Denuvo by Irdeto has unveiled at GDC (Game Developers Conference) this past March 18th their brand new anti-piracy technology named "TraceMark", specifically tailored to make "leakers think twice".

This new technology is aimed towards the never-ending problem in the gaming industry of pre-release videogame leaks, be it press releases, distributed review copies or broken street dates. The watermark technology which Denuvo unveiled is apparently already trusted by Hollywood, paid-TV and sports leagues. Quoting Denuvo's own blogpost about the technology:

It introduces a deterrent effect by enabling the precise tracing of leaked content back to its source. This capability makes potential leakers think twice, knowing that any unauthorized distribution can be directly linked to them.

This brand new technology will be platform-agnostic, meaning it can be implemented in different systems as long as the game has the technology integrated into it, and so far it seems to be compatible with Xbox, iOS, Windows and Nintendo Switch . It aims to "incorporate both invisible and visible watermarking techniques".

Currently there's no set date on when this new technology will begin to be rolled out, but it's most likely that game developers will start getting access to this implementation soon.

Source

 

[Purple_Heart]

YES MORE DENUVO

Post automatically merged: Mar 20, 2024

And Nintendo dcma a fkng 7 yrs old yt Video cause it had cod Zombies with Pokémon modded in lmao.... I hate em

 

[linuxares]

Just IP? In order to be able to unquestionably identify a leaker, A LOT more than merely an IP has to be sent and has to "call home" to avoid any false-positives and to avoid even more implications. This would very obviously violate GDPR, but let's be honest here, Denuvo Anti-Tamper and EAC already do pretty much that, and GDPR has yet to kick in and either severely punish them for their data privacy breaches, or at the very least ban them from the EU. And really, the only reason here nothing has happened as of yet, is that none of us can prove without a doubt that all of this really is happening and that they have all of that data and access to our data like that. That, and they added some legalese bullshit about them "not being responsible blablabla, click here/sign here to sign away all your rights, thank you goodbye" basically.

Not that this legalese really holds much ground in reality, Terms of Service and EULAs have often been thrown out in court because they have no right to bypass the law just because the ToS/EULA says so, but you'd first need to even have enough ground to stand on with which you can bring the company to court for GDPR violations. Until that happens, we're stuck in the limbo that we are right now, the companies obviously violating GDPR data privacy laws, but are able to continue doing so because nobody can without a doubt prove it at the moment.

The IP is enough to violate GDPR. All of the rest is just sugercoating to make it even worse. And I agree a lot more is probably collected!

Not sure why people bring up EAC here since it has nothing to do with this Anti Tamper.

 

[Centrix]

It's just a matter of time before some one figures out how to remove it. I imagine you don't technically have to install the game in order to open it up and start digging around through its files.

 

[Sir Tortoise]

The IP is enough to violate GDPR. All of the rest is just sugercoating to make it even worse. And I agree a lot more is probably collected!

GDPR doesn't ban the collection of data, it just requires you to keep it in secure ways.
And, again, it'd be idiotic to do this by data harvesting. They could have the most impressive spyware in the world, and it would do nothing against someone who just doesn't run it with the WiFi turned on. It's a watermark, not some fancy virus that steals your identity when you try and copy it onto a USB.

Post automatically merged: Mar 20, 2024

It's just a matter of time before some one figures out how to remove it. I imagine you don't technically have to install the game in order to open it up and start digging around through its files.

If it's making a bunch of tiny, non-functional edits to make each copy uniquely identifiable, that could well be nigh-impossible to remove. Depends on how smart they are about implementing it. It'll be enough to dissuade people from trying, anyway.

 

[osaka35]

So, another reason to pirate over purchasing. Cool.

This feels like them just marketing to companies, rather than doing anything useful. Their marketing is never very close to the final result.

Just dreaming, but i can imagine a tool made for leakers to scrub the embedded data out, so they won't get in trouble for leaks. Or block attempts to call home, or whatever nonsense this turns out to be. Or better yet, inject info to implicate CEOs or something ludicrious.

 

[guily6669]

Really hate GayNuvo

 

[linuxares]

GDPR doesn't ban the collection of data, it just requires you to keep it in secure ways.

Thats now how the GDPR works at all... It require you to limit the data you collect. Secure or not is actually not part of anywhere in the GDPR. You can have it on paper next to you.
You have to agree to certain rules to collect data as well. So it all depends on how they setup any agreement, a EULA or TOS will not work for this. I mean if you somewhere in the chain (example warehouse) collects a retail card. That person haven't agreed to their data being collected. Even if they leak it, that's a different story.

https://commission.europa.eu/law/la...-can-we-process-and-under-which-conditions_en

A static IP can connect a user for example:
"The same also applies to IP addresses. If the controller has the legal option to oblige the provider to hand over additional information which enable him to identify the user behind the IP address"

It's counted as personal data. So it's fully possible for it to be therefore not applicable to use in the EU. All depends on how the tech works.

 

[Robert Newbie]

I'm confused on how it all works. Like, internally, the developers will be working with the actual code, and I'm sure their activity is already bring monitored. So, the game leaks and they trace a "watermark" back to an employee that may or may not be involved?

