Feedback, Complaints or Problems

PWizard,

I appologize for not being more specific about my question about the issues that Cheat Happens appears to have over NoCD and NoDVD cracks and fixed execute files. It was not meant to be a "LEGAL" question.

It was intended to find out what Cheat Happens' issue is with them that makes it so unacceptable to make any referance to them, telling where they can be found, and even thinking about linking to them since they aren't exactly or clearly illegal to use, for personal use at least so far as I have found out which was the reason I mentioned the legal aspects from a user point of view.

I only wanted to know why Cheat Happens appears to for lack of a better word, HATE, them so much. To me, and most gamers I know, they are a great tool to protect our game cds and dvds from getting scratched up or worse from use since they are in most cases hard to replace.

That was my only intent in asking the question before. I would have posted this updated response there if the posting had not been locked before I could get back to it after I got your update last night.

Again. I am sorry if I offended anyone on Cheat Happens staff or any other users with my question. You never know what you can learn without asking the question. Right? Thank you.

I'm not a "lawyer" either, but after a bit of research into reputable sources (not game-related ones either). I found this article. Link.

I suppose it is worth noting that I am an InfoSec professional and, in my most humblest of professional opinions, using a no-cd crack is a form of piracy whether intentional or not.

It circumvents the proprietary rights of the software developers and the potential for abuse is too great to warrant the "legitimate" use of these types of things. This doesn't even touch on the whole idea that the people who create these cracks usually bundle malware into the executable hoping that someone uses it.

It's similar to taking a music CD, ripping it to your desktop, making copies on blank discs, and mass-distributing them. Yeah, you did buy the CD, but you really only bought the right to use the songs for personal use. What they don't tell you is that you DID NOT buy exclusive rights to the songs. Same with software like games and the like.

Here's another good article Link

I think you're confusing No-CD fixes with pirated versions of games. Piracy is a difficult term to define but the best definition that I've come across for it is the unauthorized use of software and/or data without permission nor a license.

A No-CD fix for a game falls under a more general term of things in that it is essentially an unauthorized patch to a game that most commonly removes the requirement to have the game CD/DVD in your CD drive (hence the name No-CD fix) but it is not limited to just this. Some of these fixes do have changes that disable a games protection mechanism and potentially allow someone to bypass product activation (which falls under piracy). For this reason they are in the gray area of legality.

From a CHU perspective, using a No-CD fix is not enough grounds to prove that someone is using it to pirate software and it is usually nearly impossible to prove with concrete evidence that someone is doing so. Note that No-CD fixes are part of the trainer troubleshooting process and that there are links to websites of where to find them in the troubleshooting guide if you want to download and use one to see if it is something in the game's protection mechanisms preventing a trainer from functionality. If you're going to link someone to a No-CD fix, ensure that it contains only the No-CD fix (and this includes the website itself in general. Again you can reference the links in the troubleshooting guide without worry).

If you have to reference you are using a No-CD fix, please ensure you are using a No-CD fix (avoid the terms "crack" or "warez" ) and that it is under the guidance of the troubleshooting guide. This will help establish the reason for more clarity (as well as help with additional troubleshooting options should this fail). In general it is best practice to state the purpose of using a No-CD fix if you're going to mention that you are using one.

Hopefully this clears up any confusion.

[Edited by Neo7, 12/14/2012 9:27:28 PM]

Thank you Neo7. You have hit my point on the head. That is what I was asking about. While I appreciate the prior comments and links that where included the point was missed by the provider.

I mentioned that my state has a law that says using these No-CD fixes or No CD cracks is NOT piracy because what is happening is a modification of software installed on a user's computer. Not the actual proprietary intelectual software that is on the original cd or dvd that the software was installed from. Thus making it legal and in turn not even a violation of exsisting end user license that are included with the software disks.

The fact is the owner of the computer has the right to alter or modify the software they use while it is on their computer under most user licenses as long as any modifications do not occur to the original software. If it was not legal then we would not be able to make and use game mods or even trainers!

With the advent of cd/dvd burners the act of burning a modified copy of the original software to a disk with or without intent to sell or distribute would actually be piracy since it would allow the altered software to be installed on another computer in the modified condition.

So. As long as the NoCD/NoDVD fix or crack is only used on the software installed on the user's machine and not the actual software disk the act is legal and not piracy. It is as you said. A tool that allows gameplay without subjecting the original software disk to excessive wear and possible damage which would or could eventually render the disk unusuable.

Something that has been going on since the advent of CD/DVD disk use. Hince the market for disk resurfacer tools which eventually do more damage than good. Ok.. I think I have rambled on enough for one subject.

Incidently. I have been useing No-CD and No-DVD fixes/cracks for a number of years now and I have never had any issue with any kind of malware or spyware popping up on my computer. Seems having a decent antimalware, an antispyware, and a decent antivirus may be the answer to that issue if it is that big a concern.

Thank you again Neo7!

