[The Carrot]

Speaking at yesterday's Wedbush Morgan Securities annual Management Access Conference, the Atari founder suggested that game piracy will soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new chip. "There is a stealth encryption chip called a TPM that is going on the motherboards of most of the computers that are coming out now," he pointed out "What that says is that in the games business we will be able to encrypt with an absolutely verifiable private key in the encryption world - which is uncrackable by people on the internet and by giving away passwords - which will allow for a huge market to develop in some of the areas where piracy has been a real problem." Bushnell thinks that piracy of movies and music, however, is probably unstoppable because "if you can watch it and you can hear it, you can copy it." "Games are a different thing, because games are so integrated with the code. The TPM will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay. "As soon as the installed base of the TPM hardware chip gets large enough, we will start to see revenues coming from Asia and India at a time when before it didn't make sense."

I wonder if it will rub off.

[Dave Hybrid]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[thingie2]

Same with me Dave, it's a good idea and all, but unless it's made a requirement by governments for it to be included on motherboards, it won't be. As after all, someone won't buy a motherboard because it has an anti-piracy chip on it. And it would cost motherboard manufaturers more to make the boards.

[Dave Hybrid]

Plus this stuff is normally touted as uncrackable when it isn't.

Someone always tends to find a way around it.

[thingie2]

That is very true, every time noew anti-piracy stuff comes out, it's said to be uncrackable, yethere we are, trying to stop it.

[Dave Hybrid]

I'm not saying I don't support it, it's just this stuff never seems to work.

I also think these companies that want/need to protect their data find a way that doesn't cost the very people whom aren't trying to crack it anyway.

They're assuming we will all pay more for our mobos, why should I when I'm not responsible for the problem in the first place.

[philthomas]

"uncrackable" .... hmmmmmm. ........ I seem to remember Hitler said that about Enigma.

The Titanic was "unsinkable" too remember ?

History tells us that nothing is 100% secure .... if it can be encrypted, then it can be unencrypted.

I dont play games and dont try to crack them, but making a statement like that, is like throwing down the gauntlet to millions of crackers around the globe. Many of them love a challenge and do it as a hobby, not for cash.

[The Carrot]

It may not work but it has to be a start. Its good that companies are begining to crack down harder on pirates. What i dont understand is why stop at games. What about the £3000+ Adobe CS3 master collections that get pirated everyday not to mention oporating systems. Why only focus on the £30-£40 games??? Still its a start

[Dave Hybrid]

Err, it's nothing new, they have been cracking down since the very first Windows.

All software comes with encryption or online activation etc. which they have been trying to advance and make more secure for years.

[The Carrot]

Yer i know but this is the first hardware implamented attempt is it not ????