From: wangw@iti.gov.sg (Wang Wei Jun (CC))
Subject: Re: Software Copyright protection devices
Organization: Information Technology Institute, National Computer Board, Singapore.
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 09:56:04 GMT


In article <1992Sep2.180717.14061@hou.amoco.com> jim@n5ial.chi.il.us writes:
>QUESTION:  is alt.security the right group for this?  somehow, I suspect
>not, but who knows....  if this belongs elsewhere, someone who knows where
>it should be, please redirect followups there.
>
>In article <1992Sep2.111408.13462@iti.gov.sg> wangw@iti.gov.sg
>(Wang Wei Jun (CC)) writes:
>
>>I am looking for information about designing software copyright protection 
>>devices. As I understand, there are two type of protection:
>
>>  1. A hardware device that connects to host's parallal port and
>>     do a challenge-response from time to time
>
>don't use this --- you'll find you have lots of hostile users, if you even
>manage to GET any users to buy the blasted thing (I won't be one of them).
>I believe this was largely abandoned for this very reason quite some time
>ago.
>
>also, if you do decide to do this, you have to make sure that your device
>doesn't conflict with *ANY* other product/service/whatever in existence.
>otherwise, you risk breaking something else.  some of the time, btw, this
>does happen, and two different copy protection devices lock each other out,
>breaking both programs.
>
>also, plan to provide free replacements for people who have a license
>but lose your little adapter (you can't expect them to pay for your mistake,
>[your mistake being using the blasted thing to begin with] now can you?).
>
>>  2. For networked workstation, the protection software constantly
>>     broadcast a signature to the network and try to detect the
>>     same signature.
>
>you really don't trust your users at all, do you?  well, in that case, do
>you honestly expect them to trust *YOU*?  personally, I demand that a
>vendor trust me to some degree, and if they don't, and someone else offers
>the same type/quality product, guess what.....  by forcing users to contend
>with the hassles you plan to cause them, just to prevent them from pirating
>your work, you not only alienate them because of the major hassle your
>software is (or can be) for them to use, but you also alienate them because
>you are directly implying that w/o that protection, they would steal your
>software.
>
>people who want to pirate your software are going to find ways to do it
>with or without your copy protection schemes.  people who are honest,
>and will pay for your software, might just buy someone else's product if
>they feel that yours is just one more stupid adapter on their parallel
>port, and more hassles that they don't need/want.  I know I fit in with
>the second category --- if I know a program pulls stupid stunts like this,
>I'm not going to use it, but if it's something I need, is a high quality
>product with good support, is produced by people who don't insist on
>accusing every customer of theirs of being a thief, and is priced right,
>I will BUY it (and if it fails to meet the above, I'll just buy the
>competition's).
>
>I have a game program at home that I purchased legally.  it had a really
>annoying bit of copy protection built in, and forced you to look things up
>in the manual every time you started the game.  I was about ready to dump
>the thing from my hard disk, when I found a patch that disables this
>so-called feature.  nobody else has or ever will get a copy of the program
>from me, and as I've stated, I paid for it legally.  yet, I'm still forced
>to use a patched version if I'm to tolerate it at all.
>
>btw, I will never buy another product from this particular company again.
>
>later....
>   --jim
>
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