Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!husc6!yale!eagle!jtreworgy
From: jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Idea for software protection... software producers, take note!
Message-ID: <567@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
Date: 21 Aug 89 14:47:08 GMT
Lines: 31

I just read a review in Amazing Computing about some spreadsheet. This isn't
important. What is important is how this thing was copy protected, and it seems
like the ultimate solution to the whole copy protection problem. You buy the
piece of software, and you get a copy protected version. Then, when you send in
the registration card, they send you an UNprotected copy of the program,
encoded with an ID they can track your name with. That way the honest folks can
have an unprotected copy to do what they want with, and there will be
absolutely no excuse for copy program makers to make a parameter or whatever
for it. In this particular case it was somewhat less than ideal (you had to
send them $10.00). The program in question was also dongle protected.

This kind of system seems pretty benign to me. It wouldn't cost the company
much (another $2.00 at most after the sale to send out a new disk) and
everybody would be happy. Are any software companies listening? I can't see any
flaws with this system. They would also save themselves the trouble of dealing
with consumers' disks that have gone bad, since everyone would be able to make
their own backup copies. (Or maybe they like this trouble... don't companies
usually charge $10.00 or so for replacement disks? Certainly more than enough
to cover costs...but that's a different discussion)

As an afterthought, they could even take this a step further. Protect it with a
dongle in the first place. (i.e. so you could make a backup from the start).
Then send you a new disk as above, unprprotected, and with a postpaid mailer.
If you send them the dongle back, they will then send you a refund. It would
probably save a lot of dongle production costs, too. (Actually as an
afterafterthought this is probably a little too involved for joe software
buyer, but I think the original proposition is fine) 
-- 
James A. Treworgy
jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu
jtreworgy%eagle@WESLEYAN.BITNET