StarForce
Encyclopedia
StarForce is a software copy protection
mechanism developed by Protection Technology, which claims that products protected with StarForce are difficult to reverse engineer
.
StarForce Pro 3 (developed in 2002)
StarForce 3.5 (developed in 2005)
StarForce FrontLine 4.0 (developed in 2006)
StarForce FrontLine 4.7 (developed in 2006)
StarForce Frontline 5.0 (developed in 2007)
StarForce FrontLine ProActive (developed in 2004, updated in 2009)
Current version - StarForce FrontLine 5.7 (developed in 2009).
Protection Technology provides a driver update tool, but it does not widen compatibility for StarForce-protected games. For example, to add 64-bit
support to a game built before StarForce supported it, a developer would be required to create patches
specific to their product(s). Now driver update web-tool comes together with every application protected by StarForce.
Basic
Pro
Some of the games known to use the Pro level of protection are Bet on Soldier, Pro Cycling Manager
, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, TOCA Race Driver, Trackmania Sunrise, and ÜberSoldier
.
In March 2006 the warez group
RELOADED released a vast array of documentation about how StarForce 3 works. Alongside many technical details, it revealed how several resource-intensive procedures were implemented, such as virtual file system
and functions protected within a complex virtual machine
.
onto computers along with the protected product, which is generally not uninstalled along with the software (Peter Jackson's King Kong being one exception). Colin McRae: DIRT
, however, both asks the player for permission to install the drivers and includes a help file with information on how to remove them. Though a removal utility can be downloaded, StarForce has yet to be advertised or provided to users anywhere within protected games.
and downloadable games, like TrackMania Nations. Their presence is intended to prevent crackers from using demo executables to help break retail executables (as the two will usually be quite similar), and can also help to prevent online cheating. In response to criticism over this, Protection Technologies began offering a Lite version of StarForce which, instead of installing device drivers, asks for the original CD every three days. The lite version is also used in some StarForce-protected demos and downloadable games, minus the requests for discs or any connection requirement.
, Ubisoft
, Digital Jesters
(now defunct), JoWood Productions, Egosoft
, Codemasters
, Eagle Dynamics
, Midway Games
, and Bohemia Interactive Studio
have used StarForce 3.0 on some of their products.
However, following a campaign against the product in 2006 (see below) Ubisoft and JoWooD announced that the North America
n version of their games would no longer use StarForce, citing "problems with StarForce's software". CDV also announced that they were dropping StarForce for all future games in May 2006 in favor of the TAGES
copy prevention system, citing customer complaints.
Now among StarForce client there are such publishers like (according to StarForce website ): 1C Publishing, Nival Interactive (now Nival Network), Mail.ru
, Akella
, Buka Entertainment
, Game Factory Interactive
, ND Games, Eagle Dynamics
, Katauri Interactive, Cenega Publishing, GSC World Publishing, Russobit-M
.
Ubisoft decided to investigate the extent of the StarForce boycott and ran a poll on their forums, the outcome of which was against the use of StarForce. As a result (along with general discontent on the web), in Heroes of Might and Magic V
and GTR2, StarForce 3.0 was replaced by SecuROM
.
Starting from StarForce 4.0 it includes a removal service. This service automatically uninstalls StarForce drivers after StarForce protected product is uninstalled. After the drivers are uninstalled, the service uninstalls itself as well.
, a popular technology weblog
, alleged that StarForce was malware
, citing several problems associated with the protection system, including disk drive performance degradation, weakening of operating system
security and stability, despite the lack of any evidence that it does anything harmful.
Copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
mechanism developed by Protection Technology, which claims that products protected with StarForce are difficult to reverse engineer
Reverse engineering
Reverse engineering is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object, or system through analysis of its structure, function, and operation...
.
Product families
Currently known official versions of StarForce include:StarForce Pro 3 (developed in 2002)
- Requires a "disk key" to be entered when the software is installed. This key is the same for all copies of the game, as it encodes the nature of the protection scheme as present on the master; this disk key is different from – and thus should not be mistaken with – the serial number which games traditionally use for online gameplay. An option to store the key on the product disk was added in later revisions.
StarForce 3.5 (developed in 2005)
- Added support for 64-bit64-bit64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
systems. StarForce-protected software that works on 64-bit Windows can be identified by the presence of a .x64 file in the software's install directory. Earlier versions would reboot the system or simply refuse to run the application on such systems.
StarForce FrontLine 4.0 (developed in 2006)
- Fully supports 64-bit64-bit64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
applications. - Fully supports Windows Vista 32/64 bit.
- The first version of StarForce to pass WHQL TestingWHQL TestingWindows Hardware Quality Labs testing or WHQL Testing is Microsoft's testing process which involves running a series of tests on third-party hardware or software, and then submitting the log files from these tests to Microsoft for review...
and be "Certified for Microsoft Windows Vista".
