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Microsoft Piracy Security Games

Halo Reach Leaked To Filesharing Sites 160

Posted by Soulskill from the somebody's-getting-sued dept.
Stoobalou writes "What appears to be the full version of Bungie's Halo Reach game has turned up on a number of file sharing sites. The hotly-anticipated multi-player shooter had been hosted on a private area of the Microsoft Live site in order for journalists to preview the release, but Microsoft has admitted that a security breach has meant that pirates have been able to bypass personal download codes given to writers. Disk images of the game are now appearing on a number of public torrent and P2P sites as well as on popular NZB aggregators and Usenet binaries newsgroups." The game isn't due to be released until September 14th. Microsoft is said to be "aggressively pursuing" whoever grabbed the files without their permission.
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Halo Reach Leaked To Filesharing Sites More

Halo Reach Leaked To Filesharing Sites

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  • Long end of the stick. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @01:12AM (#33351142)

    "What appears to be the full version of Bungie's Halo Reach game has turned up on a number of file sharing sites. The hotly-anticipated multi-player shooter had been hosted on a private area of the Microsoft Live site in order for journalists to preview the release, but Microsoft has admitted that a security breach has meant that pirates have been able to bypass personal download codes given to writers. Disk images of the game are now appearing on a number of public torrent and P2P sites as well as on popular NZB aggregators and Usenet binaries newsgroups."

    Whew! I'm sure glad we lengthened copyright to prevent something like this.

    • Re:Long end of the stick. (Score:5, Funny)

      by miggyb ( 1537903 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @01:27AM (#33351232) Homepage
      Clearly we now need copyright to extend backwards into the past, before the work is completely finished. Otherwise, how are artists like Da Vinci supposed to protect unfinished works like the Mona Lisa?

    • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Am I the only one who's thinking this might be a "leaked" release sent out specifically to justify Iron Curtain tactics to follow, which will be directed against public torrent, P2P, aggregators, and Usenet sites?

      And here we thought the Google/Verizon deal operated in a vacuum. (cue sarcasm)

      It's not the massive catastrophes that destroy entirely, but the tiny little compromises made every day that eat at your soul til nothing remains.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by EdIII ( 1114411 )

        It's not the massive catastrophes that destroy entirely, but the tiny little compromises made every day that eat at your soul til nothing remains.

        I think you stole that from an inspirational poster at the RIAA headquarters.

  • Better go after those pirates (Score:5, Funny)

    by cheekyjohnson ( 1873388 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @01:13AM (#33351152)

    They're stealing potential profit! It's almost as bad as competition between businesses, or a consumer informing other consumers about a bad company/poorly made product. In all three cases, potential profit is being stolen.

    We must stop these people from hurting our businesses. Also, this clearly wouldn't have happened if there had been super powerful DRM installed with the game!

    • They're stealing potential profit! It's almost as bad as competition between businesses, or a consumer informing other consumers about a bad company/poorly made product. In all three cases, potential profit is being stolen.

      We must stop these people from hurting our businesses. Also, this clearly wouldn't have happened if there had been super powerful DRM installed with the game!

      Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the business which is going to be suffering the most impact from this leak Bungie? AFAIK Bungie isn't doing anything more than running their own business, not hurting others.

      • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

        by cheekyjohnson ( 1873388 )

        Bungie is stealing potential profit away from other companies due to the fact that some people might buy one of their games instead of a game from another company. Pirates are doing something similar, only without money involved. We can't condone these pirates who are stealing non-existence profit, no matter what pirate-enablers say or think.

        Clearly spending millions more on DRM that will totally never be cracked and millions more on going after these pirates (police have nothing better to do, anyway) is a

        • Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)

          by enderjsv ( 1128541 )
          Wow, you love sarcasm, don't you john? You ever try canning the sarcasm and instead making your point clearly and concisely, instead of masking it in passive-aggressive-teenage bullshit? Or are you that hard up for the +1 funny you get from like-minded adolescent assholes like yourself who can't tell the difference between wit and sarcasm? Seriously, your last 4 posts or so have been nothing but sarcastic tirades. That kind of crap shouldn't fly hear on Slashdot.

