Vaporware DRM - A solution in a technique

[Jeoshua]

Nothing will ever be able to stop a truly intelligent and capable cracker from stealing things, but the addition of something difficult to remove and hard to find makes sure that the 99% of script kiddies can't do it, and that any truly egregious theft would be highly unlikely. Truly capable and dedicated crackers don't remove signatures, credits, or any of that. They do it because they believe in some nebulous concept of "freedom of information", not to post mods on sites and ask for donations. Heck, an entire culture of underground pirates exist and no money changes hands. Those really intelligent people aren't the kind of people we need to worry about stripping the signatures off mods just because they can. No... they might repost mods, but they're not going to be doing it for fame or money, which is the really sick and twisted part of what's been occurring.

 

This scheme isn't meant to stop people from being able to upload files or run them in a particular context. It could be used alongside such technologies, but the ultimate goal here is to inject a signature into your mod which you can prove is authentic, so you have the sole claim on being the original author of the mod. That's all. That's what we need, especially with all this talk of "you don't own your mods". Nobody cares who "owns" the mods, we care that our work may be taken, our names stripped off of it, and then uploaded against our wishes so altered and people are asking for money. That's not some kind of misguided moral crusade, that's out-and-out theft. And that is the kind of behavior this technique stands against, and has the possibility of stopping.

 

A truly intelligent person can still get around this.... but anyone intelligent enough to do so is not likely to really care that you've put your signature on it. Hell, they might notice it and realize what it is, and give it center stage! The people smart enough to remove this are the ones crazy enough to actually care about authorship over money.

 

The whole concept is similar to the Easter Eggs in old video games, where developers would put their names into the game in hidden areas, just so the companies they were working for couldn't deny their part. Credits where everyone from the lead developer to the janitor is mentioned haven't always been the case, and developers used to have to hide their names somewhere to get any credit. That situation has changed for the most part, but now that console modding is a thing and we're no longer just some artsy fartsy kids on the internet who like tinkering, it seems that the EULA is trying to make history repeat and take away any possibility of claiming that you are the author of anything. And it's that which Vaporware DRM is attempting to change.

 

Also, I'd like to note that while those older games were pirated (copy protection was easy to overcome in the days of diskettes... just a piece of masking tape and you're golden), no one ever removed these Easter Eggs. Oh, sometimes they changed the whole game just for funsies. All the stuff was changed... but the Easter Eggs remained intact, always. The signatures were never removed. Stop worrying someone is going to remove your signature, that's not how this works.

 

The idea, here, is basically a list of credits and your signature. That signature can be encoded in many ways. I recommend GPG but there are other possibilities. The key factor is just that it cannot be able to be forged, and you must keep a copy that proves you made the file. Public/Private key splits do this in an excellent fashion, but there are other ways you could sign the mods. You could even get your signature notarized in an official manner, and register it publicly, if you want to take it that far. I recommend using the open source, free option. It's just as capable, and it's free.

 

TLDR; If you're looking for an XBox exclusive or PC-Only strategy, this technique is compatible with that, but it does not directly support or provide that. That's not the goal, here. The idea is to sign your works in a way which cannot be contested.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Jeoshua

[Purr4me]

correct.

[Skyviper086]

Gotcha.

 

I have to say by the way that the term cracker in my neck of the woods means Caucasian Individual (white person). So reading about crackers stealing stuff made me chuckle. :laugh:

 

Eh not really that funny I know. :dry:

 

Moving on now. I still like like your idea of the holotape being a way to prove one is the author. And I have spoken to those who do indeed place their signatures in the textures of their works.

[Purr4me]

Gotcha.

 

I have to say by the way that the term cracker in my neck of the woods means Caucasian Individual (white person). So reading about crackers stealing stuff made me chuckle. :laugh:

 

Eh not really that funny I know. :dry:

 

Moving on now. I still like like your idea of the holotape being a way to prove one is the author. And I have spoken to those who do indeed place their signatures in the textures of their works.

A signature can be hidden in plain sight, 1 type of signature is known already, if you think you can see that signature "in plain sight? " click the second line in my signature here and tell me what you see.

 

describe in full what's there. This is only one way that is already available. we intend to spit this so if the data is altered in any way, that signature will no longer be hidden. IT will be as big and bold as a picture !

 

I am curious if you can see it though.

[NorthWolf]

@Jeoshua:

 

I said this on the other post for this topic, but I think a lot of people are concerned about the signature getting stripped out because they're not fully understanding the primary purpose of this. I won't reiterate the points in detail needlessly but I think trying to make it absolutely clear that the primary purpose is to establish authorship will help reduce confusion -- I think people read "DRM" and think that if it's easy(ish) to remove it's not valuable. Though you're already clarifying a lot so I don't know. I think people are also just going to consistently jump to conclusions on something like this.

