History Main / CopyProtection

** Likewise, the oldest Blu-Ray discs only incude AACS copy protection, the Blu-Ray player houses the Macrovision signal generator and HDCP lock module, and will switch them on upon detecting an AACS-protected disc being played. Again, it was the first thing hackers sought out to crack. Later in the life of the player, BD+ scrabling was introduced, which introduced corruption into the disc, with a special encrypted BD+ program that presents an overlay that fixes the bad sectors has to be run by the player to fix the disc. Later still, Cinavia was introduced. So far all three can be bypassed with varying levels of success.

* The Gameboy Advance Video cartridges used the same authentication factor as games that were compatible with the Gameboy Player to lock out and refuse to play if they were being used on a Gameboy Player. Games that had extra features like controller rumble if they were used on the Gameboy Player used an authentication process that allowed those features to be activated if the games were running on the Gameboy Player. If the same process detected that a Gameboy Advance Video cart was running on the Gameboy Player the cart would freeze with the Gameboy Player logo on the screen and add extra text creating a screen that said "Not compatible with Gameboy Player". The was done because the [=GameCube=] did not output Macrovision and without copy protection on the video cartridges someone could copy the cartridges onto VHS or DVD. However thanks to the low resolution and mono sound both with very heavy compression, even just ''watching'' the cartridges on TV would not be appealing.

* The PoliticalStrategyGame ''Realpolitiks Mobile'' will refuse to load the game after the logo of the developer company appears as the game starts if you haven't purchased the app and downloaded the cracked version.

* Sony fought a long-standing war against the homebrew scene in the name of copy protection on the [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]]. The homebrew scene found an exploit to allow unofficial software, Sony released yet another patch (that they made mandatory in order to play the newest games) to fix it, and the cycle continued for several years. One particular patch that was designed solely to fix an exploit required a user to load a specific game in order to "unlock" their PSP, but at the same time succeeded in introducing an exploit that allowed users to unlock their [=PSPs=] without any game whatsoever. This got worse once the signing keys to the PSP were discovered, allowing homebrew developers to make their software look like it was officially licensed by Sony. This let homebrew applications run on completely unmodified PSPs and is impossible to patch without a new hardware revision that would be incompatible with all existing PSP games. Once this happened, Sony just gave up trying to stop homebrew.

* [[WebAnimation/LumpyTouch Lumpy Touch's]] "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FZDtowmrL0 Pokémon Red Anti-Piracy Screen]]", an fictional anti-piracy measure, is claimed to have planted by Nintendo to reduce piracy. At the very beginning of the game (as the player is about to start the game after setting up names for the main character and the rival character Gary), Professor Oak started to suspect the player has been acting kind of [[VideoGame/AmongUs "sus"]] lately. When Oak brings the player to his laboratory, he refuses to give the player the Pokéball, and the real player's character is revealed to be [[BoundAndGagged tied up in his basement]] (according to Officer Jenny), and Oak makes ''Among Us'' references while speaking about an impostor among them, revealing the player's character to be a [[{{Shapeshifting}} Ditto]] in disguise all along, who tied up the real person. Angered by this, Oak then says that stealing the identity of a human is an [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable crime]] and brings out a special Pokéball (with a keyhole and the word "JAIL" on it) to [[SealedEvilInACan seal Ditto permanently,]] as he thinks that this is the only thing he can do with naughty Pokémons (like the disguised Ditto). Then the game soft-locks as a message says the usual "It's a serious crime" and "report the stolen software immediately" message but not before announcing that the player's Pokémon adventure ends and [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tells the player that he's a fake rather than an real Pokémon trainer.]]

** For the UsefulNotes/PlaystationPortable, Sony used a proprietary media called the UMD for storing games and movies, reasoning that people wouldn't be able to just pop the disc into a PC and copy it, among other forms of protection present on the game. Unfortunately for them, pirates tackled the PSP like they did with the Dreamcast--by writing exploits that attack the firmware and using homebrew software that copies the disc onto a Memory Stick instead of tackling the issue of the physical media, taking advantage of the fact that the PSP can also run games from the Memory Stick. This laid out the precedent of a long war between Sony, homebrewers and pirates.

