Have You Been Starforced? (from 1up)

Have You Been Starforced? What is it? More importantly, how do I get rid of it? by Scott Sharkey, 03/21/2006

"I'm going to put some software on your PC to keep you from stealing my stuff. It's perfectly safe, other than opening up a possible trojan gateway and slowing down your CD/DVD burner, or maybe rebooting your computer if you're doing anything I think is suspicious. No, no, I insist. There. All done. What, you don't like it? That sounds like something a pirate would say." If it seems like I'm setting myself up for a serious face-punching there, please try to keep one thing in mind -- I was being far more polite about it than Starforce and the publishers incorporating it have been; I actually told you what I was doing. It's time to just come clean here. Starforce, the anti-piracy software which comes packed with a growing list of games, is malware. It installs itself without asking for permission or providing explicit notification, and it's a bitch to get rid of. A story in the April CGW finally confirmed that yeah, it slows down burn speeds and opens security holes. If that wasn't enough, this morning users on Futuremark's forums reportedly discovered a new system used by Starforce that forces a system reboot when "suspicious" activity is detected. This accusation is not based on Futuremark's research and hasn't yet been corroborated, but if true it would be just one more item on a laundry list of offenses. While many of the problems it can cause with a PC are still unconfirmed rumors, enough of them have been tested and confirmed for Starforce to easily land somewhere just below the plague on the "bad stuff you don't want" list. Russian developer StarForce Technologies still declares that these reports are "pure fiction" and are "probably initiated by frustrated pirates," offering as proof the fact that nobody took the time and expense to fly to Moscow to argue with them about it last year. In the CGW article Starforce PR director Dennis Zhidkov even went on to declare that "The issue on StarForce is obviously sponsored by our competitors or organized crime groups that run CD/DVD piracy [operations]." For those of us getting mysterious blue screens and messed up DVD-RW drives, however, the question at this point isn't "does Starforce screw up your computer" or "how much screwing up is it doing?" or even "am I really a mobster pirate and just forgot?" but "how the hell do I get rid of the damn thing?" Well, there's a handy-dandy guide to detecting the software on the aptly named Boycott Starforce site, as well as a guide for removing it. There's even a big, scary list of games incorporating it, in case you wanted to avoid getting scumware on your computer in the first place while simultaneously sending a message to publishers who really should know better by now. And by that I mean Ubisoft. I like you, Ubi, I really do, but this is like suddenly, unexpectedly getting the holy screaming crap slapped out of me by a favorite uncle. My little heart is so crushed. Somebody hold me.