SafeCast
Encyclopedia
SafeCast was a registered trademark
for Macrovision
's legacy software protection system. Safecast features product activation
(via telephone, or through internet), and executable wrapping technology. SafeCast can be easily defeated with a keygen
.
, Intuit's tax-preparation software product, uses SafeCast in some versions, and the protection scheme has been blamed for a wide variety of problems with product activation and use, leading Intuit to partially remove the technology. Adobe
also uses a version of SafeCast for its CS products, and has had similar but less frequent problems, particularly with certain types of disk configurations (RAID
, multiple-boot), but continues to use the technology for copy protection.
can leave a machine in an unbootable state. This is a problem of SafeCast Protection and not TrueCrypt. The makers of TrueCrypt, however, have further insulated the drives from external writes in the later versions, and it can now handle this protection scheme with no damage to data.
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
for Macrovision
Macrovision
Rovi Corporation is a globally operating, US-based company that provides guidance technology, entertainment data, copy protection, industry standard networking and media management technology for digital entertainment devices and services...
's legacy software protection system. Safecast features product activation
Product activation
Product activation is a license validation procedure required by some proprietary computer software programs. In one form, product activation refers to a method invented by Ric Richardson and patented by Uniloc where a software application hashes hardware serial numbers and an ID number specific...
(via telephone, or through internet), and executable wrapping technology. SafeCast can be easily defeated with a keygen
Keygen
A license or product key generator is a computer program that generates a product licensing key, serial number, or some other registration information necessary to activate for use a software application.-Software licensing:...
.
Controversy
SafeCast overrides operating-system security and safeguards and writes directly to the boot track of the local disk as part of its operation. TurboTaxTurboTax
TurboTax is an American tax preparation software package developed by Michael A. Chipman of Chipsoft in the mid-1980s. TurboTax became an Intuit product as a result of the 1993 acquisition of its creator, San Diego-based Chipsoft. Chipsoft, now known as Intuit Consumer Tax Group, is still based in...
, Intuit's tax-preparation software product, uses SafeCast in some versions, and the protection scheme has been blamed for a wide variety of problems with product activation and use, leading Intuit to partially remove the technology. Adobe
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
also uses a version of SafeCast for its CS products, and has had similar but less frequent problems, particularly with certain types of disk configurations (RAID
RAID
RAID is a storage technology that combines multiple disk drive components into a logical unit...
, multiple-boot), but continues to use the technology for copy protection.
Dangers
SafeCast with old versions of TrueCryptTrueCrypt
TrueCrypt is a software application used for on-the-fly encryption . It is free and open source. It can create a virtual encrypted disk within a file or encrypt a partition or the entire storage device .- Operating systems :TrueCrypt supports Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and...
can leave a machine in an unbootable state. This is a problem of SafeCast Protection and not TrueCrypt. The makers of TrueCrypt, however, have further insulated the drives from external writes in the later versions, and it can now handle this protection scheme with no damage to data.
Removing SafeCast
SafeCast nests itself into the user's computer deeply and therefore it can be quite challenging to remove all of its components. The procedure of removing SafeCast includes the deletion of several files, the removal of information from the Windows registry as well as manipulating data directly of the hard drive.SafeCasted Applications
- AutoCADAutoCADAutoCAD is a software application for computer-aided design and drafting in both 2D and 3D. It is developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. First released in December 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers, notably the IBM PC...
- Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
- Puyo Puyo Fever (Japanese)
- Typing of the Dead (Japanese)
- All Adobe products included in the CS series
External links
- Intuit to use kinder, gentler version of SafeCast - May, 2003 (link removed due to page no longer existing)
- Intuit Soothes DRM Fears with TurboTax Uninstaller - January, 2003
- Intuit press release on independent testing - press release, February 24, 2003
- Intuit licenses SafeCast - press release, September 5, 2002
- Intuit continues use of SafeCast - press release, May 15, 2003
- Intuit scrambles to ease TurboTax woes - January, 2003
- Intuit pours oil on TurboTax troubles - January, 2003
- Adobe tries out DRM in Photoshop - July, 2003