Sony patent would combat piracy by comparing load times

[Blacksite]

A patent describing a "method for validating legitimate media products" attributed to Sony Computer Entertainment America surfaced earlier this week. Originally filed in August 2011, the patent elaborates on a process by a which a piece of media could be detected as legitimate (not pirated) by comparing two load times against a benchmark for the media.

As seen in the flow chart above, the patent also describes a secondary validation stage in which a serial number and "user identification information" are checked against "reliable data, such as that sourced from the manufacturer or developer of the media title." Examples of the user information could include account names, location, IP addresses, the speed of the user's connection and product license numbers.

The secondary validation cycle would account for load time errors due to hardware issues, but would also be skipped entirely if the first cycle (the load time benchmark comparisons) checks out. Whether the "load time" method for combating piracy is used in future hardware efforts by Sony is unknown.

via Joystiq.

[Jabjabs]

That's an interesting way to combat this issue. Most pirated materials tend to have their file lay out scrambled into a new structure usually due to the operating system doing the rip reallocation the files based on name/date/size and that does affect the load time due to extra disc seek times.

I'm interested to see if this goes ahead.

[Fijiandoce]

ooo, that is most interesting indeed, a very acquiescent way of combating a problem

[YoungMullah88]

Man Jabjabs is back also! Nice

Sent from my Note II

[Jabjabs]

Man Jabjabs is back also! Nice

Sent from my Note II

Oh Yeah I'm back and here to stay! Been gone a long time but I just call that life getting in the way.

This technique will either stop piracy or make the rips even closer to the originals, so it going to benefit someone for better or worse.

[Insanehead]

Speaking of blu-ray, what is the likelyhood that Sony will use slot loading or manual top loading for the PS4?

[Jabjabs]

I'm guessing slot loading, if Nintendo can afford to put a slot loading drive in Wii/Wii U I'm sure Sony can do it an cheaper.

[itachi73378]

Wow that's a unique way. Sony engineers at work.
This thread reminded me that since now ps4 is using a more traditional architecture, does that mean there will be more opportunities for hacks? Will sony break out the ban hammers?

[Acid Snake]

Piracy on consoles is a waste of time. I fully admit I did this a few times on my PS2. Was not worth it at all. Never did it with my PS3. I buy all my games legit and will keep it that way.

[itachi73378]

Piracy on consoles is a waste of time. I fully admit I did this a few times on my PS2. Was not worth it at all. Never did it with my PS3. I buy all my games legit and will keep it that way.

There is NO point to piracy for ps3 and ps4. Who the hell wants to download 50GB games and restrict yourself to offline play and no patches.
Not worth it at all.

[Acid Snake]

There is NO point to piracy for ps3 and ps4. Who the hell wants to download 50GB games and restrict yourself to offline play and no patches.
Not worth it at all.

Damn straight, sir. Also, your avatar cracks me up.

[PeanutButterMunky]

There is NO point to piracy for ps3 and ps4. Who the hell wants to download 50GB games and restrict yourself to offline play and no patches.
Not worth it at all.

People that are broke, I guess.

[itachi73378]

People that are broke, I guess.

I'm a broke college student with no job myself I try and only buy one game a month though. Starting to spend too much lately

My entire ps2 library (around 45 games) was pirated copies but that was because every shop in a third world country sells pirated software (and consoles come pre cracked in stores lol)

[Acid Snake]

I'm a broke college student with no job myself

My entire ps2 library (around 45 games) was pirated copies but that was because every shop in a third world country sells pirated software (and consoles come pre cracked in stores lol)

I have around 50 legit ps2 games. Before the PS4 comes out, I'll be somewhere in that area. With all the crap I bought off of the online store, I should be getting pretty close.

[Aquanox]

This has been used for a while now to flag Xbox 360 users. Problem is... it's not flawless and MS ended up being sued to badly that they stopped banning people unless they were irrefutably violating Xbox Live rules.

[Fijiandoce]

My entire ps2 library (around 45 games) was pirated copies but that was because every shop in a third world country sells pirated software (and consoles come pre cracked in stores lol)

i know that feel bro

my PS1 lived on the dark side (most of the time) retailers are hard to come by in third world countries

[Syphon_Filter]

That's an interesting way to combat this issue. Most pirated materials tend to have their file lay out scrambled into a new structure usually due to the operating system doing the rip reallocation the files based on name/date/size and that does affect the load time due to extra disc seek times.

I'm interested to see if this goes ahead.

I didn't understand one thing of those you have mention. But man you got really good points.

[Coconut_Crunch]

There is NO point to piracy for ps3 and ps4. Who the hell wants to download 50GB games and restrict yourself to offline play and no patches.
Not worth it at all.

LOL yea, fuck that. 50GB would take far to much time, I would rather buy the game. I am not one to pirate anyway. The closes I get is listening to music on youtube.