TAGES
Encyclopedia
Tagès is a software copy protection
system, jointly developed, at first, by MPO and the Thales Group
(formerly known as Thomson-CSF
) starting in 1999. Its method of protection has since been described as twin sectors.
The name 'Tages
' originates in the Etruscan mythology
, 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, MotoRacer 3, developed by Delphine Software (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
systems, and is now the sole vendor of the Tagès copy protection system.
The Tagès copy protection system is compatible with multiple versions of the Microsoft Windows
operating system, and is employed on CD and DVD
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 of Tagès-protected applications a difficult and time-consuming task.
In reality the protection is not that difficult to break. It relies on creating "twin sectors". These are sectors with the same logical address, but different data. Depending on how the CD is accessed different data may show up when requesting the same sector, which indicates the disk is an original one. It is somewhat hard to read such sectors sequentially in order to copy the disk, but writing them to disk is very easy.
, StarForce
, 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.
Copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
system, jointly developed, at first, by MPO and the Thales Group
Thales Group
The Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...
(formerly known as Thomson-CSF
Thomson-CSF
Thomson-CSF was a major electronics and defence contractor. In December 2000 it was renamed Thales Group.-History:In 1879 Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston formed the Thomson-Houston Electric Company in the United States....
) starting in 1999. Its method of protection has since been described as twin sectors.
The name 'Tages
Tages
Tages was 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 concerning events of public interest. Divination was undertaken in Roman...
' originates in the Etruscan mythology
Etruscan mythology
The Etruscans were a diachronically continuous population, with a distinct language and culture during the period of earliest European writing, in the Mediterranean Iron Age in the second half of the first millennium BC...
, 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, MotoRacer 3, developed by Delphine Software (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
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
systems, and is now the sole vendor of the Tagès copy protection system.
The Tagès copy protection system is compatible with multiple versions of the Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system, and is employed on CD and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
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 of Tagès-protected applications a difficult and time-consuming task.
In reality the protection is not that difficult to break. It relies on creating "twin sectors". These are sectors with the same logical address, but different data. Depending on how the CD is accessed different data may show up when requesting the same sector, which indicates the disk is an original one. It is somewhat hard to read such sectors sequentially in order to copy the disk, but writing them to disk is very easy.
Features
- TAGESCAP - A binary wrapper which is applied to the software application's executable file and requires no changes to the source codeSource codeIn computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
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 bugsSoftware bugA software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
. This has resulted in support centers receiving large volumes of calls that were eventually determined to be for pirated copies.
- Tagès VFS - An encrypted virtual file systemVirtual file systemA virtual file system or virtual filesystem switch is an abstraction 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...
, 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 driverDevice driverIn computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device....
. 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 dataGarbage In, Garbage OutGarbage in, garbage out is a phrase in the field of computer science or information and communication technology. It is used primarily to call attention to the fact that computers will unquestioningly process the most nonsensical of input data and produce nonsensical output...
, 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 SafeDiscSafeDisc
SafeDisc is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management program for Windows applications and games. Created by Macrovision Corporation, it aims to prevent the copying of discs for casual or commercial use....
, StarForce
StarForce
StarForce is a software copy protection mechanism developed by Protection Technology, which claims that products protected with StarForce are difficult to reverse engineer.- Product families :Currently known official versions of StarForce include:...
, 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 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.External links and references
- Tagès SA (requires Flash)
- MPO
- Technical details at CDFreaks.
- Tagès Technical Workings