** Because of this the first round of CD based consoles that were released from 1989-1993 (UsefulNotes/SegaCD, [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 [=TurboGrafix=] CD]], UsefulNotes/PhilipsCDi, Platform/AmigaCD32, etc...) had no copy protection built in - the fact that the technology needed to make those copies was far out of reach of the consumer was enough, and the idea of transferring a 650 MB size file over the internet back then would have been ludicrous. It mostly worked too, by the time people figured out all you had to do was burn the disc image onto a [=CD-R=] (see below) and the average person could feasibly do this all those systems were long out of production.

* Sony fought a long-standing war against the homebrew scene in the name of copy protection on the [[UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable PSP]]. The homebrew scene found an exploit to allow unofficial software, Sony released yet another patch (that they made mandatory in order to play the newest games) to fix it, and the cycle continued for several years. One particular patch that was designed solely to fix an exploit required a user to load a specific game in order to "unlock" their PSP, but at the same time succeeded in introducing an exploit that allowed users to unlock their [=PSPs=] without any game whatsoever. This got worse once the signing keys to the PSP were discovered, allowing homebrew developers to make their software look like it was officially licensed by Sony. This let homebrew applications run on completely unmodified PSPs and is impossible to patch without a new hardware revision that would be incompatible with all existing PSP games. Once this happened, Sony just gave up trying to stop homebrew.
* Some games on the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation, such as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' and ''VideoGame/VandalHearts 2'', will detect if you have a mod-chip (which lets you play imported or copied games) in your system, and then the game will not play and a message to call a place to report the problem would come up on screen. What it boils down to is that people who had modchips and ''could'' pirate the games but ''didn't'' couldn't play the games they bought legitimately. It was probably an attempt to get people to abandon their modchip consoles - they just abandoned the unmodded consoles instead.

* In the UsefulNotes/{{Macintosh}} game ''VideoGame/EnchantedScepters'', if you're playing a pirated copy, the game will randomly teleport you to the Arena, where you have to fight a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and will probably die. It also displays the message "The pirates laugh 'Har, har, har!'"

** Because of this the first round of CD based consoles that were released from 1989-1993 (UsefulNotes/SegaCD, [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 [=TurboGrafix=] CD]], UsefulNotes/PhilipsCDi, UsefulNotes/AmigaCD32, etc...) had no copy protection built in - the fact that the technology needed to make those copies was far out of reach of the consumer was enough, and the idea of transferring a 650 MB size file over the internet back then would have been ludicrous. It mostly worked too, by the time people figured out all you had to do was burn the disc image onto a [=CD-R=] (see below) and the average person could feasibly do this all those systems were long out of production.

* Account-based: An evolution of the abovementioned Activation system, especially on software-as-a-service platforms. The software is tied to your account, necessitating login to verify your purchased software. Those with limited online connection or suffering network downtimes ''may'' be able to use the software in offline mode after installing and logging in with the game or the client, usually with limited functionality. UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} (by Creator/{{Valve|Software}}) is infamous for this for the majority of their games, as well as its [[FollowTheLeader follow-ups]] such as Creator/{{Ubisoft}}'s Uplay and Creator/EpicGames' Epic Store. Likewise, Microsoft, Autodesk and Adobe offers a monthly or annual payment plan that uses account based authentication instead of activation, but the difference being that you will always have access to the latest version of the software.

* The Commodore 64 had a truly nefarious form of protection instigated by several publishers. It involves placing a deliberate error on a game disk, which, being that it's an error, cannot be reproduced by the copy software. However, this also caused the head of the system's disk drive to knock repeatedly against a stopper every time it tried to load the program. Over time, this would cause the head to become misaligned and be unable to read ''anything'' anymore until the drive was repaired. That's right, a copy protection scheme that caused legitimate customers to experience actual ''hardware failure''.[[note]](Though this was as much the result of Commodore cheaping out on the hardware for the system's default 1541 disk drive. The newer 1571 drive -- designed for the UsefulNotes/Commodore128, but back-compatible with the Commodore 64 -- generally didn't suffer this issue)[[/note]] Yikes! Once the copy programs got better (and could easily duplicate the errors), replacement protections that didn't destroy your drive were developed.