StarForce FrontLine 4.7 (developed in 2006)
- Seems it is just an evolution of 4.0. No additional information available.
StarForce Frontline 5.0 (developed in 2007)
- Provides a user interface for driver removal
- Allows for the deactivation and reactivation of online-authenticated applications
StarForce FrontLine ProActive (developed in 2004, updated in 2009)
- Provides DRMDigital rights managementDigital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
+ Protection solution for web distributed games and applications. Disc binding replaced by web activation. Doesn't utilize drivers or other low level modules.
Current version - StarForce FrontLine 5.7 (developed in 2009).
- Includes web activation suite and disc check suite.
Protection Technology provides a driver update tool, but it does not widen compatibility for StarForce-protected games. For example, to add 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
support to a game built before StarForce supported it, a developer would be required to create patches
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
specific to their product(s). Now driver update web-tool comes together with every application protected by StarForce.
Protection levels
There are two confirmed "tiers" of StarForce protection:Basic
- "
[Allows] to protect the executable Windows file of the application and provide control of creation and distribution of licenses during the product’s lifetime."
Pro
- "
[Ensures] reliable protection of original data and code as well as control over creation and distribution of licenses during full life cycle of software products."
Some of the games known to use the Pro level of protection are Bet on Soldier, Pro Cycling Manager
Pro Cycling Manager
Pro Cycling Manager is a series of cycling management and real-time simulation games created by Cyanide. The game was first launched in 2001 as Cycling Manager, but the series took on the Pro label in June 2005. A new version is released every year to coincide with the Tour de France...
, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, TOCA Race Driver, Trackmania Sunrise, and ÜberSoldier
UberSoldier
ÜberSoldier is a World War II-based first-person shooter, developed by Burut Creative Team and released in 2006. The game's original Russian title is Восточный Фронт .- Background story :...
.
Security
When StarForce 3.0 was released, it initially provided extremely strong protection - the StarForce 3.0-protected game Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory was uncracked for 424 days. It also marked a significant step up in the effort required to reverse engineer it.In March 2006 the warez group
Warez group
There are many types of groups such as release groups and courier groups. Groups often compete about being the first out with a new quality release. Being the first to release a new quality release brings status and respect....
RELOADED released a vast array of documentation about how StarForce 3 works. Alongside many technical details, it revealed how several resource-intensive procedures were implemented, such as virtual file system
Virtual file system
A virtual file system or virtual filesystem switch is an abstraction layer on top of a more concrete file system. The purpose of a VFS is to allow client applications to access different types of concrete file systems in a uniform way...
and functions protected within a complex virtual machine
Virtual machine
A virtual machine is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system". Modern virtual machines are implemented with either software emulation or hardware virtualization or both together.-VM Definitions:A virtual machine is a software...
.
Driver installation
StarForce 3.0 has received criticism for installing its own device driverDevice driver
In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
onto computers along with the protected product, which is generally not uninstalled along with the software (Peter Jackson's King Kong being one exception). Colin McRae: DIRT
Colin McRae: Dirt
Colin McRae: Dirt has received largely positive reviews, IGN UK and U.S. awarding it a 9.0 and a 8.4, respectively. It has also received 9.0 from Official Xbox Magazine, 8.3 from GameSpot for the Xbox 360 and PC versions and 8.5 for the PlayStation 3 version, and 8 from Edge...
, however, both asks the player for permission to install the drivers and includes a help file with information on how to remove them. Though a removal utility can be downloaded, StarForce has yet to be advertised or provided to users anywhere within protected games.
Lite/driverless
StarForce 3.0 drivers are installed with certain older game demos, freewareFreeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
and downloadable games, like TrackMania Nations. Their presence is intended to prevent crackers from using demo executables to help break retail executables (as the two will usually be quite similar), and can also help to prevent online cheating. In response to criticism over this, Protection Technologies began offering a Lite version of StarForce which, instead of installing device drivers, asks for the original CD every three days. The lite version is also used in some StarForce-protected demos and downloadable games, minus the requests for discs or any connection requirement.
Clients
CDVCDV
cdv Software Entertainment AG is a German publisher of computer games, specializing in strategy titles for the PC. cdv was founded in 1989 in Karlsruhe, Germany by Wolfgang Gäbler and Christina Oppermann. In April 2000 cdv became listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange...
, Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
, Digital Jesters
Digital Jesters
Digital Jesters was a British video game publisher, based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. The company was founded in 2003 by veterans from CDV UK , and their first UK-releases were TrackMania and Virtual Skipper 3, both by Nadeo.In the beginning, they concentrated on the UK market only, but...
(now defunct), JoWood Productions, Egosoft
Egosoft
Egosoft is a computer game developer founded in 1988 and based in Würselen, Germany. It became a commercial company in 1990. Its first products were for the Amiga, but it later became a PC game developer....
