Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!gatech!hao!husc6!rutgers.rutgers.edu!labrea!decwrl!decvax!ucbvax!hplabs!hp-pcd!uoregon!omepd!hah From: hah@mipon3.intel.com (Hans Hansen) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Copy protection: A marketing analysis Message-ID: <892@omepd> Date: Sun, 19-Jul-87 13:30:56 EDT Article-I.D.: omepd.892 Posted: Sun Jul 19 13:30:56 1987 Date-Received: Tue, 21-Jul-87 00:37:10 EDT References: <207@cc5.bbn.com.BBN.COM> Sender: news@omepd Reply-To: hah@mipon3.UUCP (Hans Hansen) Distribution: world Organization: Intel Corp., Hillsboro Lines: 39 In article <207@cc5.bbn.com.BBN.COM> denbeste@cc5.bbn.com.BBN.COM (Steven Den Beste) writes: >affects of various copy protections schemes. > [some ideas about costumer bases and copy protection] >The GIZMO beats all of these. Consider its advantages: It is almost impossible >to subvert or defeat. It is convenient for the customer (no manual to search). >It allows unlimited backup-copies, and works just fine from a hard-drive. The >only draw-back is that it requires me to manufacture it. (Also an occasional >customer will lose it.) Extreamly BAD idea..... this will prevent more than one of these types of protected programs from being used concurrently... rember you bought your Amiga because it could MULTI-TASK! >3. Customer loses the gizmo and needs another one: How do I tell this guy from >a clever pirate trying to sneak in the back door? In fact I cannot, and my >reaction to this is to tell him to search harder for the gizmo. I may lose >some repeat sales, but that's how it goes. This is more than made up by the >fact that my product is virtually unpiratable. BULL SH*T !!! The first time you try to tell the customer that you will not repalce the GIZMO he/she/it will screem all over the nets to their local user group and to anybody else. Your product will be black listed faster you can say "LOOK HARDER" !!! Not only that but I feel that the customer would be perfectly justified to take the program minus the GIZMO back to the dealer and, after explaining your response to the dealer, demand a full refund !!! > Steven C. Den Beste While I in most part agree that it is not fair to the software developer to have their work pirated. I feel that the real place for software protection lies with Commodore. The Amiga should have had an ID ROM in each machine that is unique from all others. All programmers that felt the need to protect their programs would then burry the cusotmers ID within the program the first time it was loaded. Hans