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PROTECT.TXT
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2006-10-19
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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LIMA
NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 1988
^^^^^^^^SOME COMMENTS ABOUT DISK
PROTECTION:
^^^^^^^^^^HOW TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS
OF BOTH
^^^^^^^^^^^^^SOFTWARE AUTHORS AND
USERS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^opinions of Charles
Good
After I laid out over $40 to
purchase WRITEREASE, I discovered that
this disk software is heavily protected
and not copyable using any of the
commonly available track copiers. I am
thus unable to make any backup copies
of WRITEREASE, even though the law
allows me to do so. I am now stuck
with my one and only program disk which
is only guaranteed for 120 days. I
have to hope that my kids don't get
hold of the disk and finger it. I am
reminded of the cartoon in which the
child has a computer disk in one hand
and a magnet in the other. The kid
says to his father, "I thought you said
this was magnetic media." I have to
hope that I don't turn off the power to
my external drive with the disk still
in the drive, as this sometimes messes
up the disk.
Much of the software I buy I
expect to use on a regular basis, and
as such I like to put on my ramdisks.
In particular, one would think that a
word processor would get regular use.
WRITEREASE is advertised (TexComp 1988
catalog p. 28) as "designed especially
with owners of the CorComp MEMORY PLUS
products in mind. With the MEMORY PLUS
RAMDISK capability the complete
WRITEREASE and and its SPELL CHECKER
can be loaded into the ramdisk for
lightening speed access!" This is NOT
TRUE! Only the spell checking
dictionary can be put on a ramdisk.
Because WRITEREASE is protected, the
program itself can only be loaded from
floppy in drive one.
Because of these reasons, I hate
disk protection. Unlike modules, disks
are fragile and can be destroyed. If I
had known that WRITEREASE was
uncopyable and (contrary to
advertising) could not be completely
booted from ramdisk I would not have
purchased the product. If I can avoid
it, I will not again purchase protected
disk software.
I understand and respect the
problems authors of copyrighted
software have with piracy, and I
understand the reasons why such authors
want to try and limit copying of their
product. I am not a pirate. I don't
hand out copies of my commerical
software to all my TI friends and I
don't put copies of commercial software
I purchase in my user group's library.
I do feel, however, that there are good
reasons to use my legal right to backup
my disk software. Ultra protection,
such as used with WRITEREASE may
actually discourage people from
purchasing the software, resulting in
decreased rather than increased income
to the software copyright holder.
Here is my suggestion to commercial
software authors who wish to prevent
unauthorized distribution of their
product. This suggestion will allow
legitimate owners of to freely backup
their software and to install this
software on ramdisks or hard disks.
Sell the software on completely
unprotected disks. Hide a secret
serial number somewhere on the disk
buried within the code of the software
in a location known only to the
software author (eg. 5th byte of 3rd
sector of LOAD program). Each serial
number can be referenced in a master
list to the original purchaser. Every
time the disk is copied, the secret
serial number goes with the copy. If
copies are passed around, eventually
through the grape vine a copy will get
back to the software author. Software
authors should make the existence of
this secret number known to all
purchasers, and perhaps offer a reward
to anyone who provides the software
author with an unauthorized copy.
Such a secret number would be very
difficult to locate. You couldn't find
it by just looking around with a sector
editor. It would look like part of the
program code. It would take a very
smart disassembler to separate the
serial number out from the rest of the
program code.
The threat of such a secret number
would, I think, discourage legitimate
purchasers from giving away copies of
their software. Great Lakes Software
already uses this system. When you
purchase disk software from them at a
computer show you can actually see this
protection system being installed.
They don't just hand you a disk. They
first ask your name and address and
than take the disk, put it into a
drive, and do something on a keyboard
before handing you your disk.
Presumably they are adding the
identifying code number that their
literature states is on each original
disk.
Both software owners, and software
authors have legitimate rights to
protect their investments. I believe
that my suggestion would protect the
rights of both sides while at the same
time making the software easier to use
and thus more likely to be purchased.
.PL