* This is cited as the main reason Nintendo chose to stick with cartridges until long after their rivals have switched to [=CDs=] (and eventually [=*ahem*=] switched back with the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch). However, showing that pirates are not easily deterred, a company called Bung Enterprises came up with cart copiers and flash carts. And thus began the war between Nintendo and companies that support piracy, to the point where Nintendo actually tried to get injunctions to ban the devices in the US and took legal action against Bung Enterprises in several countries. This blew up in their face when dozens of companies making similar devices sprung up in Bung's place upon its defeat.

** Since August 24, 2022, Denuvo has [[https://irdeto.com/news/denuvo-by-irdeto-launches-the-industrys-first-nintendo-switch-emulator-protection/ unveiled]] their own protection for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch games in order to prevent said games from being emulated.

** In a bizarre amalgamation of [[BadExportForYou Bad Export For]] [[RussianGuySuffersMost Russians]], most 2000-2010 retail disc DRM for the Russian market is [=StarForce=], even if the original release didn't use it for protection. The proliferation of UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} alleviated this and turned it into a non-issue.
* Creator/ValveSoftware's UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} is its online download and updating system, used to distribute Valve's games, first-party mods and quite a few other titles they have contracted in. It's usually cited as "DRM done right" by those who believe such a thing is possible. However, at the time of its original release, late 2004, DRM was nowhere near as common as it is now, and many players, who purchased the retail boxed copy, were understandably annoyed that they would have to install a separate program that runs in the background in order to prove that they weren't thieves. In addition, initially they had to connect to the Internet every time they wished to play the single-player game. Valve eventually removed this, and by now retail sales of their games have been dwarfed by digital sales, meaning most of their players already have Steam anyway. The only downside to Steam is that offline mode needs to be entered at least once while you still have Internet access (if you try to go into offline mode for the first time after you lose internet connection, it won’t work), and offline mode only works for two weeks at a time- you’ll need to find an internet connection once your two weeks are up to allow Steam to refresh or you can’t use Steam or your games after the two weeks are up.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' uses [[http://gtinter.msxnet.org/Operate2.htm "P23 tap codes"]] at certain points in the game, and the Colonel will instruct you to look at the manual for information on how to interpret tap codes. This is a frequency you need to continue, and while brute-forcing it is possible, it's far more annoying than brute-forcing Meryl's frequency in the sequel due to the MSX's criminal slowdown and Snake's insistence on starting every conversation with "THIS IS SOLID SNAKE. YOUR REPLY, PLEASE...". Even more annoyingly, the version included in [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence]] (the first release of the game in English) doesn't come with tap codes in the manual. Konami eventually provided a downloadable online manual with the tap code chart in. The European version of the ''Subsistence'' manual also omits the tap code chart, but does tell you the frequency, albeit without any context as to when it's required.

* Account-based: An evolution of the abovementioned Activation system, especially on software-as-a-service platforms. The software is tied to your account, necessitating login to verify your purchased software. Those with limited online connection or suffering network downtimes ''may'' be able to use the software in offline mode after installing and logging in with the game or the client, usually with limited functionality. UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} (by Creator/{{Valve|Software}}) is infamous for this for the majority of their games, as well as its [[FollowTheLeader follow-ups]] such as Creator/{{Ubisoft}}'s Uplay and Creator/EpicGames' Epic Store. Likewise, Microsoft, Autodesk and Adobe offers a monthly payment plan that uses account based authentication instead of activation, but the difference being that you will always have access to the latest version of the software.

* ED-Contrive's [=ProRing=] copy protection, which is pretty common on Japanese [=CD-ROMs=] and [=DVD-ROMs=], and also sometimes on Western ones. The protection basically creates a thin blank ring that does not reflect the laser beam in the middle of the disc and various dummy file entries in the file allocation table point to the sector the ring is in. Sorta like a version of [=SafeDisc=] that warns users that the software on the disc is protected by means of a ominous-looking ring on the media.

