Beware: the Sonic the Hedgehog comics from the Humble Bundle bundle appear to be DRM-tied

This bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/sonic-35th-anniversary-megabundle-idw-books

These #SonicTheHedgehog #ebooks are activated on Neon Ichiban, and they appear to have #DRM because, on the titles' pages, each has the "❌ Downloadable" tag under the title, like in the screenshot attached as an example, and have no other indication of technologies included or otherwise.

Article with more information here

Hugely terrible DRM has now been rolled out to all PS4 and PS5 digital games. Every digital game you buy now requires an online check-in every 30 days. If you buy a digital game and don't connect your console to the internet for 30 days, your license will be removed.

Source [2026-04-25; +image]

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You wouldn't "lose" it, the licence would be restored after connecting to internet... provided Sony's servers are still functioning when you do...

Source [2026-04-25]

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...Trophies on PS4 require the internal system clock (the one you can’t see / alter) to be correct, so people cant change their PS4 date/time to make it look like they got trophies earlier than they really did. If your PS4 clock battery dies, all your games die

Source [2021-03-23]

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Newly purchased PS4 games now have 30 day valid license timer.
Most likely introduced in March 2026 firmware.
Could be a bug similar to an incident from 2022.
PS5 is affected too, but only shows an error when starting a game.

Source [2026-04-25]

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Update x2: not a bug - PlayStation just quietly confirmed it’s intentional.
Any digital game you buy after the march 2026 update now requires you to go online at least once every 30 days or it won’t even launch.

Source [2026-04-28]

[Image] Official PlayStation Support Response [2026-04-28]

Source: https://xcancel.com/SmashJT/status/2048887546323808258#m

[Image] "Don't Starve Together" (PlayStation)

I think the information is relevant here since, in the chance it has DRM on Steam, given the source code is now available, a DRM-free version should be possible to compile.

Thought I'd make a second post, to not get things too mixed up with the Amazon ebooks one.

Android games are mostly on Google Play and Itchio to my knowledge, the former being opaque about any DRMs used or otherwise, and the latter generally being DRM-free unless stated otherwise. But there are other platforms, like Humble Bundle (mostly old stuff for Android there), DLsite (NSFW and with consistent cues to when DRM is used), EGS (after them and Apple/Google going at each other's throats), etc.

If the presence of DRM isn't clearly stated or is dubious, requiring testing, they are worth reporting when DRM-free.

If a game was previously reported as DRM-free but some sneaky DRM is found (e.g. time-based, after some point in the story, etc.), feel free to report those cases.

Also if a game hasn't been reported, feel free to ask if it is too.

And lastly, evaluating if games that are partly DRM-free should be included, e.g. Dead Cells that the base game is but not the DLCs. Also if non-gaming apps should be included.

The list: https://pastebin.com/NxcsHdcE

From their announcement:

Important update: Amazon Luna on GOG

Hi everyone!

We wanted to give you an update about upcoming changes to Amazon Luna. As part of a broader shift in how Luna operates, support for external game libraries – including GOG – will be discontinued.

What this means in short: Luna will no longer offer access to GOG games via its cloud streaming service after June 10, 2026.

The important part: this does NOT affect your GOG library or ownership in any way. All the games you’ve purchased on GOG remain yours, fully accessible through GOG as always – just without the Luna streaming option.

For more details about these changes and what’s next for Luna, please refer to Amazon’s official communication.

Cheers!

Comments appear to be locked, so people are commenting on the first announcement about GOG and Luna:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/bmore/_ways/_to/_play/_your/_gog/_games/_were/_teaming/_up/_with/_luna/_cloud/_streaming/_serviceb/_b5660

Posting it here because, if I'm interpreting it right, the claimable games from (((previously Twitch Prime) previously Amazon Prime) previously Amazon Luna) Luna Premium will remain around for the foreseeable future. So, with claimable codes still around but not streaming, it sounds like a point for DRM-freedom, since people won't have the option that just normalizes stuff not being under one's own control.

There is a barely online HTTP-only website of some guy who makes a software called "FindVUK". No idea how it works and what it does (yet), but the guy maintains huge databases of BluRay decryption keys.

