PDF Security Issues

[HellHound]

LOL

Yeah. I got the unprotected copy from you about 12 hours after I cracked the version you sent me originally.

 

[jmucchiello]

JM - Very interesting! I noticed the discussion thread didn't resolve the question for Game Mechanics, but it seemed to end with only a copyright issue, not piracy.

Yes, for some reason, the Game Mechanics believe that if they enable copy/paste from their PDF this may in some way damage their ability to prosecute copyright violators in the future. Until their lawyer informs them otherwise, they are not releasing anything with copy/paste enabled.

I don't see how setting (or not setting) a bit in a document can suddenly invalidate the copyright protections the law provides everyone but that's what they pay their lawyer for and I can't even guess how many hours he's billing them for this question since it's been 3-4 weeks since they said they were gonna ask their lawyer.

But, there's no reason to drag that thread over here. Just wait patiently. Eventually, they will discover the error of ther ways. Or we'll discover that everyone else is wrong. That'd be a hoot. But I find it unlikely.

 

[Cergorach]

But, there's no reason to drag that thread over here. Just wait patiently. Eventually, they will discover the error of ther ways. Or we'll discover that everyone else is wrong. That'd be a hoot. But I find it unlikely.

As if what a lawyer tells you has to be true... shees people are easily satisfied...

 

[Dextra]

1.) The reason people use PDFs is because it keeps the original layout across platforms (99.99% of the time), it's also pretty small for the information it holds (compared to for example Word). Its also true that it's not easy to change things in the document itself, some see that as an added benefit, others as a hinderence. The failures of the security implementations in PDFs have only become 'public knowledge' pretty recently (by public i mean the top 5% instead of the top 1% ;-).

Another good reason to use PDF rather than Word is that PDFs won't carry virii into your harddrive, whereas there is considerable reluctance to open a .doc file which could contain nasty macros.

But other than that, yeah. What he said.

 

[Frilf]

BTW, for everyone who has purchased The Book of Templates (and I think I know who you are), a new update has been dispatched that is not locked. This is *not* the Deluxe Edition update, just one all the PDF features enabled. Enjoy!

Cheers!
Ian

 

[Piratecat]

Got it - thank you!

 

[Cergorach]

Another good reason to use PDF rather than Word is that PDFs won't carry virii into your harddrive, whereas there is considerable reluctance to open a .doc file which could contain nasty macros.

Erm... not wanting to rain on your parade, but virii can still be caried by pdf. It's not as easy or well known as with docs, but it's still posible because you can script in a pdf...

 

[Psionicist]

What Cergorach said. And please, it's "virus". That other word was really cool when I was 11 years old and programmed BASIC. Welcome to the future lads.

 

[Flyspeck23]

"Virus" being a latin word, the correct plural should in fact be "virii" (although I might be wrong, seeing how much I sucked in latin at school...). But that´s off-topic.

Outlook Express seems to think like Cergorach, because it keeps deleting any PDFs sent to me (just last week, as one of my players sent me his updated PDF-character sheet...). Ups, off-topic again...


On the copyright issue: in what way are books "copy-protected"? In no way. So why should it be a problem with e-books?

 

[jmucchiello]

"Virus" being a latin word, the correct plural should in fact be "virii" (although I might be wrong, seeing how much I sucked in latin at school...). But that´s off-topic.

Virus is also an English word and its plural is "Viruses". This sometimes causes people who know latin some confusion.

On the copyright issue: in what way are books "copy-protected"? In no way. So why should it be a problem with e-books?

You can copy protect a book by printing it on high-gloss paper so that the photocopier just spits out black smeary mush when you try to "copy" the book. How this is similar to a copy/paste bit in a PDF, I have no idea.