Piracy

Video game piracy, a form of copyright infringement, is the unauthorized copying and distributing of video game software.

Cassettes físicamente protegidos por una almohadilla de espuma.
Una gran pieza de espuma actúa como un amortiguador contra la cinta.
Su altura está calibrada para un reproductor CPC 464, pero no pega la cinta contra la cabeza en un reproductor de alta fidelidad, o incluso una grabadora externa, el sonido es tan débil que la copia no se puede usar automáticamente.

A pesar de que las pistas no se pueden copiar con un CPC, la protección es baja

En la pista 40, sector # 4A, se ingresa un mensaje relativo a la protección :

(c) .WRM ......
DISCO DE PROTECCION.
SISTEMA ..........
................
Esta versión ...
escrito ... para .....
MARTECH.LTD .....
para.uso.con ....
the.disc.version
de ..............
................
CAPTURA 23 ........
................
en el ..........
..AMSTRAD.CPC ...

KBI es una empresa francesa que duplica juegos para editores. Ofrecía servicios auxiliares, como rutinas de protección, que las empresas francesas utilizaban ocasionalmente

A pesar de que las pistas no se pueden copiar con un CPC, la protección es baja

SafeDisc was a copy protection program for Microsoft Windows applications and games that are distributed on optical disc. Created by Macrovision Corporation, it aimed to hinder unauthorized disc duplication. The program was first introduced in 1998, and was discontinued on March 31, 2009.

SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management (DRM) product developed by Sony DADC. It aims to prevent unauthorised copying and reverse engineering of software, primarily commercial computer games running on Microsoft Windows. The method of disc protection in later versions is data position measurement, which may be used in conjunction with online activation DRM.

Spiradisc was a copy protection scheme used by Sierra On-Line on their floppy disk releases for the Apple II. The technique, developed by Mark Duchaineau, involved writing the data on spiralling paths on the disk rather than in concentric circles. Initially, no commercial copying software or bit nibbler could successfully copy the disks it was applied to.

Games which used Spiradisc copy protection include Lunar Leepers, Frogger, Ultima II, Star Maze, Jawbreaker, and Maze Craze Construction Set.

Eventually, Copy II Plus version 5 was able to successfully defeat this copy protection.

Dinamic Camelot Warriors

The NES game StarTropics included a letter from the main characters uncle. To get past a certain point in the game, a player needed to dunk the letter in water to get a secret code. Players lost the letter or bought the game secondhand often enough that the code (747) was even printed in an issue of Nintendo Power.

The more effective anti piracy method in Spain was to change the prize of the games from 2500 to 875 pesetas

Modifications to the standard Quick Disk format include the NINTENDO moulding along the bottom of each Disk Card.
In addition to branding the disk, this acts as a rudimentary form of copy protection - a device inside the drive bay contains raised protrusions which fit into their recessed counterparts, ostensibly ensuring that only official disks are used.
If a disk without these recessed areas is inserted, the protrusions cannot raise, and the system will not allow the game to be loaded.
This was combined with technical measures in the way data was stored on the disk to prevent users from physically swapping copied disk media into an official shell.
However, both of these measures were defeated by pirate game distributors; in particular, special disks with cutouts alongside simple devices to modify standard Quick Disks were produced to defeat the physical hardware check, enabling rampant piracy.
An advertisement containing a guide for a simple modification to a Quick Disk to allow its use with a Famicom Disk System was printed in at least one magazine.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Most Infocom games contained feelies, bonus novelty items included to enhance the immersiveness of the game. The feelies provided with this game included:

- A pin-on button with Dont Panic! printed in large, friendly letters
- A small plastic packet containing pocket fluff (a cottonball)
- Order for destruction of Arthur Dents house
- Order for destruction of Earth written in Vogon (actually an English cryptogram written in a thinly-disguised Greek alphabet. The text was nearly identical to that of the English Order for Destruction)
- Official Microscopic Space Fleet (an empty plastic bag)
- Peril Sensitive Sunglasses (a pair of opaque black cardboard sunglasses)
- How Many Times Has This Happened to You?, an advertising brochure for the fictional guidebook/encyclopedia The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Master Lock was a program used to protect your software creations.
Claimed that your software then could not be copied by Nibblers, Disk Maker, Copy II, Ultra Byte or Fast Hackem.

El programa le pedirá que desproteja el disquete contra la escritura para poder ejecutarlo correctamente.
En el caso de una copia ilegal, ahora se le indicará que es una copia ilegal, y ya nunca más podrá volver a utilizarse.

Utilizado principalmente por producciones o reediciones (RERELEASES) de la editorial DOMARK.
La mayoría de las veces el cargador tiene un tamaño de 541 bytes.
El gran problema con la preservación de la cinta con UniLODE es que los datos no tienen un tono constante, sino una serie compleja de pulsos. ¡Estas cintas de juegos son muy difíciles de grabar!