  • Does this mean... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Majik Sheff ( 930627 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @01:21AM (#33351204) Journal

    I can redeem my Gamestop super exclusive unlocked shiny armor of orgasmic distraction early too?

    I despise software that is deliberately broken. If publishers want to make some extra sales by rewarding preorders I'm fine with it, but after a few months the items should be available to everyone. I paid for the thing, I should not be prevented from using all of the features.

    • You do realize the "bonus" from Gamestop for preordering is literally a belt and a little tiny chest plate, both of which have no effect on the gameplay whatsoever...

      • Yes, I understand this. I was speaking in more broad terms toward the principle of the thing.

        If I paid for the product, the contents of the box are mine to do with as I please (short of distributing copies). I will not have the publisher or anyone tell me what to do with software that I purchased any more than I would allow a car dealer dictate to me which cities I can drive to.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Gulthek ( 12570 )

          the contents of the box are mine to do with as I please (short of distributing copies)

          Sorry, but that just isn't the case.

          • Doesn't mean it SHOULDN'T be the case. Most of us understand that DRM and other restrictions put on personal use are a load of crap. Unfortunately for all of us, you're correct. But the gov't isn't going to come charging into my house for applying a crack to my game to play without a CD. So he can likely get away with doing what he wants (short of distributing copies).

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by cgenman ( 325138 )

          So, do with it as you please. Go right ahead.

          Oh, you want them to give you an unlock code. Ok. That's a little different.

  • If you put the game in a machine without asking the owner, would he be in fault for putting it public or be your own? Even if he owns a lot of machines (i.e. thousands, after all, is his botnet, not yours), the faulty action was probably in Microsoft side.
  • Unless they cut power to all XBOX owners, I don't see how you can stop known leak on internet in 2010. Better spend money and resources elsewhere. Release it few weeks earlier?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by aeiah ( 937509 )
      They'll just bring out an xbox update and issue a new wave of bans to xbox live if it matters that much to them. that'll stop most people using it until a copy of the officially released version shows up on P2P in 3 weeks

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cgenman ( 325138 )

        They know the tags of the journalists with legitimate copies of the game. Anyone who brings a Halo console online, or gets offline achievements and then goes online is asking for a perma-ban.

        As Halo is mostly about the multiplayer experience, I can't see this really substituting for the full game.

    • it's for the future, smarty. If they find the person who originated it and sue the hell out of them, they think it will deter the next smart ass who thinks they're "so cool" for leaking other games early. Just so we're clear, Microsoft is a bunch of dumbasses for opening up the servers and giving copies out to just whoever claims to be reporting on it in order to make more money on an already self-marketing product. The person who leaked it is a dumbass because they're going to get caught and sued into b

      • Agreed. People are stealing from Microsoft's infinite pool of copies, and they must be stopped. People are stealing from Microsoft in the future, where they would have made profits had people not pirated their game.

      • Re:'aggressive' waste of time (Score:5, Insightful)

        by d3ac0n ( 715594 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @08:40AM (#33353574)

        Actually, if you RTFA, the attackers used a vulnerability in the website hosting the code to break in and BYPASS the journalist login feature. So technically, no reporters are gonna get sued since none of them did anything wrong.

        Let's be honest, the real problem here was that MS was using the "Security by Obscurity" model to hide the test code site. It even says ITA that it was a "secret" website. (As if a website could EVER be secret for long, especially one connected to Microsoft.) The fact that anyone at MS still thinks that security by obscurity is wise reveals that despite all of the improvements in Win7, There is an ingrained culture in MS that still doesn't get it.

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by cc1984_ ( 1096355 )

          Let's be honest, the real problem here was that MS was using the "Security by Obscurity" model to hide the test code site. It even says ITA that it was a "secret" website. (As if a website could EVER be secret for long, especially one connected to Microsoft.)

