How the DRM works?

from Sins Forums
Hi there,

As a potential consumer very concerned about intrusive copy protections, I'm desesperatly trying to have a definite summary of how the protection used by Stardock games works.

By digging from various sources, here what I have understood :

- The game on the DVD has no DRM at all. Period.
- Stardock does no use disk-based protection techniques. The disk is not used as a dongle and didn't need to be in the drive.
- However, after the game is updated after a certain patch, the game requires an activation to work. This activation can be done online or, for an offline computer, be performed by copying/pasting a bunch of numbers in an email (obviously on another machine), then copy the replied file in the game folder.

- The activation system is a classic hardware tying mechanism that works like this
1) a hash value is computed to represent the hardware on which the game will run. It may be based on numerous elements like MAC address of Ethernet card, CPU model, HD Drive volume label, Windows key number,... This hash value cannot be "reversed" (that is, find the hardware parts which corresponds to this number), but only to identify that the hardware the game has been activated on is the same, and that the game hasn't been happily copied around. I supsect the details of the information gathered during the process to be confidential.
2) This hardware hash value is then sent to a Stardock-operated server, along with the user serial number.
3) This server checks in its database about this serial and hardware numbers. It applies some "reasonnable use" rules to detect if the serial is being pirated or not: is the serial is on the blacklist, is the game has been installed more than x times on y different hardware, etc... A moderator said Stardock does not comment on the specific of the rules.
4) If everything is ok (valid serial and no unreasonable use detected), the server issue a authorization number that is saved in the game folder. This number is computed so that it works only with the given serial and harware hash numbers.
5) Each time the game is runned, the hardware hash number is re-generated and the game looks if its matches with its stored serial and authorization number. If it is consistent, the game launches, if not, it asks for autorization again.
- A consequence of this is, if a game is archived with Stardock Central to be installed on another machine, then the game will require activation on this new machine, even if it has been activated on the previous machine.

Am I good or did I miss something ?
technical
6,193 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
First of all, sins of a solar empire has not yet reached that 'certain patch' yet. The current version does not have any copy protection at all.
Based on other Stardock games and the beta which do/did have activation:
The hash is not hardware based, it is based solely on the windows install. A reinstall of windows will require reactivation, setting back an image of the current install will not. Changing hardware does not matter either.

The activation limits is not based on different hardware components, or windows install, since Stardock doesn't store such information. Stardock does store the IP addresses of the activations, and bases it fair use rules on them. If such limits are legitimately reached, Stardock will reset them if you send an email to support. Very few users ever need to do so however.
For the rest, it seems to be completely correct.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks for the answer.
Regarding what is taken into account during the machine hash, I still doubt it is solely based on the windows install. Moreover, what is a "windows install"? How can I access this information? Maybe this "windows install" code already take into account some hardware parts info.
Based on this source, there are some "non-personally identifiable machine information", which are said to be logged. My idea was also based on experience with similar systems in the corporate world where a usual piece of information used is the MAC address of Ethernet adapters, as MAC addresses are universally unique.
Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Also remember that you don't have to activate the program if you don't want to. The game will run without activation (if installed off the DVD).

Currently the patches are available as standalone downloads. I believe you can you register the game on their website (without activating the game on the PC), and then you can download the patch here:

https://www.sinsofasolarempire.com/update.aspx

I suspect, however, in the near future that updates will only be available via Stardock Central, in which case you'd have to activate the game before you could download any updates.

-HM
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
According to Kryo, who works for Stardock, their activations are not hardware linked, as he said in this thread. He mentions all Stardock products, so that is not Galactic Civilizations 2 only.
What exactly is taken from the windows install, I do not know.
It is at least based on the following, since changing this will invalidate your activation:
Computer name. Registry setting HKLM \SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \Control \ComputerName \ActiveComputerName \ComputerName
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
If you're honestly "very concerned about intrusive copy protections", then don't worry. This game has about the least intrusive protection you could hope for.

For details, you should read the first couple pages of the thread that Netriak linked to.

If you need to know any more than that, well... I wonder what you're up to. ^_^
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
@Hollow Man
Yep, that was clear to me.
The version on the DVD is clean.
And apparently, the first patches only need a serial registration to be downloaded, but no activation on the target machine of the patched executable afterwards.

@Netriak
Thanks for the link.
However there are some contradictory info:
- post #2 and #15 suggests it is in some way hardware-linked.
- post #35 says otherwise, but the example given only show that there might be some tolerance for RAM, video cards, the sort of things gamers change regularly.
On the other hand, it is really surprising that activation can be triggered by the mere network name of the computer, as this can be changed quite easily...
So well, it's a bit shady... But I guess the goal is somehow to be able to differentiate one PC from another.

@Rhedd_V
I'm interested in knowing more because
1) I really don't like online activation for various reasons, but such a discussion would be off topic.
2) With all the speeches coming from Stardock related to piracy and DRM, a lot of people seems to believe that Stardock only uses a serial registration process on their web-site to be able to download the updates (which I'm perfectly fine with). They are not aware of the second part of the process which is the activation of the executable on the target machine (or "windows installation").
By the way, every DRM vendor says their copy protection are the least intrusive, convenient, invisible, etc... I prefer to make my own opinion based on a clear explanation of how it works.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
By the way, every DRM vendor says their copy protection are the least intrusive, convenient, invisible, etc... I prefer to make my own opinion based on a clear explanation of how it works.
End of quote


But on the fundamental level, online activation/auth is not copy protection - there's never anything preventing anyone from copying the Sins disc, or running Sins without the disc in the drive, or ever being unable to play it.

Stardock's philosophy is that instead of trying to put heavy DRM/copy protection on the disk, they instead use an online authentication method to reward only those who bought legit copies with patches and multiplayer capability.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
It's simple really. If you don't like the fact that they use some sort of system to activate the game, don't do it. Get the DVD, install it, play version 1.0. That version works fine.

If you feel the need to update to get the extra content, or play on-line, then consider activating. Those features are bonuses to those who activate the game. There's more than enough game for $40 before going through activation.

-HM