3 Count: Denuvo’s Defeat

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1: Resident Evil 7’s Denuvo Protections Cracked in Under a Week

First off today, Kyle Orland at Ars Technica reports that the woes for Denuvo, the digital rights management (DRM) software used by many PC game developers, grow worse as Denuvo’s protection of the recently-released Resident Evil 7 was defeated within a week of release.

Not long after being unveiled, Denuvo was considered to be nearly undefeatable with cracked versions of games not appear over a year after their legitimate release. One group that specialized in cracking games even called it quits for a year due to frustration with Denuvo. However, in more recent months, Denuvo has begun to show cracks with both Doom and Rise of the Tomb Raider being cracked last summer.

However, Resident Evil 7 marks the first time a cracked version of the game was released within a week of launch. This is crucial because, for PC game developers, the purpose of DRM is, typically, to protect the launch period, when most of the game’s money is made.

2: Kaabil: Hrithik Roshan Film Gets Leaked Online, Rakesh Roshan Hurt

Next up today, The Indian Express reports that, in India, several Bollywood films have been leaked ahead of their release, potentially damaging their ability to earn money at the box office.

The piracy is blamed on Dubai. Since direct trade between India and Pakistan is barred, Indian films head to Dubai before being imported into Pakistan. The blame for pre-release piracy in India has also been placed on the country’s censor board, which reviews films before release. However, the Indian government says that has been proven to be untrue.

Regardless of where the the leaks stem from, at least one local filmmaker expressed frustration with the release, saying that the industry and the country isn’t united behind their filmmakers.

3: BREIN Shuts Down ‘Pirate Cinema’ on Facebook

Finally today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has shuttered LiveBioscoop (Live Cinema), a popular Facebook page that used Facebook’s livestreaming technology to serve as an online movie theater.

The way the page worked is that it would regularly stream popular movie through Facebook Live, Facebook’s livestreaming platform. The page regularly recruited suggestions from their 25,000 followers on what to stream next and the page quickly attracted interest of the Dutch media as well as BREIN, who went straight to court.

LiveBioscoop has since been shuttered with its operator agreeing to pay a €7,500 ($8,000) settlement and close the page down for good. The story represents the ongoing battles over piracy Facebook is facing over its livestreaming tools, which have also been used to stream TV shows, sporting events and more.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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