Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!wuarchive!emory!hubcap!gatech!ncar!acd!pack From: pack@acd.acd.ucar.edu (Dan Packman) Newsgroups: comp.unix.admin Subject: Re: Preventing date rollback Summary: Be careful implementing a restrictive copy protection scheme Message-ID: <9853@ncar.ucar.edu> Date: 9 Jan 91 20:30:57 GMT References: <292@bria.AIX> <1976@necisa.ho.necisa.oz.au> <306@bria.AIX> <1991Jan7.201353.17937@nas.nasa.gov> <333@bria> Sender: news@ncar.ucar.edu Reply-To: pack@acd.UCAR.EDU (Dan Packman) Distribution: comp Organization: Atmospheric Chemistry Division/NCAR, Boulder CO Lines: 31 In article <333@bria> mike@bria.UUCP (Michael Stefanik) writes: >In article <1991Jan7.201353.17937@nas.nasa.gov> vancleef@nas.nasa.gov (Robert E. Van Cleef) writes: >... >>Software protection schemes that are tied to system hardware numbers, such >>as ethernet addresses or CPU ID numbers are just as bad - all it takes is a >>visit from your friendly hardware field engineer to break everything. > >If you are doing something like swapping motherboards, then simply let the >software company know in advance what you are doing, and I'm sure they'll >accomodate you. If you want to take the attitude of "why should I have to >call someone else when I'm changing something on my machine", then you're >living in a vacuum, and your expectations will never be met. >... Good points on both sides. One common scenario is the system fails from a hardware problem. The field engineer comes in and swaps out the faulty board (eg, ethernet). The system is rebooted. The copy-protected software fails because it is keyed to a number that changed when the board was swapped out. If one were *planning* a hardware change, then it behooves one to contact the software company in advance. This is not always possible. In this latter case it is clear that protection schemes should be tied to numbers that don't change often and the company should be available in real time to get software up again after such an unanticipated hardware change. >technoignorami (tek'no-ig'no-ram`i) a group of individuals that are constantly >found to be saying things like "Well, it works on my DOS machine ..." ^^^ We have a problem with individuals like this too... Dan Packman NCAR INTERNET: pack@ncar.UCAR.EDU (303) 497-1427 P.O. Box 3000 CSNET: pack@ncar.CSNET Boulder, CO 80307 DECNET SPAN: 9.367::PACK