Hmm. Thread actually got interesting.
Well, I routinely crack PC-CD protection routines. I do so for several reasons:
I think it is the wrong approach anyway, only harms end users and does not prevent piracy.
I don't want to have the stupid CD in the drive all the time. My drives are valuable, I don't want them knackered because they are continuously being spun up and spun down merely to retrieve tiny packets that give a PUBLISHER peace of mind.
I have friends whose drives refuse to read certain types of protection. I have supplied them with software that emulates the protection and 'clean' ISOs burnt to CD. They all have the "legal" CDs they just can't use them. My old laptop also had the same issue.
That bit about the publisher is important, by the way. Case in point: Neverwinter Nights. It was their European publishers who insisted on the crappy protections routines. I was able (had I wanted to) to download the ISOs for the game, with cracked protection, weeks before I was able to purchase it legally. It therefore clearly did nothing to prevent piracy. It did however prevent my friend from running his legally purchased product. Ultimately the protection was stripped from the binaries, with a patch, by the NWN team themself.
Piracy? What do you reckon?