Edited June 13, 2016 by NorthWolf

[Skyviper086]

 

Gotcha.

 

I have to say by the way that the term cracker in my neck of the woods means Caucasian Individual (white person). So reading about crackers stealing stuff made me chuckle. :laugh:

 

Eh not really that funny I know. :dry:

 

Moving on now. I still like like your idea of the holotape being a way to prove one is the author. And I have spoken to those who do indeed place their signatures in the textures of their works.

A signature can be hidden in plain sight, 1 type of signature is known already, if you think you can see that signature "in plain sight? " click the second line in my signature here and tell me what you see.

 

describe in full what's there. This is only one way that is already available. we intend to spit this so if the data is altered in any way, that signature will no longer be hidden. IT will be as big and bold as a picture !

 

I am curious if you can see it though.

 

 

Wait is that a face?

 

Is that you?

 

WOW!!!

 

I was looking at wall pipes and everything!

Edited June 13, 2016 by Skyviper086

[Skyviper086]

I just found it! I was looking at what I thought was smoke and noticed an odd shape, then another, and other.

 

But I also still see a purple signature below the weapon and I really really thought a signature at the end of the pipe.

 

But man that was neat.

 

I feel back on my Where's Waldo skills and other hidden object games and was looking at the really tiny details but missed the big one that was well looking me in my face.

 

Seriously is that you?

Edited June 13, 2016 by Skyviper086

[Purr4me]

yes, that is me. the fact is that one shot is deliberately set so you can find it.

In the old remastered mod, many *.dds files it contained were marked just like that only not visible.

My profile here has a statement "in your face on the screen" it literally means that. It is all in good fun.

 

Now, the last link seen here in my signature is that contain a digital signature that can not be removed nor can it be altered.

see if you can find it ,your free to download the shot VIA html save and take it apart. IF you do find where it's at, type out here what you found.

 

Think hard about what is watching you because there going to be a lot of this going on very soon. The graphics drivers ability to render or not is where these things will act.

 

on the topic, we know debugging is ripped out for console machines, it can't run data designed to use that tech so we need tech that can be rendered in all Environments and a way to respond to an act of theft.

 

Just imagine a user loading up a stolen PC mod that contains Vaporware and has ME staring them in the face and all they can see is a ghostly image in all directions.

 

break the code to steal it, and it is vibrant ! loud and clear the mod was stolen. NO way to remove this, it's not possible.

Totally harmless precept to the thief's EGO. Now if the process is done and signed by the author for Console mod factors, we have one of those too, it works both way to make sure fairness and PC users can not steal console made mods because the same will result.

 

Other wise, do things right and I am just in your mind and not seen at all.

Bottom line, Please don't steal stuff, it's not fair and drives every in the forums nuts.

 

Just the beginning and we do have a WIP going.

[Skyviper086]

First of all, have you considered modeling?

 

Second of all. That's a great idea with giving the stink eye to a stolen mod.

 

Lastly I will accept the challenge ... but do keep in mind that I'm no super genius or even a genius. I just like finding hidden objects. And know how to get around.

 

Edit: I'm thinking it's in the left eye, pupil, the little glow. But I could be wrong. Will check again later. You're good at this.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Skyviper086

[Purr4me]

Fair

 

First of all, have you considered modeling?

 

Second of all. That's a great idea with giving the stink eye to a stolen mod.

 

Lastly I will accept the challenge ... but do keep in mind that I'm no super genius or even a genius. I just like finding hidden objects. And know how to get around.

 

Edit: I'm thinking it's in the left eye, pupil, the little glow. But I could be wrong. Will check again later. You're good at this.

Fair enough, this is about gaming and I stand in the middle ground. I am only here to help, not really get involved, just find and render a solution that fits everyone's fancy so we can get on with mods.

 

All the hype is useless, serves no one any purpose other than to complain and posture. we have better things to do with our time, what of it we have.

Other things that require thought, better than dealing with dumb things that serve no purpose like steaming work for glory, download counts, what ever else is involved that makes a bean if difference.

Jeo is asleep ,went down about an hour ago from this time stamp here. he's been up all night...and that was my fault.

Talk to him. we deal in other things that are not involved with these things too.

https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/4505510-vaporware-drm-a-solution-in-a-technique/page-6&do=findComment&comment=39257975

Have fun Kitty Black

Edited June 14, 2016 by Purr4me