The Sega Dreamcast system is in the process of losing millions of dollars in software sales. Perhaps this was to be expected considering Sony launching the Playstation 2 recently. While that theory seems logical it is actually not the correct reason. The reason the Sega Dreamcast system has lost a substantial amount of money is due to hackers on the Internet.

When Sega introduced their future home-system in November of 1999, many people were amazed at the beauty and capabilities the game console could provide. Learning from Sony's previous mistake of having regular Compact Discs for games, Sega decided to have their game software be burned onto a Gigabyte Discs. There were two main reasons for this. One being that a GD-ROM was capable of holding 350 more megabytes of memory than a standard CD-ROM. The other reason was do to the mass copying of CD-ROM games. With CD-R technology being easily accessible more than ever, people were simply renting Playstation games and then copying the game. As a result, Sega introduced the GD-ROM that could not be copied onto a regular CD-ROM do to the lack of memory. What Sega failed to realize is that hackers are smarter than most people give them credit for.

May 24th, 2000 the first Dreamcast game was copied. An incredible buzz came over the Internet scene as hackers and lechers rejoiced. How was it possible for them to burn a GD-ROM to a CD-ROM? Well apparently Sega software programmers had not used up all the memory on the GD-ROM. As a result of this, the games could be compressed to fit onto a regular CD-ROM. Using advanced programming, a hacker group called "Eutopia" was able to learn how to crack the coding in the Sega software and then transfer the data to a blank CD-ROM. Websites, private access lines, and newsgroups began posting the game files and people no longer had to purchase a Dreamcast game again. How would Sega take the news that their invincible GD-ROM had been hacked and hundreds of games were now available for free? To say Sega was furious would be an understatement.

July 12th, 2000 Sega launched a press conference to discuss the issue the copying of their software. They began by stating they will prosecute anyone connected to hacking the games, transferring the games via Internet, or having possession of the games with the maximum penalty for copyright infringement. Furthermore, people caught would have to pay the loss of revenue of the software ripped, nearly 15 million dollars. This press conference ran a big scare among the hackers on the Internet and the leeches that simply downloaded the games for their own private pleasure. Many hacking groups decided to stop hacking the new games, and many websites and newsgroups either deleted the game data or completely shut down. In addition, Sega told the software companies to now fill up the entire GD-ROM and making their code more complicated in order to discourage future hackings.

With Sega searching for suspects everyone on the Internet looking for copied Sega Dreamcast software data began disappearing. It appeared as if Sega had finally won the war against the hackers. At least, that is what they originally thought. As it turns out, they only won a battle, not the entire war. The hacker group "Eutopia" returned with a startling discovery. They realized how to convert the newest Sega Dreamcast software that contained 350 more megabytes than a regular CD-ROM could handle. The hackers realized that if they downgraded the audio, or if they downgraded the video picture, or a combination of the two, the game's size would drastically reduce. As a result, the hackers were able to compress the games to fit. As soon as the word got out, once again all the sites re-opened and the pirating began one more time. Sega has yet to issue a statement on the matter or a solution.

Pirating has become a problem recently and even more so with the Internet. As a result, since Sega has yet to state any solutions to the matter, I have come up with a few. The first solution for Sega is to require all games to be coded with a CD-Key. A CD-Key is a verification system. Once someone purchases a Sega Dreamcast game, in the instruction booklet will contain a code about 15 characters long. In order to start up the game, one is required to enter a CD-Key. The game then signs onto the Sega website, Sega.net, and verifies the CD-Key. This is possible due to the Sega Dreamcast being equipped with a modem. Once it determines that the game is legit, it allows the player to play the game. If an identical CD-Key appears, the access will be denied. If this happened, pirating of the game completely stop as no one would be able to gain access to the game without verification.

The other would be if Sega was uninterested in applying a verification system via Internet would be to have passwords throughout the game. Once the player begins his quest, certain areas would require a password to continue passed the game. The player would then look into his instruction booklet that would list the password to continue. The passwords would match exclusively to the game. This is due to one person buying the game, posting the passwords on the Internet and giving access to everyone. Applying this function would rid the Internet verification but use a password-like verification throughout the game.

Sega better come up with some solutions soon as they are losing money by the day. Every two to three days new games are being released by "Eutopia". They have been able to crack and rip even the most complex games. They must be stopped and hopefully will. At the end of the day, good will always transcend evil and pirating is evil.

P.S. I would *never* take advantage of these burnable games. I am honest. I have morality. haha sure~~~!