Those keys are needed to decrypt encrypted BluRays. VLC together with libbluray and libaacs can theoretically use those keys to play the content.

It should be possible to use that stack to recreate something akin to MakeMKV with free software.

(Mastodon Post)

For now, here is the magnet link to the torrent including website archives and also libaacs (for Windows and MacOS, it is small so why not).

(The website is archived in the torrent. I dont share the link on purpose as it is BARELY online. Needed to download 2 text files at a time, that was the maximum or I got an error 503).

There are no ways to easily know if an ebook is DRM-free there, aside from buying/claiming it, and checking in your downloads page (replace the domain for the region-specific one you want) if it mentions "Download available in additional formats" or the equivalent in a given language.

Akin to other projects to list DRM-free contents in platforms that don't make the information easily accessible, creating a list on a text document (initially on Pastebin, may change later), and this post is to report those findings.

Also the DRM state may change, so books initially either DRM-ridden or DRM-free may be different on a future check, so beware of those too.

The list: https://pastebin.com/zHftQzyQ

From the blurb:

A regularly updated list of online shops that sell DRM-free ebooks, digital comics, magazines, and RPGs. Helping hundreds of readers a month discover over 400 DRM-free bookshops.

Found here:
https://slrpnk.net/comment/16085395

Will also add it to https://thebrainbin.org/m/drm@lemmy.dbzer0.com/t/1385638/Another-list-of-sources-of-DRM-free-digital-medias next.

The short version: it feels as if Amazon made it as painful as possible to do the process

First, there appears to be no standardized way of informing that the ebook is DRM-free. The examples I could find had it mentioned at the title, at either of the descriptions, and/or at the product details. Ctrl F or your browser's equivalent might help.

Second, finding and downloading your contents is rather manual. Learning that they're downloaded at the Digital Contents page (or your region's equivalent) saves a lot of time as you can then bookmark the page. And at there, you have to click on "More actions", hope the ebook actually has a DRM-free download¹, and click the option that mentions "EPUB/PDF" if available (in the case of Amazon US, "Download EPUB/PDF").

Third, Amazon JP works pretty much the same, デジタルコンテンツ (Digital Contents) page > その他のアクション ("More actions") > EPUB/PDF ダウンロード ("EPUB/PDF download"). Also, you can look for mentions of "DRMフリー", "DRMなし", "DRM free", etc., though I'd presume (since I haven't tested as much) that reliability is as similar as the US counterpart.

Fourth and continuation of the second point, retroactively looking at the ebooks in your account requires checking each "More actions" menu individually. No filters available. Also skimmed through the page inspector (F12 in Waterfox), and you can find the download options when present by searching for "EPUB/PDF", though do note there's a bit of an offset when using "Scroll into view", as it puts you where the option would be if the More actions menu was expanded, not on the height of the ebook itself.

Fifth, for Brazilians, the path for downloading is Conteúdo digital > "Mais ações" > "Baixar EPUB/PDF".

And lastly, haven't tested on other regions, though most overseas sites to my knowledge are tied, rarely there being region-specific features or contents.

¹I found two false positives while testing; ~2 USD poorer because of that but at least serves to confirm the issue.

Hopefully it can help people. =)

From their Digital Rights Management page (link):

Effective January 20, 2026, verified purchasers can download the EPUB and PDF files of your confirmed DRM-free books.

Also lower in the same page:

Change DRM settings

You have full control over your DRM settings and can change them at any time. Your DRM setting affects future download availability for all customers, regardless of when they purchased your book. After you select not to apply DRM, any verified purchaser will be able to download EPUB and PDF files effective January 20, 2026. If you later apply DRM, no new downloads in EPUB or PDF format will be available. However, readers who already downloaded EPUB or PDF files will retain access to them.

And this applies to older releases too, as per the paragraph and steps immediately after.

And where to download the files, from the bottom of the page:

Reader download access

Effective January 20, 2026, readers can download EPUB and PDF files of your DRM-free books from their Manage Your Content and Devices page on Amazon. Only verified purchasers who have bought your book can access the EPUB/PDF files. Customers who borrowed your books through Kindle Unlimited or other services can't download the EPUB/PDF files, even if the books are DRM-free.

