The application, number 13/212019, describes a “method for validating legitimate media products”. It can be applied to digital games as well as physical media.
The system initially compares two load times against a standard for the media. If the load time is within an “acceptable range”, the media will play.
If not, the system will launch a “secondary validation” stage, in which “user identification information” and the product’s serial number are referenced against the manufacturer’s data. This stage is designed to reduce the chance of the product mistakenly being flagged as pirated media due to errors caused by hardware issues.
The publication number is 20130047267. The application was filed in August 2011 and it was published on Thursday.
Now Gamer noted that “the patent's surfacing is interesting, with PS4 announced last week”.