, Codemasters
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...
, Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics is a software company based in Moscow that develops video games and Oracle-based products.The company has developed Su-27 Flanker, Lock On: Modern Air Combat, the LockOn-Add-On "Flaming Cliffs" and the Digital Combat Simulator -...
, Midway Games
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
, and Bohemia Interactive Studio
Bohemia Interactive Studio
Bohemia Interactive , also referred to as Bohemia Interactive Studio , is an independent computer and console game developer based in Prague, Czech Republic...
have used StarForce 3.0 on some of their products.
However, following a campaign against the product in 2006 (see below) Ubisoft and JoWooD announced that the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n version of their games would no longer use StarForce, citing "problems with StarForce's software". CDV also announced that they were dropping StarForce for all future games in May 2006 in favor of the TAGES
TAGES
Tagès is a software copy protection system, jointly developed, at first, by MPO and the Thales Group starting in 1999...
copy prevention system, citing customer complaints.
Now among StarForce client there are such publishers like (according to StarForce website ): 1C Publishing, Nival Interactive (now Nival Network), Mail.ru
Mail.ru
Mail.ru is the largest free e-mail service of the Runet. The business was originally owned by Port.ru, a company founded in 1998 by Eugene Goland, Michael Zaitsev and Alexey Krivenkov as spin-off from DataArt. It received an initial investment of USD 1 million from the well-known investor James...
, Akella
Akella
Akella is a Russian software company specializing in the development, publishing and distribution of computer games and multimedia products. The founders of Akella met in 1993 and decided to start a company together, and in 1995 formed Akella...
, Buka Entertainment
Buka Entertainment
Buka Entertainment is a Russian software development and distribution company founded in 1993 in Moscow with an additional six branch offices across Russia, located in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk, Samara and Nizhniy Novgorod...
, Game Factory Interactive
Game Factory Interactive
Game Factory Interactive Ltd. is a Russian-Ukrainian video game developer and publisher. It was founded in 2003. In May 2008 GFI and Russobit-M had merged in the Bestway group, afterward in October 2008 the Play Ten Interactive had been incorporated in the group.-Subsidiaries:* GFI Baltic* GFI...
, ND Games, Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics
Eagle Dynamics is a software company based in Moscow that develops video games and Oracle-based products.The company has developed Su-27 Flanker, Lock On: Modern Air Combat, the LockOn-Add-On "Flaming Cliffs" and the Digital Combat Simulator -...
, Katauri Interactive, Cenega Publishing, GSC World Publishing, Russobit-M
Russobit-M
Russobit-M is one of the largest distributors of PC games in Russia and the CIS, and is a key player in the PC game industry.Russobit-M was established in 1999 and immediately strived for success, becoming the major publisher and distributor in the Russian and CIS game markets. The company now...
.
Community response
Some gamers have advocated boycotts of games or publishers known to use StarForce. These gamers claim that StarForce software causes system instability and crashes, and that Protection Technology refuses to address the damage their software causes. In 2006, a $5 million lawsuit was filed against Ubisoft for using StarForce in their games on the allegations that StarForce compromises PC security, slows down PCs, causes crashes and even damages optical drives. However, the case was dropped two years later due to lack of evidence.Ubisoft decided to investigate the extent of the StarForce boycott and ran a poll on their forums, the outcome of which was against the use of StarForce. As a result (along with general discontent on the web), in Heroes of Might and Magic V
Heroes of Might and Magic V
Heroes of Might and Magic V is the fifth installment of the Heroes of Might and Magic turn-based strategy video game series. It was developed by Nival Interactive, under the guidance of franchise-owner Ubisoft...
and GTR2, StarForce 3.0 was replaced by SecuROM
SecuROM
SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management product developed by Sony DADC. SecuROM aims to resist home media duplication devices, professional duplicators, and attempts at reverse engineering software. It is most often used for commercial computer games running under the...
.
Removal of StarForce drivers
Uninstalling a StarForce-protected game does not remove the StarForce driver from the system. The StarForce SDK provides functions for implementors to remove the driver during uninstall of the game, but is not automatically carried out. An official utility program exists to remove the StarForce driver from the system. The program is hosted at a third-party website with a link on the official StarForce website. Instructions for manual removal have also been provided by the community.Starting from StarForce 4.0 it includes a removal service. This service automatically uninstalls StarForce drivers after StarForce protected product is uninstalled. After the drivers are uninstalled, the service uninstalls itself as well.
Controversy
On January 1, 2006, Boing BoingBoing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
, a popular technology weblog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, alleged that StarForce was malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
, citing several problems associated with the protection system, including disk drive performance degradation, weakening of operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
security and stability, despite the lack of any evidence that it does anything harmful.