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From: pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu (Eric Pepke)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: How are some copy protections setup?
Message-ID: <686@sun13.scri.fsu.edu>
Date: 14 Sep 90 14:43:07 GMT
Sender: news@sun13.scri.fsu.edu
Organization: Florida State University, but I don't speak for them
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References:<1990Sep13.111657.1@mel.cipl.uiowa.edu> <3428.26f0f12b@cc.curtin.edu.au>

All copy prevention mechanisms I have seen involve almost breaking the 
operating system or hardware.  Some information is hidden where most 
people don't look for it.  Either an archaic feature of the operating 
system that nobody uses any more is used, or information is written 
directly to a hardcoded track of the hard disk in a manner that no 
application program has any business doing, or something like that.  When 
the operating system or hardware gets changed or updated, most of these 
systems break.

Copy prevention mechanisms have two main effects.  First, they annoy 
users.  Second, they provide programmers with fifteen minutes of 
puzzle-solving fun.

Eric Pepke                                    INTERNET: pepke@gw.scri.fsu.edu
Supercomputer Computations Research Institute MFENET:   pepke@fsu
Florida State University                      SPAN:     scri::pepke
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052                    BITNET:   pepke@fsu

Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions.
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