From: karl@ddsw1.mcs.com (Karl Denninger)
Subject: Re: PC/TCP 2.1 copy protection
Summary: Speaking of copy protection -- DON'T DO IT CARL BEAME!
Organization: Macro Computer Solutions, Inc., Chicago, IL
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 05:43:01 GMT

In article <1992Sep12.223938.14081@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca> beame@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Carl Beame) writes:
>
>	As another TCP/IP vendor, I can definately say that we are under 
>a lot of pressure to put some form of copy protection in our TCP/IP product.
>This pressure is coming from our foreign distributors (we have had little or
>no pressure from North American distributors). We even have a couple 
>who refuse to carry our product until it has copy protection. The reason is
>that in several foreign countries, illegal copying of software is the norm.
>The distributors know that if the product is not copy protected, they will only receive small orders from their customers and the customers will copy the
>software left, right and center. I am not saying that one can't trust customers
>to abide by the license agreements, but it seems that some distributors in
>some countries feel that their customers won't.
>
>	I will say that even though I don't like copy protection, FTP Software's
>duplicate copy notification is the best solution I've seen so far. It takes up
>no extra Network bandwidth and probably a very small amount of memory. It
>also seems easy to manage.

Carl, as you know, I recommended your package at two different major
corporate sites, with something like 400 installed seats between the two, 
based on your NOT having copy protection on the package.  One of those 
sites is a Fortune-50 company.  I worked at one, and work currently at the
other.

Sun - as you are aware - you LOST THE BUSINESS at one of those sites DIRECTLY
because you refused to give us a site license without copy protection on the
software under any circumstances.  We later discovered that Beame had a 
better product in our opinion as well.  I didn't even bother considering you
at the other site FOR THIS VERY REASON - I already knew the answer and knew
it was unacceptable.

Regrettably, were this to change with Beame's product I would have to look 
at other alternatives in the future, up to and including Novell.  I'm quite 
serious about this change in my philosophy on this.

Copy protection on >client< software is intractable in a PC environment 
no matter how you set it up.  The problem is simple -- you have PCs which
"move" from desk to desk, especially in a large company.  There is perhaps
an annual audit of what's where.  There is no way I should be required to 
keep a filing system around just to deal with which serial number is 
installed on which hard disk drive.  Word Perfect, as an example, doesn't 
require me to do this.  Neither does Novell.

It also doesn't serve the purpose.  I can still copy the software, but I
can't use the copy on the same (sub)net.  So what?  If I'm a distribution
house or VAR looking to rip you off, you have changed nothing.  I buy 100
copies and always sell less than 100; but I sell the same 100 each 100 times.
If I'm an end user you've still got a problem -- now I segment my machines 
30 to a subnet, put a router in between 'em all, block the appropriate 
port(s), and buy 30 licenses -- but I have 300 PCs.  Again you lose.  If you
make my life hard in order to use your product you increase my incentive to
cheat and not buy those additional seats.  By the way; if I don't segment my 
machines in some fashion on a large network the performance will stink badly 
enough that I'll find the product unusable anyway.

If a PC loses a disk, it frequently isn't backed up (that's why you have
networks with the user's files on them, right?)  Therefore, you have no
information as to what serial number was resident on that drive unless you
maintain a filing system of some kind.  Using "another" serial number is NOT 
acceptable in that case; you just doubled the cost of that failed disk.

I know that I'd NEVER recommend a package for a 1000+ seat location which
had this "feature".  In fact, that would be (and was) a show stopper twice
for me already.

If you must for European sales, so be it -- but please leave it off the
North American Distributions.  I would hate to take your product off my
third-party "recommended" list, but the addition of copy protection to 
this type of product does it every time.

--
Karl Denninger (karl@ddsw1.MCS.COM, <well-connected>!ddsw1!karl)
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