Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ucbvax!UCSCB.UCSC.EDU!lupin3 From: lupin3@UCSCB.UCSC.EDU (-=/ Larry Hastings /=-) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: An Idea for Hardware Protection Summary: does this sound workable to you too, or am I just a numbskull? Keywords: "personal" dongle Message-ID: <8801090958.AA20842@ucscb.UCSC.EDU> Date: 9 Jan 88 09:58:50 GMT Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: lupin3%ucscb.UCSC.EDU@ucscc.UCSC.EDU Organization: Uncle Charlies Summer Camp (UC Santa Cruz) Lines: 65 I was thinking about having hardware dongles, and I was thinking about the Apple Lisa (remember THAT? :). The Lisa had the machine's serial number stored in the ROMs of the machine somewhere, and the first time brand-new software was run, it would impress that machine's serial number onto the disk, so that the software could not be run on any other machine. This was kind of unpopular... What I'm proposing is about two steps farther than that. First of all, this would have to be designed INTO the machine, so it's too late for the current crop of Amigas... First, every computer would be shipped with a "personal dongle" (Actually, probably would be shipped with two, just to be safe...). This "dongle" is a chip on a simple mount with a pass-through so you could plug another dongle on to the end. The chip on the dongle would recieve power from the computer, and whenever it was accessed it would a) tell the computer the serial number of the computer (person?) it came from, and b) access any dongle(s) after it, passing this information on through as well. This is plugged into a special dongle port on the side of the computer (maybe a depression on the side, with a door you can close if there's only one dongle plugged in...) Second, buried DEEP within the OS, every time a disk is inserted into any drive, it's checked to see if it is a "secure" disk (PD disks, or storage disks, or whatever; don't necessarily have to be secure). If it is, and has the serial number imprinted on it, it accesses the dongle port, and checks to see if any of the serial numbers kicked out by the dongle port match; if one does, then everything's fine; if none do, then the machine refuses to access the disk (System Requester comes up, saying "either YOU plug the dongle with serial # xxxx in, or _I_ eject the disk; which is it?"). If it is, but doesn't have a serial port yet, a System Requester comes up, saying "Put the dongle you wished to be IMPRINTED ON THE DISK as the FIRST dongle on the dongle port." and lets you cancel if you wish (ejecting the disk), and makes SURE that that's the serial number you want imprinted. (Of course, all disks are checked every time you power up, or reset.) Of course, all disks would have a "developer number(s)" on them, so if you sent it back to the company THEY would be able to use it. :) The upshot? You get your new computer home, stick in the dongle, close the door. Click through all the System Requesters it wants, as above. You buy a neat new game, stick it in, imprint it with your serial #. Play a while, decide you want to show this neat new game to your neighbor, who has also bought one of these new computers. You take out your disk, and also take out your dongle. Go over, and stick your dongle on to the end of his, and you're set to go. This gets rid of all the hassles of normal, software-specific dongles (if you have numerous programs that all require dongles, you've got a clutter of 'em real quick, as well as not being able to run them simultaneously...); and yet protects the developer _totally_. What'cha think? Is this workable at all? Is this a useful enough idea for someone to actually bother moving it to the correct newsgroup (if there is one)? Whatever you think, please-- no flames (as if I would EVER want them?). Just insidious, sarcastic commentary, dished out as necessary. Thanx.... (P.S. If everyone decides that this IS a great idea, I reserve all claims to this idea!! So THERE. Heh heh heh...) -- .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . | _ _ _ _ |_| _ _ |_ -__ _ _ ARPA: lupin3@ucscb.ucsc.EDU L_ (_\( ( (_/ | |(_\_\ (_ || )(_)_\ UUCP: ...!ucbvax!ucscc!ucscb!lupin3 larry / hastings _/ BITNET: lupin3@ucscb@ucscc.BITNET ^v^v^vBoy, I'm glad I don't live in an alternate universe!^v^v^v Disclaimer: All original text above was pointless & random, & it makes me proud. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . ..