Download Demos and they Spy on You

Taken from the ePad FAQ. ePad is a new form of copy protection that is even bundled with a lot of newer game demos. However, this thing has a dirty little secret.

GAME PROTECTION & PROMOTION Key Benefits netquartz ez platform 2.0 enables game publishers to dramatically increase sales while slashing the high costs associated with protecting and promoting games. ez platform 2.0 boosts ROI with: Reliable Protection Rapid Implementation Immediate Access to New Business Models Powerful Promotions Customer Mining Reliable Protection • ez platform reliably protects your games throughout their life cycle - from initial betas through previews and reviews to the final retail version. • ez platform’s patented AAS technology prevents piracy by removing a crucial piece of your game's code, which is seamlessly accessed each time the game is run. The code can only be executed in netquartz's non-standard Virtual Machine environment. • ez platform dramatically reduces your exposure to large-scale piracy by containing a cracking method to one publisher, application or user. Rapid Implementation • You need to implement your protection system quickly because the timing of a new release is crucial in the game industry. • ez platform is implemented with automated tools and requires no programming. You'll get your games to market fast and slash engineering costs. The system's automated tools enable you to streamline deployment and support. Immediate Access to New Business Models • Game publishers need the power to exploit every possible business model in order to stay competitive. • ez platform allows you to increase sales by easily leveraging new models such as rentals, pay-per-use, e- commerce and gaming room licensing. And you will still be able to preserve your established retail distribution channels by letting them benefit from those new business models themselves. • Access new business models today: ez platform’s automated tools allow you to generate rental-ready or e-commerce- ready versions of your games instantly! Powerful Promotions • ez platform provides reliable security that lets you offer full-access review versions to journalists just before your game's release. Give the game press sufficient time to review and publicize your game, and remotely deactivate the review just before the game's release date! Also, know which journalists try your preview or review, as well as when and how often they use it. • Offer gamers a complete but time-limited version (not a demo) just before release to create a big sales-enhancing buzz. The gaming community will be eager to buy your product when it is released. Customer Mining • Game publishers have always lacked sufficient information about their customers because they've never had the proper tools to collect it. • ez platform solves the problem with a communication channel that makes it possible to collect valuable customer information and feedback. You'll know what your customers need, and you'll be able to satisfy those needs better than ever before. • ez platform also allows you to send timely promotions and sales messages directly to customers inside their game in real time. (Poster note: This part really scares me. Complete invasion of privacy.) Also possible with ez platform 2.0 Rentals & Pay Per Use • Allow users to pay according to how often they run your game or different levels of your game. • Allow users to pay according to the time they spend running your game, measured in hours, months, weeks, days, etc... Gaming Arcade License Management • Tap the growing gaming arcade market while effectively protecting your revenue against piracy. • Enforce licenses with the most effective game protection solution available today. • Tailor applications and licenses to customers' needs. • Easily implement any imaginable license model without any programming. • Easily update or increase the number of licenses a customer can immediately use at the click of a mouse. Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) • Immediately sell your programs over the Internet, on CD/DVD or hard drives. • Benefit from an end-to-end ESD solution that includes absolutely everything: storefront, shopping cart, credit card handling, financial clearing, choice of electronic or physical product delivery, automatic real time report generation, etc. • Implement your ESD solution in an hour using ez platform’s automated tools.

It's a mini-Palladium basically. One giant security hole.