Of course, I trust the word of Fabrice and the community managers, but it's nice to see the Starforce story picked up by big sites, namely 1UP and GameSpot. Ubisoft's explanation was short and sweet: "Ubisoft has decided to use an alternative copy protection system to Starforce for upcoming releases," said a representative for the company. "Ubisoft takes its customer concerns very seriously and is investigating the complaints about alleged problems with Starforce's software. Ubisoft's goal is to find solutions for its customers if there are problems with Ubisoft products." It turns out that the new copy protection scheme is SecuROM, according to Tiscali Games.

Stardock, the developer of Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords, deservers our gratitude. By dealing with the torrent link incident using tact and diplomacy, as well as promoting their own way to make sure players buy their game, they showed the industry that brute force is not always the best way to resolve problems (I wish the world leaders would understand that too, but that's another debate). The fans who sticked to their beliefs and refused to play Heroes V if it contained the malicious copy-protection drivers also played a major role in the battle against Starforce.

While I'm in praising mode, Kudos to GamersHell.com. They were probably the fastest download location for the demo. FilePlanet worked very well for me despite the 40 minute waiting line. If you haven't download the demo yet, I added a few links in the article below.