Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.programmer:21081 comp.protocols.appletalk:5172
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bgsuvax!denbeste
From: denbeste@bgsuvax.UUCP (William C. DenBesten)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.protocols.appletalk
Subject: Re: Idea for painless copy protection
Message-ID: <6871@bgsuvax.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jan 91 23:51:11 GMT
References: <1991Jan27.144523.20674@phri.nyu.edu>
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Organization: Bowling Green State University B.G., Oh.
Lines: 49

From article <1991Jan27.144523.20674@phri.nyu.edu>, by roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith):
> 
> 	Let's say I wanted to market commercially a Mac program and have
> some way to discourage pirating.  Copy protection is out, since it doesn't
> allow for backups, or lost/damaged distribution media.  But, what if I did
> the following?
> 
> 	When the program starts up, it installs something which listens for
> broadcast packets to a specific port (my knowledge of appletalk is sketchy,
> but this is easy to do in IP and I'm assuming AT has some similar
> mechanism).  The program then sends out a broadcast packet to that port and
> listens for any responses.  The responses it would get back would contain
> the serial number of other copies of the program installed elsewhere on the
> same AT network.  If any S/N matched that of this copy, it would refuse to
> run.

As a system administrator, I really dislike copy protection, even this
type.  I now distribute software in the following fashion: I modify
the application so that it checks with a really neat program called
launch break (for info, ask launch-break@caen.engin.umich.edu).  I
then copy it to my file server.  Any user that wants to copy the
program to their hard drive may do so.  When they launch the program,
They implicitly ask launch break if there are any copies available.
If there are, they are permitted to run it.

As a system administrator, I am concerned that we are running only
software for which we are licensed, and that we are making the best
use of our available software.  Launch break makes this very easy for
me.  Part of this ease is the fact that I can install just one copy.
I am serious about being legal.  I purchased a computer that spends
its life making sure that we are not running mor than the licensed
number of copies.

Quickmail has (had) your register the serial number 'feature'.  It is
the only thing that I really detest about Quickmail.  I have mail
running on 20 macs.  I dutifully purchased two copies of their program
(which is licensed for up to 10 macs).  I then added quickmail to my
prototypical system folder on my server.  Unfortunately, I had to tell
half of my users to duplicate copy #1 and the other half to duplicate
copy #2.  This was a big headache.

CE Software and I disagree.  I call this a form of copy protection.
They don't.  This is yet another case of the copy protection getting in
the way of legitimate users.

Oh BTW, it is really handy to have a disassembler, resedit and a
understanding of 68000 assembly, but I don't want to talk about that.

-- 
William C. DenBesten   is   denbeste@bgsu.edu  or   denbesten@bgsuopie.bitnet