          Secret websites are nothing special. The only thing that Microsoft forgot to do is create a robots.txt file

          User-agent: *
          Disallow: /SecretDownloads/Halo-Reach-Prerelease.zip

          That way it wouldn't have shown up on Google and nobody would have downloaded it. Problem solved.

      • plus the last thing we need are more dumb 13 year olds whining about how Microsoft should unban them cuz all they did was steal a game and play it illegally.

        Not sure if you've ever played on XBox Live, but Microsoft would most definitely be doing a service to society by banning those whining 13 yr olds. I fully support anyone who is stupid and cheap enough to pirate this game to go ahead and do so. MS/Bungie will ban the hell out of the 'tards and make the service a lot more attractive to the socially responsible normal people out there.

        • Hilarious reply. Good job! I hate those pirates, too.

          "by banning those whining 13 yr olds"
          Actually, I'd like to see them ban any whining person, regardless of age. I've heard full-grown adults screaming over losing a game. It's pretty sad.

  • Only for specific Xbox360 mod (Score:3, Informative)

    by JorDan Clock ( 664877 ) <jordanclock@gmail.com> on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @01:32AM (#33351256)
    The version leaked is only useable for those with a specific kind of Xbox 360 mod, namely a JTAG mod. Basically, they aren't going to be playing on Xbox Live with this game or they'll kind their Xbox banned (and possibly Live account along with it). This is not a version that can be burned to a disc and played with a DVD-ROM modded 360, which is the most common mod and has a low detection rate.

    • If you play it in the next week, they can easily detect that and surmise you pirated it.

      Can anyone explain why you need a JTAG mode to play this game? The only reason I have heard that makes sense is that a JTAG mode allows you to unban your console (by changing the ID) so you can play it on Live with impunity. Anyone who doesn't have a JTAG mod will get their console banned and won't be able to use it anymore.

      • Re:low detection rate? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by NoZart ( 961808 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @02:25AM (#33351528)

        >>> Can anyone explain why you need a JTAG mode to play this game?

        Because the game was released as an unencrypted download title. This way, you can not generate a working ISO to burn from it, as you don't know which way to encrypt it to match the release discs.

        >>> JTAG mode allows you to unban your console (by changing the ID)

        Yeah, but you need an existing keyvault from an unbanned XBox to do that, so this method is highly impractical.
        The workaround for JTAGs to use this leak is more along the lines playing the games over Xlink Kai, a LAN-tunneling service, which will provide a crappy gameplay experience. /Tinfoil hat on/
        The way this was leaked (only works on JTAGs which are few and gimped multiplayer and MP is the main draw of the game) makes me think that it is possible this is intentional. All the Youtube clips showing ingame details work perfectly as some sort of guerilla marketing to amp up the hype. /Tinfoil hat off/

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ifrag ( 984323 )

        If you play it in the next week, they can easily detect that and surmise you pirated it.

        Well... considering that the multi-player servers are probably not even up yet, anyone doing this is probably going to be playing with the network unplugged anyway.

    • People have already found ways around that.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Sockatume ( 732728 )

      Pirating Reach is a bit of a stretch, then.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by X.mpls ( 1026436 )
      I'm not entirely sure Jtag-modders won't play on Xbox Live is true. I have seen Jtag modders on COD:MW2. Their JTAG mods allowed them to do all sort of crazy stuff. They altered some kind of file that communicated to the game server kills and deaths. That is why you see some people with a 4000 kill to death ratio in-game and in the stats listings, unlimited care packages or some other ridiculously obvious cheat. Maybe those people did only enjoy a few moments of splendor before Microsoft dropped the ha

  • JTAGED (Score:3, Informative)

    by st1rguy ( 1180853 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @01:47AM (#33351324)
    I don't think this will hurt MS much , a JTAG mod is out of hacker skill range of most Xbox gamers. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-JTAG-your-Xbox-360-and-run-homebrew/ [instructables.com]

    • Yeah, but these evil pirates also like to share information. They might tell each other how to do so, reading a few steps. We must stop them.

