Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ucbvax!van-bc!sl
From: sl@van-bc.wimsey.bc.ca (Stuart Lynne)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: copy protection, authorization
Message-ID: <866@van-bc.wimsey.bc.ca>
Date: 14 Jul 90 18:27:24 GMT
References: <604@vidiot.UUCP> <3169@rsiatl.UUCP> <1990Jul13.211604.12457@ico.isc.com>
Organization: USENET Public Access, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lines: 24

In article <1990Jul13.211604.12457@ico.isc.com> rcd@ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn) writes:
>Again, the 2.2 media are *not* copy-protected; they *can* be read as normal

>What *has* been done is to add an authorization step during installation:
>You must enter the serial number of your software (which is printed on the

>I understand that the authorization-key tracking can be anything from a
>minor nuisance to a major problem, depending on circumstances.  I'm not

This is the same scheme that SCO uses.

I've never noticed a big problem remembering the numbers. Almost every set
of SCO disks I've ever seen has the serial number and activation key written
on the label :-) This is a customer added option of course.

What is more of a pain is the copyright daemon which checks that you have
different serial numbers for the tcp/ip package on every machine. You *must*
maintain records of which machine has which serial number. If you re-install
the software and get the wrong activation key one of two machines will stop
working (either the one you just installed or the one which originally had
the number you incorrectly duplicated). 

-- 
Stuart.Lynne@wimsey.bc.ca ubc-cs!van-bc!sl 604-937-7532(voice)