If readers downloaded EPUB/PDF files when your book was DRM-free, they will retain access to those downloaded EPUB/PDF files even if you later apply DRM. However, the option to download EPUB/PDF files will not be available after your DRM setting change is live (approx. 24-72 hours after you publish).

And lastly, found about it after finding a news piece on that (link of the news).

Think it's worth sharing:

Downloaded some games at random in an Win10 VM, and they all include the files "OwnershipSDK.dll" and "DrmCheckerV3.dll", and wouldn't open on another, freshly installed Win10 VM.

It's a 4 games sample so maybe a little small, but considering all were indies and among them is even a Ren'Py game, therefore easily modifiable, the platform is at least concerning if one wants to get DRM-free games.

Expedition 33 the rest of the Tomb Raider's reboot(?) trilogy were the first two releases from that queue.

Haven't checked the news itself, but considering the scope of the games, guessing they're building hype/expectation for other, potentially big releases.

A while back, got an album from Rhapsody of Fire that came with a documentary in video format, M4V file.

Testing on VLC on a system other than the one I downloaded in, it seemed to work too.

Then today, tested with 3 other videoclips, För redeliga män from Nordman, Christmas Truce from Sabaton, and Mister Jewel Box from Tophamhat-Kyo, all 3 in M4V format, and all 3 working on VLC on a system other than the one I downloaded in.

As information is scarce on ITunes, specially with information usually pointing to the opposite, being DRM-ridden, unsure if it was luck 4 times in a row, or if ITunes for videoclips, or perhaps even videos overall, is mainly/exclusively DRM-free, but so far a good sign!

Cross-posted from "Stop Killing Games has exceeded 1.3 million signatures!" by @the16bitgamer@programming.dev in !games@sh.itjust.works

Link for those who've yet to see it/sign the petition: https://www.stopkillinggames.com/

Cross-posted from "Capcom celebrates the first anniversary of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess by ripping out its Denuvo DRM" by @free@rss.ponder.cat in !pcgamer@rss.ponder.cat

Birthdays can be tricky. They can be a celebration of our continued existence, or a grim reminder of our steady forward march towards an inevitable mortality—or, in the case of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, a birthday can mark the occasion that Capcom removes the Denuvo DRM software that's been a headache for its customers throughout the last decade, according to its SteamDB update history (via DSOGaming).

Mercifully, Kunitsu-Gami's Denuvo implementation doesn't seem to have been the source of many player complaints since its launch last July. Other Capcom games in recent years haven't been so lucky. In 2020, Capcom pulled Denuvo from DMC5, where casual testing found it had been decreasing performance by as much as 25%.

(Image credit: Capcom)

In 2021, Digital Foundry tested to confirm that Denuvo was responsible for similar performance issues in Resident Evil Village, though it wasn't removed from the game until 2023. It's worth noting that Monster Hunter Wilds, which continues to attract negative Steam reviews over ongoing performance issues, is strapped down with both Denuvo and Capcom's internally developed rights management software.

Denuvo seems to linger longer in games from Capcom's most well-known franchises like Monster Hunter and Resident Evil, presumably to protect sales numbers from piracy while demand remains high. Its removal from Kunitsu-Gami a year after launch might be an indicator that its widely positive critical reception—we gave it a very favorable 86 in our own Kunitsu-Gami review—didn't translate into strong sales interest.

Kunitsu-Gami has been noticeably absent from Capcom's quarterly and yearly financial reports since its launch. Capcom's handling of the game seems to have generated some criticism from its investors: In a shareholder meeting earlier this month, the company was asked why Exoprimal received promotional support after a middling demo response, while Kunitsu-Gami "received positive feedback from its demo" but "did not appear to receive strong promotional support to drive sales."

(Image credit: Capcom)

"For Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, we have been maximizing promotions for it as a new IP. In the fiscal year ending March 2026, we released this title for Nintendo Switch 2 along with additional downloadable content," Capcom said. "We remain committed to increasing awareness and communicating the appeal of both titles."

