Blizzard's Christmas Present = TFT 1.13? Think first!

UPDATE: Blizzard has already released patch 1.13b that should resolve this issue.

Although TFT 1.13 maybe really promising but somehow there is something going on on Blizzard's TFT 1.13.

Apparently, Berry2K from IRC informed me about an issue regarding the patch, yet a mystery but true -- Blizzard has included a SecuRomâ„¢ update in the patch. This means for EVERY TFT 1.13 player out there that has a Windows XP/2K operating system, a system file will be placed on a specific directory in your PC. The system file appears to be connected with SecuRom (as I have heard). This system file tends to consume your RAM much more and has a potential to slow down your system and may cause instabilities.

According to FileZilla from BNET forums:

<em>After installing the 1.13 patch on my system I've noticed an increased memory consumption on my system, also I'm unable to open my cd tray without rebooting first.

The problem is that if you launch TFT 1.13 it installs a new driver on your system without asking you!
The system driver will be installed to C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Local Settings\Temp\
The driver will use different file name, as of know I know about lredbooo.sys and kbeepm.sys (maybe random filenames), file size is exactly 29696 bytes and most likely dated sometime 2002.
Until now I though tactics like different file names and the invalid timestamp of the file were only used by viruses and trojans.

In some contries you even get legal issues if you install system drivers without asking the user.
</em>
The new driver is part of the new Securom version.

For more info visit the URL:
http://www.battle.net/forums/war3/th...l&T=635764&P=1

Now on to the legal issues, did Blizzard intend to add this in the patch? I guess we can already judge it. As FileZilla said, "In some contries you even get legal issues if you install system drivers without asking the user. " Yup, this is true folks even I myself already had this system file.

Note: Only WinXP/2K users are affected so far.

It also does not work with disc emulation of *any* kind, some have said deamon tools still works, but it doesnt.

And for some reason I don't have the system file on MY computer. WinXp Pro

When I was just thinking about changing to XP... lol - guess another reason to stay with ME.

Martinez

WTF? is there anyway to get rid of this??

Yea by giving us the location of where its downloaded 2, are you telling us to delete it?

If you've got it you can't get rid of it without getting rid of Warcraft III.

Blizzard seems to be deleting threads about it. Sounds like a cover-up. I seriously suggest that every fan-site makes a big issue out of this. Blizzard's silence and cover-up tactics say everything.

I know I'm putting this on my website.

DON'T DOWNLOAD 1.13!!!!!

Previously with 1.13 I had gotten ROC and TFT both to run from an image of the RoC CD, but the world editor would crash, so I had to use my TFT CD. Just now, WE said there was an emulation conflict etc so I took out my TFT CD and now RoC, TFT, and WE all work from an image of RoC mounted with the latest version of daemon tools with all emulation options enabled. Iirc I made the image with clonecd if that makes any difference.

i did not find that kind of file on my comp....even when i started wc3/tft. if truly they add some kind of a system file in there...i dont see blizzard done somethings exotic and illegal. furthermore , wc3 always requires securom to run.

Blizzard HAS done something illegal. They have installed a system driver onto the user's computer without permission, which cannot be deleted without going through a long series of actions, one of which includes not player Warcraft III ever again, and they have added keys to the registry which are locked, so they cannot be removed.
That is my main problem.

It is obvious Blizzard knows that its in trouble, because it has deleted nearly every thread on the Battle.Net forums about this issue. Also, it doesn't respond the threads, and won't make a statement.

Blizzard's actions are illegal, unethical, and an invasion of privacy. I'm pretty sure it is just a driver (I know alot about computers). but with Blizzard being silent and refusing to comment, for all we know it could be spyware.

I won't be playing TFT until I get a response to this.

God Damn Blizzard, i just realized that most of my other games (Which require massive power.) like Max Payne 2 have run much slower. Does Removing WC3 Get rid of this ****?

I should of known that 1.13 had a catch..

I think we need a petiton!

If you uninstall Warcraft 3, it won't get rid of the file. But after uninstalling you can get rid of it manually. Look in the post linked at the top for a way to do it. Unfortunately, you can't get rid of the registry keys.

I've been finding War3 install where they they the Sys files should, be - but have yet to stumble upon those Files, Chances are - i'll Reinstall windows.

I think i may of been spared somewhat, (Probaly since i have win2000 professional) even though max payne 2 has been slowing down (Towards the end of Part 2. Since then it's been working decently.)

I just installed the patch and nothing was in my temp directory, nor was there one in my brother's, where did ya'll get your patches from. We got ours directly from the Blizzard FTP. Oh, and the legal side...

By installing any Blizzard Product you consent to the EULA. Which means whatever is included in those files, you are giving Blizzard the right to install whatever files they include in their software. It is not a malicious file and the fact that more resources are being used is not common among all users. Which leads me to believe that there is a conflict existing already on your computers. Or maybe they aren't good enough to handle the update. Point being that there have been some flukes, but not for everyone.

Everyone ever heard of Steam from Valve Software. Yeah, for those of you who know what I'm talking about, this is the same sort of flukes that happened among some users. I was a lucky one that never had any problems. And they had a memory/resources problem there as well, and for most people it was only a conflict of software. So don't blame Blizzard for something unintentional. And why I say it was not intentional is because it isn't happening to everyone.

Hey! I was the first one to post about this. Its over in the general forum. Blizzard has gotten themselves in trouble.

One of the scariest things is that the file has a random name. Mine's called asbp2poa.sys. I dunno, I don't like this at all.

Edit: also, the "latest change" date is incorrect, mine sais the 17/11 2001!