Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ames!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!cornell!mlee
From: mlee@marduk.cs.cornell.edu (mark lee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Software Distribution on NeXT
Message-ID: <32833@cornell.UUCP>
Date: 4 Oct 89 02:59:45 GMT
Sender: nobody@cornell.UUCP
Reply-To: mlee@cs.cornell.edu (mark lee)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY
Lines: 31




    There are a few students at Cornell thinking of starting
  a small software development company for the NeXT market,
  and distributing the software in the following way:

  1. put the software in the NeXT public domain software account.

  2. allow all users to copy and test out the demo part.

  3. if the user likes the program, he or she calls us
     to get the unique password that depends on a certain
     formula and the ethernet address.

  *Note: By doing this, we reduce the manufacturing, distribution
         and retail cost of software to $0.00, and only pay
         for development costs.

  
    Could anyone please comment (or mail me a reply) on whether
  we would be infringing on someone's patent by doing this?

    Is it even possible for someone to have a patent on the
  software security method that uses the ethernet address?

    Thank you all very much.


Mark Lee,
mlee@awamore.cs.cornell.edu