Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2.fluke 9/24/84; site vax2.fluke.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!decwrl!decvax!harpo!whuxlm!whuxl!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!fluke!kurt From: kurt@fluke.UUCP (Kurt Guntheroth) Newsgroups: net.micro Subject: Another view on software protection Message-ID: <890@vax2.fluke.UUCP> Date: Tue, 13-Aug-85 13:26:12 EDT Article-I.D.: vax2.890 Posted: Tue Aug 13 13:26:12 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 03:08:44 EDT Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA Lines: 83 1. Software and Economics: Software has value because it does work for you. Making it "free" won't decrease that value. People can charge money for software exactly in proportion to its (perceived) value. Even if there was no way to protect software people will still be able to charge money for it just because they already have a known copy of it and you don't. Even if it were impossible to charge money for software, a way would be found to recognize its value, probably by bundling "free" software with something for which money could be charged; hardware, training, service, etc. It costs money to develop software. The amount of software produced will be in proportion to the amount that can be charged for it. There are people (artist-hackers) who derive non-monetary satisfaction simply from the existence and use of their software. Also, a certain amount of software will be produced because it adds value to hardware, or because it reduces the cost of some other function. Thus even if it was not possible to charge money for software a certain amount of development work would continue. As was pointed out earlier, the chief difference between software and previous kinds of goods, it that you can give away software and still have it. Software is like information in this sense. On the other hand the value of information to you depends (in various ways) on how many people have access to it, while the value of a software product is likely to be just as valueable to you no matter how many other people have a copy. 2. Software and Ethics When an individual buys tangible goods, s/he owns the goods and can use them in any desired way. The physical posession of the goods serves as an excellent temporary marker or ownership, and the tangibility of the goods gives real meaning to transfer of ownership. Because of the intangibility of software, restrictions on use are arbitrary, and largely unenforceable. Restrictive license agreements thus encourage people to act in a way that is technically illegal but seems morally defensible in the frame of reference of tangible goods. Taking a copy of software doesn't degrade or deface they physical original, it doesn't cost money. The (non-developer) owner of the original is no worse off and the copier is better off. In fact the only thing that has been damaged is the monopoly of the developer. People seem to see piracy as a somewhat heroic act under certain circumstances. 3. Effective Copy Protection There is no means to protect software from a determined pirate, just as there is no unbreakable safe, or perfect military defense. Further, any means of protecting software must not be more restrictive than the protection placed on tangible goods or people will not see the protection as reasonable. Thus any protection scheme must allow unlimited use of the physical medium which represents the software by the purchaser. The best copy protection schemes I am aware of are: CD-ROM: The media is difficult to make individual copies of, and large-scale copying is easy to stop with legal action. CD-ROMS hold more information than other storage forms. It is physically possible to copy a CD-ROM onto floppies, just as it is possible to photocopy a book onto loose pages. However, the copy is not as useful as the original and thus the advantage of a pirate copy is reduced. In fact, the CD-ROM is a very tangible kind of software. Bundling with manuals: Again, the key here is the physical presence of the manual. If it is difficult to use the software without manuals, and the manuals are bound, and of good quality, people will seek out originals. These two methods assume the cost of the software is not so high that users will bear the reduced utility of the copies to achieve the monetary price savings. Bundling with hardware: This scheme worked for IBM for years, and still works for many hardware manufacturers in smaller markets. If it takes another copy of difficult-to-make hardware to run a stolen copy of the software, piracy is effectively useless. Of course in many markets software is now the dominant cost, so this scheme is not universally applicable. I also like hardware serial numbers built into the computer, but this requires the manufacturer or vender to manufacturer each copy of the software specially. -- Kurt Guntheroth John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. {uw-beaver,decvax!microsof,ucbvax!lbl-csam,allegra,ssc-vax}!fluke!kurt