Tagès was a software
copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media.
Copy protection is most commonly found on ...
system, jointly developed, at first, by MPO and the
Thales Group
Thales Group () is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company is headquartered in Paris' ...
(formerly known as
Thomson-CSF
Thomson-CSF was a French company that specialized in the development and manufacture of electronics with a heavy focus upon the aerospace and defence sectors of the market.
Thomson-CSF was formed in 1968 following the merger of Thomson-Houst ...
) starting in 1999. Its method of protection has since been described as
twin sectors.
The name '
Tages
Tages was claimed as a founding prophet of Etruscan religion who is known from reports by Latin authors of the late Roman Republic and Roman Empire. He revealed a cosmic view of divinity and correct methods of ascertaining divine will concerni ...
' originates in the
Etruscan mythology
Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the Et ...
, where it functions as the Latin spelling for an alias of a minor deity, Tarchies.
The first software product to be protected by Tagès was a
PC game
A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...
,
Moto Racer 3
''Moto Racer 3'' is an arcade style motorcycle racing game developed by Delphine Software International for Microsoft Windows. It is part of the ''Moto Racer'' series and is the sequel to '' Moto Racer 2''.
''Moto Racer 3'' expands on the offeri ...
, developed by
Delphine Software
Delphine Software International was a French video game developer. They were famous for publishing '' Another World'' and creating the cinematic platform game '' Flashback'', which bore a similarity to ''Prince of Persia'', both in gameplay an ...
(DSI) and released in 2001.
In 2003, an independent company, Tagès SA, was formed. The company focuses on the development of Copy Protection and
Digital Rights Management
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
systems, and is now the sole vendor of the Tagès copy protection system.
The Tagès copy protection system is compatible with the
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
operating system, and is employed on
CD and
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
discs.
The makers of Tagès claim that one of the main strengths of their product is the incorporation of a "Secure Area" on a physical medium, which renders the production of a relatively perfect copy of a protected disc a nearly impossible task. Additionally, a set of anti-cracking instruments is being provided with the protection system (such as TAGESCAP, Tagès APIs and Tagès VFS); this is claimed to make the
reverse-engineering
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
of Tagès-protected applications a difficult and time-consuming task.
Features
* TAGESCAP - A binary wrapper which is applied to the software application's executable file and requires no changes to the
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
of the application. It provides the encryption of the protected product's executable file(s), and attempts to protect the application against debugging, disassembly, reverse-engineering, and other forms of analysis. The authentication procedure only carries out a single check, which will be carried out at the start-up of the protected application.
* Tagès APIs - A set of libraries allowing the developer to implement a set of fully customized "protection triggers", potentially appearing at any stage of the protected application's execution phase. For instance, should a non-authentic copy of a protected product be detected, the developer of that software product can decide upon the actions to be taken under such circumstances, such as electing to silently degrade some aspects of the product's functionality. The Tagès APIs require modifications and additions to the source code of the protected application. A consequence of silently degrading or crashing a program that fails authentication is that users have no way of distinguishing between intentional protection behavior and application
bugs. This has resulted in support centers receiving large volumes of calls that were eventually determined to be for unauthorized copies.
* Tagès VFS - An encrypted
virtual file system
A virtual file system (VFS) or virtual filesystem switch is an abstract layer on top of a more concrete file system. The purpose of a VFS is to allow client applications to access different types of concrete file systems in a uniform way. A VFS ...
, allowing the developer to additionally encrypt non-executable content. When a successfully authenticated protected application runs, it has transparent access to the original, decrypted content; this functionality is achieved by means of a
device driver
In computing, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and ot ...
. Should a protected application's authentication phase be successfully removed by means of deliberate circumvention, the encrypted content is not decrypted and is therefore read in as
garbage data, resulting in erroneous program behavior. However, just as the encryption of the executable can be broken, so too can the encryption for the VFS, with additional effort.
Tagès device drivers
As with most optical disc-based copy protection systems (such as
SafeDisc
''SafeDisc'' is a copy protection program for Microsoft Windows applications and games distributed on optical disc. Created by Macrovision Corporation, it was aimed to hinder unauthorized disc duplication. The program was first introduced in 19 ...
,
StarForce
The Starforce is a supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Its first appearance was in the comic '' Avengers'' #346 released in 1992, as part of the " Operation: Galactic Storm" storyline.
The team are a ...
, etc.), Tagès installs its own device drivers as a part of the copy protection system. The Tagès device drivers are installed on the first launch of any Tagès-protected application.
Removal
Tagès SA provides an official, standalone, device driver installation and
uninstallation
An uninstaller, also called a deinstaller, is a variety of utility software designed to remove other software or parts of it from a computer. It is the opposite of an installer. Uninstallers are useful primarily when software components are instal ...
program. This program functions as a toggle; once the Tagès device drivers are installed, the program will function as an uninstaller, otherwise, it will function as an installer. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the program are available.
Known issues
* Tagès may be used to bind an activated game copy to the hardware configuration in the time the game was installed. This has led to issues in some games where even slightly modifying the hardware (e.g. replacing the graphic card) would require reactivating the game (either by using up one of the limited extra activations provided by the game publisher, or trying to request activation renewal from technical support).
References
External links and references
Tagès SA(requires
Adobe Flash Player
Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is Software, computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming media, streaming audio and vide ...
)
MPOTechnical detailsat CDFreaks.
(2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tages
Compact Disc and DVD copy protection