* ED-Contrive's [=ProRing=] copy protection, which is pretty common on Japanese [=CD-ROMs=] and [=DVD-ROMs=], and also sometimes on Western ones. The protection basically creates a thin (1/12th inch) blank ring in the middle of the disc and various dummy file entries in the file allocation table point to the sector the ring is in. Sorta like a version of [=SafeDisc=] that warns users that the software on the disc is protected by means of a malevolent-looking ring on the media.

* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndPandorasBox'' (or ''the Diabolical Box'' in some countries) comes with a train ticket needed to find the location of where the last half of the game takes place. It requires a code to be deciphered and the answer has to be inputted into the game. The ticket is also shown in the game when it got to that puzzle. The puzzle requires folding it, so it's a bit of a pain to envision how it folds from just the picture and without the physical ticket, but by no means impossible.

** The problem of cracks taking a significant amount of time to come out, has been exacerbated in recent years due to the effort required, to the point that as of November 8th, 2023, the only person actively cracking Denuvo is the controversial [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_(cracker) Empress]].

* Pirated copies of ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'' will have Zoe the Fairy appear at the latter part of Sunrise Spring telling players that the copy is hacked and as such will lead to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZinR10DC3-Q "serious issues"]] you would not experience on a legal copy. The game also featured a "save file erasure" element similar to ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'', although in a more subtle manner. Instead of taking you back to an empty "select your save file" screen, it just stops the boss battle against the Sorceress and then a travel-between-worlds Saving-LoadingScreen appears, and after it, you return back to the Sunrise Spring Home with your hot air balloon, with the only difference being that your save file has been written with a new status - namely, a fat zero over everything you can collect. To sum it up, instead of erasing your save file, the game [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT9O62ZNQSU resets it back to the beginning]]. There is also a "software terminated" KillScreen which is triggered by anti-mod detection, that is if you're playing it on a modified console or attempting to use a Gameshark add-on, but it's much more overt: right before you get the chance to press start at the title screen it will cut to the kill screen instead.
** Ironically of these illustrated a ''serious'' flaw in the concept of copy protection as a whole, as it was considerably easy to trigger both the anti-piracy or anti-mod protection even on legitimate copies and unmodified consoles if the disk is a little scratched, the lens is a bit dirty, or even seemingly at random, while there exists Gameshark codes and software mods to bypass both. In other words this protection did ''nothing'' at all to prevent actual pirates and modders from getting their hands on the game through unsavory means (''anyone'' capable of downloading and burning a game is capable of using patching software), while only legitimate consumers lacked the means to circumvent them. Version 1.00 at least had a {{Good Bad Bug|s}} to bypass the KillScreen without mods or patches by not closing the console lid until a certain point, but version 1.01 and the Greatest Hits version? You're out of luck.

* The Japanese DatingSim ''Cross Days''. Shortly after its release, fake pirated copies began circulating on the Internet. Playing one of these copies would prompt an online questionnaire, and if the player filled it out, [[DisproportionateRetribution it would be posted online, publicly exposing them as a pervert]]. The funny thing about this one is that in the Terms of Service for the fake pirated copies, it specifically states that ''it is not a real copy of the game''. But since no one ever reads the Terms of Service...

* If ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'' detects it's pirated, it will pretend to crash and display the nonexistent error "Unable to shade polygon normals" with an "error message" that is actually the user's Steam ID, in order to trick pirates into posting about it on the forums and getting themselves banned.

* ''F-19 Stealth Fighter'': If you failed to identify the plane (from the manual) that the game shows you, the game forces you to go on a "training mission" with preset equipment instead of allowing you to choose your mission, plane or ammunition.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Reunion]]'' shipped with [=StarForce=], [[ObviousBeta along with a lot of bugs]]. The players and the [[Creator/{{Egosoft}} developers]] both hated it, and it was removed with the 2.0 Patch (along with instructions on how to completely eradicate [=StarForce=] from one's system). The standalone expansion ''X3: Terran Conflict'' shipped with a different DRM package, Tagès, but it was also ditched in a patch. Egosoft's position is they hate copy protection, but their publishing contract with Deep Silver required them to use it, and it was one of the main reasons Egosoft broke up with their former publisher for their latest games.

