New ROM Anti-Piracy Software
Out by December 2009

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Andrew Mclennan, CEO of U.K.-based Metaforic, has announced a new anti-piracy measure for flash linkers. Specifically engineered for ROMs, and not homebrew, this new bit of software can be injected into code and will cause the corruption of ROM files which are pre-patched before launching. The code is currently specifically targeted to the R4 patching routines, due to its popularity. Nintendo is behind this anti-piracy software 100% as are 6 leading third party NDS software publishers.

It will remain to be seen what hackers can do with the anti-piracy measure when it begins to ship, injected into retail carts, as soon as December of this year. The code can be altered to change its signature for each retail cart, potentially preventing an automated fix from being developed.

Metaforic’s goal is to “annoy the hackers” as much as possible. They admit that the solution is not fool proof but it should require a fresh hack on a per-ROM basis. Thus allowing software a longer shelf life before it is pirated.

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i wish flash linkers still cost $150+. the drop below the $65 line made them accessible to more children and the current generation of drag/drop usage makes them more appealing. the problem now is that raising the cost would kill your company because these chinese companies have fine tuned the building process to the $2-4 range. you would have to offer something the other companies don't in order to sell kits at such a high price. but in the end, the higher price kits might be the ones that survive if this turns into an anti-piracy war between the software devs and the hackers.

-another world

 

its just checking the rom to see if it has been patched, each flash linker uses its own patching routines. roms need to be patched for a variety of reasons, i do believe even the rpg nand has dma patching involved.

-another world

 

no, because patching is patching. the rom is now altered and new code is attached to it. it is very easy to see if this has been done regardless of the way in which it was done.

does that make sense?

-another world

 

Sounds like politics to me. Reading that report, this is what came immediately to my mind:

Nintendo, under heavy and regular request from third parties -- likely with big shoutouts from Square Enix, EA and Activision -- have partnered with a third-party company to develop this anti-piracy measure as pacification for publishers. I don't glean anything that suggests Nintendo is on a crusade. They just need to present the appearance of making an effort to combat piracy on behalf of third-party publishers who make games on their platforms.