Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!apple!rutgers!deimos!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!uxg.cso.uiuc.edu!uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mcdonald
From: mcdonald@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: prolock (A good reason to do co
Message-ID: <45900194@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 22 Jan 89 15:05:00 GMT
References: <484@octopus.UUCP>
Lines: 28
Nf-ID: #R:octopus.UUCP:484:uxe.cso.uiuc.edu:45900194:000:1507
Nf-From: uxe.cso.uiuc.edu!mcdonald    Jan 22 09:05:00 1989


>Just to play devil's advocate for a sec: there is one good reason I can
>think of for copy protection (although a hardware key is probably ok in
>this case):

>If you are making a custom system (small quantity type thing, including
>hardware usually), you can't afford to have it get stolen. There are some
>interesting new machine-lock mechanisms that make sense, as long as the
>manufacturer of the software is willing to do heavy-duty support at times:

>1) hardware key: you can do anything you want with the software, but must
>	have the hardware key attached to the system in order to use it

>2) software key: the original disk is copy protected. Once installed, the
>	software 'knows' which machine it is installed on, and can't be
>	installed on any other. Mfg must give a new copy if your mboard or
>	hard disk controller is changed, I think...

And there are EVEN BETTER reasons why no one in their right mind would
PAY MONEY for such "volatileware": If the hardware key or the
proprietary "install once" disk get lost or broken (i.e. dog eats dongle -
this happened to a friend) your software won't work. And, if indeed
it is a small quantity custom system, when that happens the maker
likely has gone out of business, or, if it was a big company,
has gone out of THAT particular business, and you are simply
out of luck. With genuine hardware (i.e. custom boards that actually
do something) there really is no good solution. But for software,
there is: don't buy copy protected stuff. Period.