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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxl!mhuxm!pyuxi!pyuxnn!jjb
From: jjb@pyuxnn.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.crypt,net.micro
Subject: Re: Software Piracy and Coupons
Message-ID: <164@pyuxnn.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 31-Oct-83 14:04:24 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxnn.164
Posted: Mon Oct 31 14:04:24 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 3-Nov-83 04:44:35 EST
References: <2557@utcsrgv.UUCP> <221@bnl.UUCP> <3420@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Piscataway
Lines: 11

>From my experience, it's not "random bits" that are used to protect
software, by badly formatted sectors.  The program is unable to read these
sectors and thus if it does not detect an error condition when trying to
read them, it abends.  The computer on which this scheme is used extensively
is the Atari on which the typical user with an 810 drive cannot write bad
sectors.  Until recently, the only way around this scheme was to
disassemble the code and find out where the IO calls were made and to
NOP them out.

			Jeff Bernardis, AT&T Western Electric @ Piscataway NJ
			{eagle, allegra, cbosgd, ihnp4}!pyuxnn!jjb