Thank you for your input Wrythe1985. I did a read through of the sites you linked to and found what you are referring to both interesting and confusing since the court case shows a court saying it had to rule one way but apparently not fully aggreing with it and that case as well as others pending are far from over. The first link page was one of those blanket hater type sites by my opionion because the view is clearly against any alteration of software so they included No-CD fixes and cracks claiming that apparently they all allow installation of software and games without having to put in the CD-key to activate the game. I can tell you flat out that as long as I have been using them I have NEVER had any No-CD or No-DVD fix OR CRACK eliminate a CD-Key requirement for activating a game. Even when I could not find the manual for a game I have that required online activation with the key or you could not play the game. I installed it, then without thinking about it, I made my backup of the game execute file so I could restore it for updating the game and then overwrote the ingame execute with the no-cd crack/fix and tried to launch the game. The CD-Key panel came up asking me to input the CD-Key for the game. SO that disproves the first site authors blanket claim that no-cd fixes and cracks allow you to install and bypass activation. It is not true. At least in the one time I happen to try it with no success. About two days later I found the manual. I had restored my game execute and started the game, input my cd-key and have used the game, the no-cd crack, and a game trainer for hours of pleasurable gaming without having to worry about trashing my original game disk. Which is my only real goal for using these tools.

OH.. And yes! I have tried those programs like Game Drive and Virtual Drive. They are supposed to copy the required files from the game disk to an "on your drive" faux cd-drive so that when the game looks for the disk it finds the files it needs in the faux drive... 4 of 5 did not work AT ALL.. The 5th worked for about 30 days and then the game launcher started asking for the disk only to fail to find it even in the drive that the game was installed from originally.

So.. What it really boils down to is "User's Choice" as to if a game user wants to use one of these "tools" so they can play a game without having to put the disk in the drive and risking it getting scratched or skuffed. That would also mean it is the game user's "Choice" if they want to use a trainer to modify the software on their computer so they can enhance their gameplay.

As long as the user does not copy that altered software to a CD-rom or DVD-rom disk where it could be moved to and installed on someone else's computer in the modified state.

Again. Thank you for your input. It was helpful and educational.
To you and yours. Have a safe and happy holiday season.

Ok this kinda shows why warez usage is on the rise and why it is killing off companies, which in turn will lead to a decline in the PC market.

I have said for years this is the effect that people new to the internet/warez usage will have on the market, and it is coming true, many people back then said "Oh DAB you are being silly". Just look at the last year, quality and service has gone down quite a bit, more and more exclusives are starting to favour the console market. And of course unfortunately some developer and publishers have now filed for bankruptcy.

Newer people as said, have obviously a clouded look on things, older people know the ramifications of "pirating" software (wish people would stop using Piracy as a word for warez usage, piracy is the act of selling warez for a profit - just because it sounds cooler and the media has over used it), they know it has negative side effects. But the newer people don't see this, they now believe it is their right to be able to grab a game for free and play it and think nothing else of it, I like to call them as some know Broadband Kiddies, Kiddies isn't meant to be disrespectful but more of a pointing out a definite age range of the users in question.

Most warez users now are between the ages of 9 to 16, this has fallen more because more and more kids are being taught IT at an early age and grow up with computers earlier. So they develop an interest, girls will mostly tend to lean towards the social aspect as do boys but the boys favor the bad side of things. So its not surprising that once they find methods and ways of playing things they don't have to pay for, it will inevitably happen. It obviously doesn't help that parents let it happen in such a big scale, and in most parts parents even help their kids on how to do it.

So now you have the younger generation with pre-taught excuses used by their parents on why they did it. The olde "I am not going to buy it anyway so the people won't lose money" and the "I am trying it first then ill buy it" has been on the go since the late 80s, they weren't true back then and they are simply not true now.

Sure they weren't going to get money from people who download games en masse, but it doesn't mean its right to do so, and the kids they use this excuse as in some way it makes what they do right, errr no, no matter how many times you say it peeps it isn't going to make it any different. It is theft, although some will again use the excuse "it is copyright infringement", yeah whatever makes you sleep at night peeps it is still theft.

But anyways that out of the way, lets talk about cracks, or No-CD/DVD's.

They are obviously the binaries (aka .exe files for PCs) of the games with the protection removed, with the sole purpose of not requiring the original media. To the point now it also includes not requiring 3rd party apps like Steam, Origin, Uplay etc.

For games with media, if you own it in some countries it is legal to use a crack as to maintain the quality of the media and keep it in safe condition for prosperity, but when it comes to cracks for steam games etc then that's a different ball game.

Steam cracks are there for one reason, for people to play games released on steam for free. So they can't use the media excuse now, but yet we have seen a boom in Steam cracks, loaders and emulators to hit the net. This proves that warez usage is on the rise and even a system that earlier warez users cried for to replace physical media, is not proving a way for people to be legal.

As for key issues, some cracks can bypass the authentication usage, for example the latest Assassin's Creed 3 crack does this, instead of the game being cracked they cracked Uplay instead to accept any key to play the game.

But older games had this also, even installers in releases by warez groups had been changed to accept any key, unless it came with a keygen.

So yeah cracks can bypass activations and install a game.

As for virtual drives, these are only good enough as the quality of images used, some drives can read media pretty well and make good viable images to be used so no cracks are needed. But that is some drives, people mostly find out even trying to make disc images with the protection intact doesn't work. Especially when burning to media.

Some protections will use methods that are impossible for a drive to replicate, like Tages with its cross tracks and so forth.

Recently there has been a law passed in the UK that can allow people to be able to backup their media etc and use other methods to help keep it safe. But people I have seen have read it like "Hey guys you can steal stuff now".. no it doesn't and thats the problem I initially said, people just look between the lines.

Eventually they will be first to cry when the PC market becomes stagnant and are forced to use consoles which in turn become increasingly difficult to alter to play warez releases. It took a long time for the PS3 to be able to play warez releases, expect the same for the 720 and PS4.

[Edited by DABhand, 12/22/2012 6:42:06 AM]