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Entry Information:

DRML Entry Name:

DBB

Authors/Contributors:

  • TheRogueArchivist - Entry author.

Table of Contents:

Categories:

  • Optical Copy Protection
  • Unverified

Software Known to Detect:

  • N/A

Preservation Instructions:

Unknown.

DRM Information:

Names:

  • Don't Bother Burn™1
  • Don't Bother Burn1
  • DBB1
  • DBB Protection Suite1
  • DBB PS1
  • SecureIT2

Developers:

Wkit Security AB3/EFFNet4

Protection Features:

  • Obfuscation 5
  • Checkpoint based validity checks 6

Overall Description:

[TODO]

Timeline:

1990s:

  • 1998: Development on DBB begins.1
  • 1999-08-19: Slashdot post receives comment mentioning DBB and how it got a "big distribution contract".7

2000:

  • 2000-03-14: Effnet acquires Wkit, in part for it's copy protection.8
  • 2000-04-13: The acquisition of Wkit is finalized.9
  • 2000-08-22: Effnet directly mentions DBB for the first time in an otherwise unrelated press release.10
  • 2000-09-27: The SDC group signs a 5-year contract with Wkit to use SecureIT.11
  • 2000-10-06: Due to the success of DBB/SecureIT, Wkit decides to look for a CTO.[^Wkit_Homepage_2000_PR]
  • 2000-11-02: SecureIT is discussed in the Effnet 2000 interim report.12
  • 2000-11-10: "Don't Bother Burn" becomes an official trademark, and is stated to be a CD copy protection for game developers.[^Wkit_Homepage_2000_PR]
  • 2000-11-23: Wkit opens a DBB/SecureIT support center for the SDC Group.[^Wkit_Homepage_2000_PR]
  • 2000-12-06: Wkit chosen to provide cybersecurity to Dubai Internet City.13

2001:

  • 2001-02-14: Wkit's business activities for the year are discussed in Effnet's year end report.14
  • 2001-03-02: Effnet discusses the tentative future of Wkit's former owners remaining in the company.15
  • 2001-03-09: The original CEO of Wkit is fired due in part to "financial irregularities", and a new acting CEO is appointed.16
  • 2001-03-14: A news article is published that details Effnet's various financial troubles, which touches on Wkit, the ex-CEO's "financial irregularities", and how Wkit hasn't matched expectations yet.17
  • 2001-04-25: An Effnet interim report is released, which lightly touches on the issues they've had with Wkit.18
  • 2001-08-27: Another Effnet interim report is released, which details multiple budget cuts. This includes layoffs at Wkit.19
  • 2001-11-07: DBB 3.0 is released and ready for commercial use.20

2002:

  • 2002-02-01: Wkit and Arvato Storage Media make an agreement allowing Sonopress to offer DBB to it's customers.21
  • 2002-02-08: The Effnet year-end report is released, which mentions Wkit's accomplishments in the last year.22
  • 2002-05-03: An Effnet interim report is released, which mentions that DBB 3.0 should be ready for end customers by May of that year.23
  • 2002-07-31: Another Effnet interim report is released, which confirmed that Sonopress was able to provide DBB 3.0 to it's customers by May of that year.24 This appears to be the final time that Wkit or DBB is explicitly mentioned in an Effnet interim/year-end report.

2004:

  • 2004-06-14: Effnet decides that DBB is unprofitable and ceases Wkit.25

Versions & Differences:

Tested:

  • N/A

Untested:

  • Don't Bother Burn (DBB):5 Standard edition of DBB. It is unknown how this works exactly, but at minimum it appears to have obfuscated the game executable and likely included a disc check as well.
  • Don't Bother Burn Protection Suite (DBB PS):6 Enhanced edition of DBB. It appears to have added further development and support options to software developers. This includes placing validity checks at specific points in the game, to throw off cracking attempts.
  • DBB 3.0: Released in late 2001. Supposedly, it was considered very favorably by potential customers.20 It also added "new protection schemes and functionality", but the specifics are unknown.21

Samples:

Confirmed:

N/A

Unconfirmed:

  • CD's manufactured by SDC Group in or after the year 2000.3
  • CD's manufactured by Sonopress Arvato in or after the year 2002.21

Supported Platforms:

  • Likely Windows26

Associated File Attributes:

  • N/A

Reference Material:

Media:

N/A

Additional Resources:

Wkit Website:

Unfortunately, many pages and assets of the Wkit website weren't preserved. Especially 2002 onwards, causing many of the pages to fail to render properly. Some pages have black text on a black background, which must be selected in order to be visible.