 

[Sir Tortoise]

Thats now how the GDPR works at all... It require you to limit the data you collect. Secure or not is actually not part of anywhere in the GDPR. You can have it on paper next to you.
You have to agree to certain rules to collect data as well. So it all depends on how they setup any agreement, a EULA or TOS will not work for this. I mean if you somewhere in the chain (example warehouse) collects a retail card. That person haven't agreed to their data being collected. Even if they leak it, that's a different story.

https://commission.europa.eu/law/la...-can-we-process-and-under-which-conditions_en

A static IP can connect a user for example:
"The same also applies to IP addresses. If the controller has the legal option to oblige the provider to hand over additional information which enable him to identify the user behind the IP address"

It's counted as personal data. So it's fully possible for it to be therefore not applicable to use in the EU. All depends on how the tech works.

Well, this isn't how the tech works, and it's not how the GDPR works. I mean, try applying this logic to another security-based scenario: logging unauthorised attempts to access a network. Would GDPR make it illegal to log those IP address and look for patterns because the hackers hadn't agreed to a EULA? You are allowed to collect information that could be personally identifiable in many situations. The internet would struggle to function otherwise.

 

[linuxares]

logging unauthorised attempts to access a network. Would GDPR make it illegal to log those IP address and look for patterns because the hackers hadn't agreed to a EULA?

That's a crime, therefore it doesn't matter. This tracking software if included on retail units are tracking people, most likely without consent. EULA and TOS doesn't matter for this in EU, you can't "You agreed" away to this law.

I'm not talking about review copies now that might include a contract, I'm talking about the cartridge or digital game YOU get in your hands.

You are allowed to collect information that could be personally identifiable

Yes, if they explain what they do with the data, how you can remove the data etc. Same as we on GBAtemp do. If you request your account deleted, it gets anonymized. We have no way to identify it was you afterwards as long as no post includes your information that you willingly given.


I have checked others sources now than the one provided and it seems it seem to be aimed towards people with pre-release access.

"This is a new watermark technology that allows devs to add unique and possibly invisible IDs for specific game files. By having files that can be easily identified, it’s expected that the new technology will help developers discover who is leaking their internal gaming files, and possibly discourage more people from sharing this sensitive information"

So sounds more and more it's not provided in retail copies but review copies.


EDIT: For instance, gamers saw Grand Theft Auto 6’s trailer leaked one day before its official release last year. This was very disappointing for the team at Rockstar Games, as it forced the company to unveil its official trailer a day earlier than planned.

Yeah seems to be targeted towards these kind of leaks

 

[LuigiXHero]

No clue how they're gonna do it but I have done this for rom hacks before. I just put a number in the rom I can check if my stuff ever got leaked. Like 0 would be this person, 1 for the next. Thankfully I never gotten a leak before lol.

 

[Tizm]

Just jpegify your video enough and no one will see the watermark (or anything other than pixels moving)

 

[RHOPKINS13]

I don't think this is an entirely new concept. Quake Champions had a closed beta that included a watermark with identifying information. Looking at some videos online, it looks like at least in some cases that included IP:


I played the beta on Xbox One, I haven't found video footage of it but I seem to remember the watermark including text that would randomly move on the screen, being a relatively minor nuisance during gameplay but nearly impossible to censor if you wanted to post any footage online. I could be wrong though, it's possible I'm thinking of a beta for a different game.

 

[LightBeam]

I just go from this paragraph here "
precise tracing of leaked content back to its source."

To me it sounds like it calls home with information example IP which is counted as a personal identification under the GDPR. Also possible it might call home with more information.

I thought that it would be more like each copy sent to a reviewer would have a different stamp, so whenever a version of said game gets leaked, they would be able to identify the stamp. They would need to track down what they're sending to whom, but I'm not sure if this practice would be in contradiction with the GDPR

I guess we'll know when we'll have more information on how they're doing that

 

[Subtle Demise]

Really hate GayNuvo

I like to call them Denoobvo

 

[Metoroid0]

these companies getting richer and richer and yet they claim that piracy and leacks damage them....
weird, weird.

 

[WG481]

Denuvo is Austrian, and Austria is part of the EU (so they probably know their GDPR).

this just makes it sad

 

[Dax_Fame]

Chasing a moving target. It's cute of them to pretend crackers/leakers won't find their way around this eventually.

It doesn't matter what you do!

 

[Bladexdsl]

don't they realize VPN exist?

 

[deSSy2724]

Didnt Amazon also announced it 2-3 years or so ago for its streaming service but they didnt introduce anything yet? So, basically two independent users/consumers are watching the same movie or episode but each one is altered slightly (for our eyes unnoticeable) which means, every piracy group has its own version with his own fingerprint which ofcourse means, its easier to find them..... to find the source of "pirate" supply chain.

EDIT:

Yes, Amazon patended it etc.

Basically with ML algorithms you can detect watermarks etc..... but when it comes to streaming, basically can be avoided with slightly scrambling the video, adding more noise to it, sure the wideo quallity would be very slightly worse but hey.... its harder to do it with video games, because we already have FSR, DLSS, mods etc.