TPM encryption chip hope against piracy, says Bushnell

Gaming piracy is a serious problem that seems impossible to eradicate. But is there hope for game developers? According to Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, there is, thanks to the TPM encryption chips that are being built into some of the latest motherboards. More in the full article.

Will this finally be the unbeatable solution to the rampant problem of gaming piracy? According to Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, a certain TPM chip will eventually make piracy a thing of the past. What exactly is this TPM chip? Apparently, it is a stealth encryption chip that is currently being built into the latest motherboards. Bushnell further explained:

What that says is that in the games business we will be able to encrypt with an absolutely verifiable private key in the encryption world – which is uncrackable by people on the internet and by giving away passwords – which will allow for a huge market to develop in some of the areas where piracy has been a real problem.

However, this doesn’t mean that it will also apply with video and music files, which the Atari founder deemed unstoppable. That makes sense, since some enterprising people resort to capturing movies using video cameras, while they are being played in theatres. Now, how can you apply encryption on that?

Gaming, of course, is another story. “Games are a different thing, because games are so integrated with the code,” Bushnell said. How will this TPM chip affect regions where software piracy reins supreme? Do stick around for more updates.