Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!utcsri!utegc!utai!garfield!john13
From: john13@garfield.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Copy protection: A marketing analysis
Message-ID: <3804@garfield.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 19-Jul-87 15:55:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: garfield.3804
Posted: Sun Jul 19 15:55:20 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 20-Jul-87 04:35:48 EDT
References: <207@cc5.bbn.com.BBN.COM>
Organization: CS Dept., Memorial U. of Newfoundland, St. John's
Lines: 42
Summary: G.A.P. - gizmo aided protection

In article <207@cc5.bbn.com.BBN.COM>, denbeste@cc5.bbn.com.BBN.COM (Steven Den Beste) writes:
> THE GIZMO: This is a computer-readable gadget which must be plugged into the
> machine either when the program first runs, or the entire time it runs. On
> PC's and Mac's it usually attaches to the parallel port. On the Amiga, I think
> it would go into the second-joystick port on the front. It is easy to engineer
> - it consists of a DB-9 connector, a very small circuit board, a good PAL, and
> a plastic case. (The PAL shouldn't be CMOS because of the chance of it getting
> blown.)

Slight problem: Mr. Multitask wants to run Publisher 1000 (dongle-protected)
and Superbase (dongle-protected) at the same time. Perhaps he has a small
library of such programs, each of which mutually excludes all the others while
running.

Way back in the early days of the 64, I thought this was the most effective
form of protection. However, Paperclip 64 was protected like this, and the
program code was very well scrambled (I believe the unscramble code was
written in undocumented 6502 opcodes), and did get broken. Then Leaderboard
Golf on the 64 tried with the dongle on the cassette port. It used no PAL,
just a single resistor, so anyone who did electronics 101 (or had a cassette)
could pirate it if they chose to.

I think the consensus would have to be "if you choose to protect your program
(and thereby risk losing the business of N people who boycott protected
software), do it with a look-in-the-manual scheme".

Speaking of protection, I inserted the Barbarian disk (from Psygnosis,
excellent animation and illustration) in the drive while booted up under
another Workbench, and got quite a start when the disk began to grind away!
But it still worked fine when inserted at the Workbench prompt, so I presume
that is just their protection scheme.

John

PS: The Deja Vu original now works properly when booted off another Workbench,
as long as that Workbench has the font files installed.

-- 
"Some people consider long statements to be speeches."
      -- Daniel Inouye, reaching a level of sarcasm that most can only dream of.
"Obviously safety is always the prime consideration."
      -- Sportscaster Bernie Smilovitz on hydroplane racing.