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From: mwm@eris (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.misc
Subject: Re: Copy protection and the consumer (dongles)
Message-ID: <6622@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 20 Jan 88 10:30:00 GMT
References: <4663@watdragon.waterloo.edu> <22628@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <1852@optilink.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@agate.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: mwm@eris.UUCP (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer)
Organization: Missionaria Phonibalonica
Lines: 28

In article <1852@optilink.UUCP> cramer@optilink.UUCP (Clayton Cramer) writes:
<At least that's the theory [behind dongles], and if they worked, they
<would be a perfectly acceptable way of copy protecting very expensive
<software

No, they aren't. You really want me to have to swap dongles every time
some piece of my carefully selected donglified software running on my
multi-tasking system wants a different dongle?

Worse yet, you want me to anticipate when that software is going to
want a dongle?

Dongles only work well in multi-tasking environments if all software
companies agree on what should be in the dongle for that machine.
Unless it's something at the OS level or below, that's not likely to
happen. And since the OS/hardware people can sell more things if it's
easy to steal software for them, they aren't liable to supply that
serial number.

Oh yeah - since IBM has blessed multi-tasking OS's, I expect everyone
to jump on that bandwagon. Except for those who've been there for
years, of course.

	<mike
--
How many times do you have to fall			Mike Meyer
While people stand there gawking?			mwm@berkeley.edu
How many times do you have to fall			ucbvax!mwm
Before you end up walking?				mwm@ucbjade.BITNET