Metaforic offers anti-piracy weapon

Anti-tamper system hopes to end software piracy

The system is designed to drive down software piracy.

Digital rights management (DRM) start-up Metaforic has claimed it can drive lost software licence revenue back into the channel with the launch of an anti-tamper system, MetaFortress, which could signal the end of software piracy.

Chief executive of the Glasgow-based firm, Andrew McLennan, said that software piracy costs the channel millions on pounds in lost revenues, with little that could be done ­until now.

“DRM systems could take a day to install, but some cunning hacker could probably unlock the software in 15 minutes. Who can blame people for thinking, why bother?”

Metaforic states that its DRM software is essentially an anti-tamper system, containing thousands of checks on the original software, which monitor if any attempts have been made to alter or copy any lines of code. Any changes or copies are then reversed automatically.

Metaforic claimed it has solved the other great failing of DRM systems, the performance hit on the resident machine.
A typical DRM system can use between five and 20 per cent of the CPU of a PC. However, McLennan claimed MetaFortress will only use 0.5 per cent. Metaforic is taking part in two trials with major manufacturers to pre-install the software.

McLennan said all system builders and distributors were welcome to install the DRM systems.

“We all need to work together to beat piracy. Our own research showed that 40 per cent of all users have copied software. It is endemic.”

David Ellis, director of e-security at distributor Computerlinks, said resellers should at least educate customers on the risks of pirated software. “The channel can work with vendors to educate end users on the risks in this area,” he said.