      • :O what the heck r u talkin bout i cant understand it :@ comment on a simpler way to put it

        An actual comment from that instructable, I think the GP's point still stands :).

        • Oh, of course. I had temporarily forgotten that most people only know enough about technology to use a television remote.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by d3ac0n ( 715594 )

            Cheeky,

            Obviously you have been being intentionally sarcastic/ironic/whatever for the entire article here, and that's fine. I've gotten a good laugh at it, thank you.

            However, you have unintentionally swerved into the truth here; Most people really DO know only enough about technology to work the remote. Some not even that much. Which is why this isn't really a threat. Nobody is going to use this to play online, as the only people with enough skill/intelligence to figure out how to do it also know enough

    • you need to do a JTAG MOD to use your own HDD?

      Why can't M$ be like Sony and let you use your own HDD?

    • The kids today can't learn to solder a couple of resistors and diodes onto a cable? Somehow I don't believe that.

      My senior year of high school our physics teacher bought a bunch of (ISA!) data acquisition cards for the PC. They were unassembled bare boards that needed to be populated with components and soldered. The teacher recruited me to assembled them. He gave me a small herd of workers which mostly consisted of teenage girls who had never seen electronic components before.

      I explained how to solder

      • The kids these days, if they enjoy online games, are almost certainly upgraded past the Summer 2009 kernel release which seals the hole used. Notice how the first step is "check if your xbox is exploitable". If you can find an Xbox that was put into a dusty cupboard around that time, AND are willing to do all the electronics work then you can play the pirated game. In practice that's not many people.

  • HALO BREACH !! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Get it, breach instead of reach? Yes?

  • 640p fun for all (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by AHuxley ( 892839 )
    All the joy of 640p textures again and again :)

  • This always happens. Maybe not always ahead of the official release, but piracy is a reality. It hasn't killed any major games yet, and you're wasting your time, and more importantly money, worrying about it.

  • Well, this just proves it! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by billsayswow ( 1681722 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @02:37AM (#33351606)
    This is why everyone releases games for the console these days. Everyone pirates PC games, but no one can pirate for the consoles...

    • You read my mind, my friend. You read my mind...

    • but no one can pirate for the consoles...

      You ignorant or blind?

    • The thing is, this leak won't prevent the game from having record-breaking sales on launch day. The percentage of Xbox owners that can/will make use of this leak is minuscule.

    • Re:Well, this just proves it! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @09:38AM (#33354170)
      A PC doesn't have to be modded to work with pirate software, a console generally does. This alone ensures that piracy will never be even remotely as prevalent on consoles as it is on PC's.

  • Come after me, Microsoft... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Khyber ( 864651 ) <techkitsune@gmail.com> on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @02:47AM (#33351674) Homepage Journal

    Are you mad you failed to secure your permissions for downloaded files?

    You only have yourself to blame. I only showed people how to bypass your bullshit, just like I showed the nice people at OZMODS how to bypass the PS3 protections.

    Please, come after me. I'll fucking wipe out your life and livelihood when I expose your internal e-mails showing how you PLANNED this out. We're talking a SECOND anti-trust lawsuit with full exposure this time, assholes. FUCKING TEST ME.

    I *LOVE* having spies in industry. Your NDA be damned. I'll expose you for the Totalitarian Communists that you are and make your stock price plummet so hard you'll fucking wish you didn't come after me.

    I owned EA, you think you stand any better chance?

    Bring, it, Microsoft. You already know who I am, please, step up so I can wipe your ass out and claim self-defense from INTERNATIONAL TRAITORS SELLING TECHNOLOGY TO FORBIDDEN COUNTRIES.

    You don't stand a chance.

    • Re:Come after me, Microsoft... (Score:5, Funny)

      by TheJokeExplainer ( 1760894 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @03:33AM (#33351946)
      Uh. I am at a real loss on how to explain this.

