Investigating a proprietary early-2000s abandonware ebook format

This article concerns a Windows software product which featured the ability to compile HTML websites and multimedia content into a standalone EXE file. The last release of this product was in 2003, and the product website has ceased to operate from 2012. Content was stored… »

DRM Round-up: IDAD 2022

Today is International Day Against DRM 2022, so let's check in on my ebook collection statistics. It seems that this is becoming a biennial endeavour rather than a quarterly one, but hey, better late than never!

I have a policy of refusing to purchase

Reverse engineering software licensing from early-2000s abandonware – Part 3

In part 2, we reverse engineered the decrypted format of the licence file data for this particular software. In this part, we investigate that how exactly that licence file is encrypted.

Into the fray

In part 2, we identified that the decrypted licence file… »

Reverse engineering software licensing from early-2000s abandonware – Part 2

In part 1, we reverse engineered the registration code licensing mechanism of this particular software. However, that mechanism was not the mechanism actually in use in 2004; rather, a different mechanism was used based on licence files named license.bin. In this part, we… »

Reverse engineering software licensing from early-2000s abandonware – Part 1

Background

This series concerns a software licensing system used in a proprietary software application from circa 2004. The software was available in an unregistered trial mode with limited functionality. A free licence could be obtained by registering online with the software vendor. The software became… »

DRM Round-up: Q4 2020

Wow! It's been a while! Today is International Day Against DRM 2020, which means it's time to check in with my e-book collection for the first time since Q2 2019.

I have a policy of refusing to purchase any e-books encumbered with DRM,

Illegal numbers

Legal counsel for various companies, including AACS LA (Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator) LLC, DVD Copy Control Association Incorporated, Intel Corporation, Motion Picture Association of America Incorporated, Sony Computer Entertainment America Incorporated and Texas Instruments Incorporated, have determined that the possession or distribution of… »

Investigating a MIDI music DRM system (c. 1998)

Background

This post concerns a DRM system used in a proprietary JavaScript-based music player. The music is sequenced locally in the client based on instrument and note data, à la MIDI. The music player does not have any export capabilities, but like the previous instalment… »

Investigating a legacy document delivery DRM system – Part 2

Last time, we investigated the HTML5 viewer for a document delivery DRM system, rehosting the viewer to give us unlimited access to documents – but only through the standard print procedure, which inserts watermarks and copyright information. This time, we'll investigate how we can… »

Investigating a legacy document delivery DRM system – Part 1

Background

This post concerns a DRM system used in an online document delivery platform (think PDFs, but proprietary), established circa 2000 and still in popular operation. Documents purchased through the platform are delivered in a proprietary encrypted file format, which can be opened using a… »

DRM Round-up: Q2 2019

Another day, another migraine.

—Squidward, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical

Let's see what's happened since March.

I have a policy of refusing to purchase any eBooks encumbered with DRM, which I observe strictly. My frustration has grown so immense that I have begun cataloguing

DRM Round-up: Q1 2019

Another 3 months of DRM. Time to see how the industry has done since Christmastime.

I have a policy of refusing to purchase any eBooks encumbered with DRM, which I observe strictly. My frustration has grown so immense that I have begun cataloguing all

Investigating a recent ebook DRM system (c. 2018)

Background

This post concerns a DRM system used in an online ebook platform, released circa 2018. Users of the platform can purchase ebooks and either view them online, or download them for offline viewing using a proprietary Android/iOS app.

As usual, the particular DRM system… »

DRM Round-up: Q4 2018

Merry Christmas! You know what's not merry? DRM. Let's see how the numbers have moved since last quarter.

I have a policy of refusing to purchase any eBooks encumbered with DRM, which I observe strictly. My frustration has grown so immense that I have

Investigating an early-2010s gaming DRM system: Part 4

Last time, we investigated how an early-2010s gaming DRM system approached machine-based licensing. This time, we'll investigate exactly how the DRM system interacts with the game to accomplish its ends.

Structure of the DRM system

Looking at the game binary, FooBarBazX.exe, for the… »

Investigating an early-2010s gaming DRM system: Part 3

Last time, we investigated how an early-2010s gaming DRM system stored licences for games. This time, we'll investigate how those licences are tied to particular devices.

From last time, we know that the licence file contains an encrypted XML payload:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>

Investigating an early-2010s gaming DRM system: Part 2

Last time, we investigated part of a gaming DRM system from the early-2010s, looking at some of the configuration files. This time, we'll investigate how the licences for these games are stored.

Is is known that the licence data for the games is stored… »

Investigating an early-2010s gaming DRM system: Part 1

Background

This post concerns a DRM system used in a PC gaming platform introduced in the early 2010s. The particular DRM system is not relevant and will not be identified, but will be familiar to many.

One function of the DRM system is to require… »

DRM Round-up: Q3 2018

Today is the International Day Against DRM, and it seems a fitting time for my first quarterly DRM round-up: In the spirit of IDAD, I have a policy of refusing to purchase any eBooks encumbered with DRM, which I observe strictly. My frustration has grown… »