Another Sony anti-piracy patent has been discovered
2/23/13 7:40pm
A new Sony patent (or old I should say since it was originally filed in 2011) has been uncovered over the Internet. This time it’s yet another filing for a piece of anti-piracy technology for PlayStation hardware although unlike the last one, it is not designed to block out used games.
As it turns out, this piece of technology has two steps of determining whether or not a particular game is pirated. The first compares a pair of load times to a benchmark for the game currently inside the console’s disc drive. It should be said if the hardware itself is suffering from loading issues, the comparison data will take said issues into account.
The second (which only kicks in if the load times aren’t up to snuff) checks the game’s serial number and collects the user’s ID info (like say their account name, IP address, and their product’s serial number). The serial number and other scanned product data is then compared to data provided by the manufacture or possibly even the game’s developer.
Here’s a chart to help explain how this all works:
So basically, if this technology detects pirated software, it could very well prevent your console from playing the copy and possibly even block your PSN account.
Considering Sony won’t be implementing anti-used game technology into the PS4, perhaps this patent will be a reflection of the console’s anti-piracy measures but only time will tell I guess.
» Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/23/sony-patent-would-combat-piracy-by-comparing-load-times/
» Tagged In: #patent, #piracy, #PS3, #PS4, #Ryan Conway, #Sony
More wicked cool stories and video from around the web. Got tips for us? Tips@ScrewAttack.com
g1 DISCUSSIONS
Ruzlok
All of the people who are worried about slow load times, read this part: "Perform Secondary Validation 155".
Lazera
Oh no, I must be using a pirated copy of a game because my load times are very slow. It can't be because of my scratched disc!!! Sony would be smart to just leave this patent in the trash. DRM is stupid.
MagnumMagnus
Most intriguing.
Lemoncloud
So basically this patent assumes a pirated game's load time will be different from the real deal? Seems to me that this won't be more than just a hurdle for pirates it it were to be implemented.
FinalplayerRyu
Well if its get implemented, lets hope they got a good and durable laser then, dont wanna get banned for having too long loadtimes, because the laser gets bad too fast.
Kaibaman41
Soooooooooo companies complain about Piracy, make anti piracy technology to block it from the console but don't implement it at all......Talk about being a Hypocrite Sony...then again this sounds like another Big Brother thing to me
Ruzlok
What makes you think there is no anti-piracy technology already in Sony's products?
Fond3ll
Pointless. If you through cracking have already fooled the game into thinking that it's connected to the game server despite actually being connected (the way you get around DRM with Uplay and so on) it would be a piece of cake to crack this system. When it comes to consoles you can just install custom OS and play pirated games from the HDD anyway.
pre10do64
Not to mention a while back (last year maybe?) Nintendo gave the DSI a firmware update to start doing this exact thing. A few weeks later, as long as someone updated their stuff correctly it was completely useless. Most companies never even bothered implementing it.
RiaraTan
This sounds better to me than NO USED GAMES. However it scares me for different reasons. I don't want sony watching and blocking me for my system having a bad disc drive. My PS2 runs disc slower now than usual because it's dieing. Does that mean it would freeze my PS4 in a few years when that inevitably happens? In other fears between it telling me what i should buy by stalking my game library and possibly this watching and validating games etc, it scares me in a privacy kind of way.