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From: jda@mas1.UUCP (James Allen)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Cloning the new IBMs without violating copyrights
Message-ID: <499@mas1.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 8-May-87 20:50:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: mas1.499
Posted: Fri May  8 20:50:38 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 10-May-87 00:59:11 EDT
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Organization: Measurex Automation Systems, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 23

Bill Tyler writes-

> I doubt very much if encrypting a message gets you around copyright laws.
> If it did, I could do something as simple as encrypting the entire IBM ROM,
> and attaching a decrypter to the output.  The encryption could theoretically
> be as simple as adding a constant to each byte, modulo 256, or reversing 
> the sense of certain bits.  This sort of foolishness has to be covered by
> copyright law.

Any case history?

I have been curious about this point since I noticed that a major database
package for the PC incorporated a large encrypted fragment of the IBM
ROM BIOS code.  (this plagiarism seemed ironic since the software displayed
a self-serving message about property rights every time it was loaded.)

The purpose of the encryption seemed to be to hamper disassembly, breakpoints
etc. (it was part of a copy protection system and several unplagiarized
routines were encrypted also) rather than to counter IBM's copyright.

Not wanting to debase anyone, no mention of the origin of this fvaulty software.

James D. Allen