      -Joke Explainer

      • Re:Come after me, Microsoft... (Score:5, Funny)

        by TheCarAnalogyGuy ( 1885500 ) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 @07:49AM (#33353214)
        Yeah, it's like a... when you roll down the windows and....

        I Got nothin

        ~TheCarAnalogyGuy

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Malenx ( 1453851 )

      Another funny kid trying to take credit for something he didn't do. Go back to watching hackers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Actually, Microsoft can easily go after those who downloaded the game. It's so simple, they've done it before.

      You cannot get on Xbox Live and play Halo Reach.

      Why? Because Microsoft knows who's supposed to be playing Halo Reach (and whose Xbox Live profiles they've allowed), anyone else online obviously is pirating. (Reviewers can take it across multiple Xboxes easily enough, as the license would be for a particular LIve account, and not Xbox. So if that Live account isn't logged in, that game can't be playe

  • One has to wonder, after the mass bannings last year, pirates and modders (be they the same or otherwise) have smartened up because nobody knew exactly what criteria and flags Microsoft were using to catch the modders. Most modding forums now have a general agreement that dashboard updates were used to catch the mods. Be this the case, the modders have mostly stopped downloading dashboard updates. This would be a great way for Microsoft to catch modders. The only way to run the ISO, cracked to bypass

  • Holy shit. Microsoft must be LIVID.

    I expect to see a massive increase in the volume of cheap '100% working great' Xbox 360 items on eBay in the next couple weeks as they ban the consoles of everyone that plays it off of Xbox Li-- Oh damn.

    Nevermind. I imagine Microsoft is quite pleased with this turn of events. What with the increased demand for new 360s and whatnot...

    • Holy shit. Microsoft must be LIVID.

      Only because now people other than paid shills will review the game and let everybody know what a piece of shit it is.
  • I always expect to see the 100s of posts meant to somehow justify or downplay the pirating of *insert media type here* . It's only now that I wonder how this site considers such a thing "business as usual" and yet has a relatively high percentage of computer science professionals. I know if I work on some code for a length of time, and that code is marketable, I expect to be compensated for it. I know that "fair compensation" is not the main point of contention in these pirates vs. ninjas (aka evil corps

    • Agreed. Wait, you pirated music? What kind of evil person would do such a thing? Oh, wait, a pirate. Your comment was looking good until you mentioned that, but now I see that you're nothing more than a hypocrite. I bet you don't even have anything against piracy. Let me guess, you also think that when one business steals future profit from another business by luring in a customer that had thought about going to the other business is fine. You support thieves who steal potential profit. For shame.

      • You're correct, I was a hypocrite....back when I pirated music. Since then, I've stopped. I took responsibility for my actions and decided that I would vote with my wallet instead. I don't post about all this "potential profit" bs because that's what it is....bullshit. A product is only worth what someone is willing to pay. And how is competition in the market even relevant to piracy?

        • When someone goes to one business to buy a product instead of going to another business, the first business has stolen potential profit away from the other business because the second business would have had more money if the person went to buy the product there, instead. It relates to the "potential profit" thing. Which pirates are clearly stealing, because they certainly aren't stealing anything else.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by suik ( 1881344 )
            "potential profit" is impossible to measure. so ...? if I go by a window there's a "potential" I'm going to jump from it ... yet it never happens.

            • Oh, please. The "potential profit" argument used most by us piracy haters destroys any arguments you pirates have, clearly.

  • Leaked? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Maybe they should have uploaded it on Wikileaks. ^^

  • pursue if you can find them ...
  • I went scouring the torrent sites just to realize there was no PC port yet...

    Thats what I get for trying on my eyepatch before the coffee.

  • Microsoft is said to be "aggressively pursuing" whoever grabbed the files without their permission.

    Yes, that does them a lot of good...

  • they probably organized the leak themselves ... if not they should be proud of the enthusiastic public demand.

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