-->-- ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestIV'', telling you how to acquire the code once you've entered the Timepod (Disk Version Only)

* [[WebAnimation/LumpyTouch Lumpy Touch's]] "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FZDtowmrL0 Pokémon Red Anti-Piracy Screen]]", an fictional anti-piracy measure, is claimed to have planted by Nintendo to reduce piracy. At the very beginning of the game (as the player is about to start the game after setting up names for the main character and the rival character Gary), Professor Oak started to suspect the player has been acting kind of "sus" lately. When Oak brings the player to his laboratory, he refuses to give the player the Pokéball, and the real player's character is revealed to be [[BoundAndGagged tied up in his basement]] (according to Officer Jenny), and Oak makes ''VideoGame/AmongUs'' references while speaking about an impostor among them, revealing the player's character to be a [[{{Shapeshifting}} Ditto]] in disguise all along, who tied up the real person. Angered by this, Oak then says that stealing the identity of a human is an [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable crime]] and brings out a special Pokéball (with a keyhole and the word "JAIL" on it) to seal Ditto permanently, as he thinks that this is the only thing he can do with naughty Pokémons (like the disguised Ditto). Then the game soft-locks as a message says the usual "It's a serious crime" and "report the stolen software immediately" message but not before announcing that the player's Pokémon adventure ends and [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tells the player that he's a fake rather than an real Pokémon trainer.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{SiN}}'' encrypted the music files, to prevent them from being played outside of the game.

* Trying to use a Save Data modifier Game Genie code for ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' on an actual SNES would cause a Error screen to show up saying it is a serious crime to copy video games.
* The original ''Print Shop'' by Creator/{{Broderbund|Software}} for MS-DOS has a pretty silly one. If you perform a straight-on disk clone using the diskcopy command, the copy would flash a message saying that it is an unauthorized copy and refuse to proceed. However, the software comes with a ''backup program'' which can be used to make a perfect working copy of the software, and copies made using said backup program will also contain the backup program, which then could be used to copy the backup, which... you get the idea. It is also worth noting that while the backup program will destroy itself on the original disk once it's run, the program will still exist on the backup copy's disk. Additionally, the backup program is just a batch file, so it can be easily defanged such that it can be used an unlimited amount of times.
** It was later found out that one could just issue a ''copy *.* b:'' (assuming a dual-drive PC) and it would just work as well. Most likely Print Shop was writing something to a sector of the disk or a hidden file that should not be copied for cloning to work.
* Microsoft's ''Office 2000'' CD stores more information than a regular CD could hold (using a pressed "overburn") that any attempt to clone the CD using commercial CD-copying tools will result in a coaster[[note]]slang for an unusable disc resulting from a failed burn[[/note]] unless the destination disc is rewritable, in which case it can be erased. However, it can be still worked around with a bit of know-how. Then DVD burners and blank [=DVDs=] appeared, completely defeating the protection. This is the reason Microsoft moved towards the "Activation" DRM with Windows XP and Office XP onwards...
** Similar schemes have been used in certain games of the era. ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}'' for one relied on this, but as stated earlier this has since become a non-issue once larger-capacity media became popular and CD copying tools are able to detect such protection methods.

* The Commodore 64 had a truly nefarious form of protection instigated by several publishers. It involves placing a deliberate error on a game disk, which, being that it's an error, cannot be reproduced by the copy software. However, this also caused the head of the system's disk drive to knock repeatedly against a stopper every time it tried to load the program. Over time, this would cause the head to become misaligned and be unable to read ''anything'' anymore until the drive was repaired. That's right, a copy protection scheme that caused legitimate customers to experience actual ''hardware failure''. Yikes! Once the copy programs got better (and could easily duplicate the errors), replacement protections that didn't destroy your drive were developed.

** In response, several companies like id Software, Playdead, Tequila Works and Two Point Studios who initially used it to protect their games (''VideoGame/Doom2016'', ''VideoGame/{{Inside}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Rime}}'', and ''VideoGame/TwoPointHospital'', respectively) eventually dropped it, while most AAA developers chose to stick to it.

* The PoliticalStrategyGame ''Realpolitiks Mobile'' will refuse to load the game after the logo of the developer company as the game starts if you haven't purchased the app and downloaded the cracked version.