me ...

	16-05-2005 17:08									#16
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

Legal cd-patches
That was about time

I doesn't make much difference for me, since I always download the games before I buy them, so the bought cd's never get into my cd-drive anyway

	18-05-2005 22:15									#17
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

I don't see how no-CD cracks are illegal. The only law it may break is DMCA, but most countries don't have something this stupid and anti-consumer.

In fact, CD protection should be illegal because you can't make backup copies of your games. Unless of course you can make copies of them normally, then why bother in the first place?

	18-05-2005 23:32									#18
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

On a funny sidenote:

I just found a game today that requires the cd to play (*suprise* *suprise*), but according to what I've read the files needed to run the game without the cd is directly taken from the demo of the game, so there wasn't any need to actually edit the game-files to make it work
I didn't try the demo myself so I have no idea what levels are in the demo, but I doubt the demo contains all the levels that I've played until now so it seems to work fine

	19-05-2005 01:29									#19
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

And people wonder why PC gaming is becoming the poor relation?

	19-05-2005 01:31									#20
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger I don't see how no-CD cracks are illegal. The only law it may break is DMCA, but most countries don't have something this stupid and anti-consumer.

It breaks the EULA, which says you're not allowed to modify or use modified executable files, and cracks are just that.

	19-05-2005 03:43									#21
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

I'm not convinced that there's a 'right' to a backup copy being creatable. Rulings have always, to my knowledge, held that you are allowed to make a backup copy, assuming you have that ability, and it does not modify the original content; but just like a painting, which of course may easily get damaged or otherwise ruined, you don't necessarily have to be given a method of making a duplicate.

	19-05-2005 05:07									#22
	Suffering from ads?

didnt i buy the game?as long as i do not make any profit or sabotage the company in some way,i *own* the game and can modify to my hearts desire.

i didnt know you arnt allowed to edit the exe :hmm: its my exe on my computer,no?

	19-05-2005 05:10									#23
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

You buy the "right" to use the company's software. As such, they can legally restrict your rights regarding modifying the game or any files therein. Enforcement is a problem, however.

	19-05-2005 05:20									#24
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

i must be my own robin hood huh?taking from the evil corperation and giving to poor me

in the old days it used to be that people wanted to make a game not squeeze every last dollar out of a inferior product and support it as little as possible

some peeps i know download games just to see if there ok before buying,cause the company refuses to give demos,cause they would show how crappy their game is


far as i can see there is a link between the corperation taking over games like any other industry(and bringing their idiocy) and the bad piracy issues....but i havnt done a study on this yet

	19-05-2005 09:06									#25
	Tired of ads?

quote: Originally posted by Solver It breaks the EULA, which says you're not allowed to modify or use modified executable files, and cracks are just that.

I can't remember Alpha Centauri having a EULA...

At any rate such one-sided contracts are considered coercive in most places, and thus not valid. They are also not valid if they restrict you more severely than applicable laws.

	19-05-2005 09:09									#26
	Remove this text

quote: Originally posted by Skanky Burns You buy the "right" to use the company's software.

There may be a case in the bad old days of mainframes, but I can't see how it is possible for them to try to sell you "licenses" and avoid responsibilities (e.g. fixing bugs, indemnifications, etc.)

	19-05-2005 09:15									#27
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Of course UR they would not be valid if they violated a law, but they generally don't; they have plenty of lawyers writing standard ones. They're not coercive, because a computer game is not remotely important; you can just not buy it. It's not like it's a car or a house or something. I'm sure SMAC had an EULA, in one form or another, although probably slightly less substantive than the current ones as it was published before the current standard came out (like 1999 or something I think).

You just don't have the right to do it, plain and simple. The law protects the copyright holder in a case like this; always has. I'm all for legal no-cd games; but if the maker wants it to require a CD, then so be it.

Perhaps if software piracy weren't rampant, more companies would feel safe not requiring a CD (which at least makes it a bit harder, if not that much, to pirate a game ... and more blatant of a violation, which is probably more to the point.) But instead far too many people defend the pirates as 'defenders of the people' or whatever, and thus ... bah.

	19-05-2005 09:15									#28
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

quote: Originally posted by snoopy369 I'm not convinced that there's a 'right' to a backup copy being creatable.

US copyright law, clause 117, (a)2:

quote: (a) Making of Additional Copy or Adaptation by Owner of Copy. — Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement for the owner of a copy of a computer program to make or authorize the making of another copy or adaptation of that computer program provided: (1) that such a new copy or adaptation is created as an essential step in the utilization of the computer program in conjunction with a machine and that it is used in no other manner, or (2) that such new copy or adaptation is for archival purposes only and that all archival copies are destroyed in the event that continued possession of the computer program should cease to be rightful.

Restrictions placed on such a right is considered illegal AFAIK.

	19-05-2005 09:17									#29
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger US copyright law, clause 117, (a)2: Restrictions placed on such a right is considered illegal AFAIK.

No restriction has been made. As I said before, you have a right to make a backup copy, but the software maker has no obligation to make that possible or easy. That would be an absurdly broad interpretation of that law, and certainly not one that has been made to date.

Particularly note the language ... "It is not an infringement..." That indicates that the intent of the law is that this is an exception to the rights of the copyright holder, not an extension of the rights of the copier.

	19-05-2005 22:37									#30
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Hope this doesn't degenerate into another copyright thread.