Press Releases:

Misc.:

Footnotes:

Footnotes

  1. Wkit products page. [English] (Archived 2001-08-11) ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Wkit products page. [Swedish] (Archived 2000-12-05) ↩

  3. Wkit homepage. Note the news snippets on the sides, as the contents are present on the page, just not visible due to being black text on a black background. [English] (Archived 2000-12-04) ↩ ↩2

  4. Wkit homepage. [English] (Archived 2001-08-02) ↩

  5. DBB product page. [English] (Archived 2001-08-11) ↩ ↩2

  6. DBB PS product page. [English] (Archived 2001-08-11) ↩ ↩2

  7. Slashdot post comment that talks about DBB. (Posted 1999-09-19) (Archived 2024-03-05) ↩

  8. "EFFNET ACQUIRES WKIT" press release. [English] (Published 2000-03-14) (Archived 2001-04-21) ↩

  9. "Acquisition of Wkit finalized" press release. [English] (Published 2000-04-13) (Archived 2001-04-22) ↩

  10. "WKIT SECURITY PUTS A STOP TO VIRUSES SPREAD VIA E-MAIL" press release. (Published 2000-08-22) (Archived 2001-04-26) ↩

  11. "Effnet subsidiary Wkit Security signs new 5 year agreement for copy protection with one of Europe's leading CD manufacturers" press release. (Published 2000-09-27) (Archived 2001-02-11) ↩

  12. "Interim Report for January through September 2000" press release. [English] (Published 2000-11-02) (Archived 2001-05-08) ↩

  13. "Wkit Security signs contract with The Government Of Dubai" press release. (Published 2000-12-06) (Archived 2001-05-04) ↩

  14. "Year End Report January-December 2000" press release. (Published 2001-02-14) (Archived 2001-05-04) ↩

  15. "Negotiations underway with former Wkit owners" press release. [English] (Published 2001-03-02) (Archived 2001-05-04) ↩

  16. "Joacim Lindbäck acting CEO for Wkit" press release. [English] (Published 2001-03-09) (Archived 2001-05-04) ↩

  17. "Krisstämplat Effnet öppet för strukturaffärer" news article. [Swedish] (Published 2001-03-13) (Archived 2024-03-05) ↩

  18. "Effnet Group AB (publ) Interim Report for January-March 2001" press release. [English] (Published 2001-04-25) (Archived 2001-07-11) ↩

  19. "Interim Report for January-June 2001" press release. (Published 2001-08-27) (Archived 2001-10-05) ↩

  20. "DBB Ready for Launch" press release. (Published 2001-11-07) (Archived 2003-11-02) ↩ ↩2

  21. "Sonopress to offer DBB" press release. [English] (Published 2002-02-01) (Archived 2003-12-28) ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  22. "Year-End Report January - December, 2001" press release. [English] (Published 2002-02-08) (Archived 2003-12-28) ↩

  23. "Effnet Group AB (Publ) Interim Report January – March 2002" press release. [English] (Published 2002-05-03) (Archived 2003-12-28) ↩

  24. "Effnet Group AB (publ) Interim Report January–June 2002" press release. [English] (Published 2002-07-31) (Archived 2003-12-28) ↩

  25. "Effnet avslutar vidare satsningar på Wkit" press release. (Published 2004-06-14) (Archived 2004-08-21) ↩

  26. Windows is the most commonly targeted OS for this kind of DRM. ↩