As for what that commitment might look like, Capcom is also celebrating Kunitsu-Gami's launch anniversary with a new in-game talisman that will change the game's background music "to an 8-bit retro style in certain situations."

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is available now on Steam.

From PCGamer latest via this RSS feed

Cross-posted from "Nintendo Wii The Size Of A Game Boy Cartridge Finally Released Open Source" by @misk@sopuli.xyz in !retrogaming@lemmy.world

Cross-posted from "Signal shuts the blinds on Microsoft Recall with the power of DRM" by @free@rss.ponder.cat in !theregister@rss.ponder.cat

From The Register via this RSS feed

cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/30095259

I made a curator with (almost) every DRM-free game on Steam

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/12528811

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/168917

For streaming services such as Netflix, Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems provide a level of control over the company’s most valuable assets, including movies, TV shows, and other content for consumer consumption.

DRM not only restricts access to customers authorized to consume content, it can determine when and how it’s consumed too. When all goes to plan, DRM should also prevent end users from casually copying movies and TV shows, which should result in a positive contribution towards minimizing the spread of pirated content online; at least in theory.

Widevine Everywhere

Ultimately, whether users loathe it or just hate it, DRM exists in billions of web browsers and devices. One of the most widespread is Google’s Widevine and avoiding its footprint today is almost futile. It can be found in Chrome, Firefox and similar browsers, mobile platforms such as Android, videogame consoles, plus many set-top boxes and smart TVs. At least five billion of them, most probably more.

Unsurprisingly, Widevine has been exploited and reverse engineered over the years, as evidenced by the content it’s supposed to protect ending up on pirate sites, almost without exception. In 2020, Google took action against Chrome extension Widevine L3 Decryptor, which was capable of decrypting Widevine content keys by hijacking calls to the browser’s Encrypted Media Extensions (EME).

Problems persisted throughout 2021 and 2022 with Widevine Dump but the problems haven’t gone away. The same goes for individuals and groups committed to countering Widevine, although it’s still possible to attract negative attention.

OnlyFans Targets CDRM-Project

In a DMCA takedown notice dated April 22, 2025, OnlyFans owner Fenix International Limited informs GitHub that it had “recently become aware” of repos on the platform with code “specifically designed” to circumvent Fenix’s DRM, aka Widevine.

“The identified repositories contain step-by-step instructions which are specifically designed to circumvent the DRM protections in place on OnlyFans. The repositories contain links that are ‘hard-coded’ and specifically targeted at OnlyFans,” Fenix writes.

“The coding is designed to impersonate a video player in order to decrypt and play DRM protected files, obtaining the ‘secret’ token required to play the DRM protected content. The downloaded files are then converted into an MP4 format which has the DRM protection removed.”

CDRM-Project repo before suspension

In line with its pro-developer policy when processing DMCA takedown notices, GitHub contacted the operator of the main repo and the operators of six additional forks, with an opportunity to address the complaint and avoid suspension.

For reasons that aren’t revealed, GitHub’s outreach couldn’t prevent the suspension of the entire CDRM-Project repo and all reported forks.

CDRM-Project repo is no more

GitHub requested Fenix to identify “every specific file” in the repo that it considers infringing; Fenix responded with a statement that the “entire repository is infringing” and should be removed.

Anti-Circumvention Complaint

To GitHub’s credit, when rightsholders allege violations of the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, GitHub conducts its own assessment. If there is no basis for a claim, GitHub sometimes finds other copyright-related grounds, but here there is no pushback. That’s usually a sign of a complaint that stands up under intense scrutiny.

Another unusual aspect to the complaint is the Fenix response to GitHub’s request to provide the alleged infringer’s contact details, if they’re in possession of them. In most cases rightsholders say they’re unaware of those details but here, Fenix provides the details of two sets of owners and two sets of contributors.

The project is now being made available via a repo on cdm-project.com but how long that’s likely to last is unclear.

When any DRM system unnecessarily restricts access to content by design or due to inherent limitations, those who suffer the most are legitimate customers. Most have no interest in piracy, were never part of the original problem, but are responsible for the bulk of the revenue. Once DRM starts to feel like DRM, that’s where the big problems start.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

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