Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!rutgers!labrea!decwrl!nsc!amdahl!bnrmtv!perkins From: perkins@bnrmtv.UUCP (Henry Perkins) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: What a dongle is (Was Re: Copy protection: boycott it!) Message-ID: <2230@bnrmtv.UUCP> Date: Mon, 20-Jul-87 16:45:55 EDT Article-I.D.: bnrmtv.2230 Posted: Mon Jul 20 16:45:55 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 22-Jul-87 06:27:00 EDT References: <291@l5comp.UUCP> <1131@killer.UUCP> <2802@phri.UUCP> Organization: BNR Inc., Mountain View, California Lines: 29 Summary: Dongle: an ill-conceived, obsolete hardware copy-protecton "key" "Dongle" is the generic name for a class of hardware-based copy-protection access keys. The idea is that you attach to a PC port a hardware "black box" which implements part of some copy-protection mechanism. The software routes some critical function through the black box, which looks for a corresponding dongle. Typically one black box may support something like 4-6 dongles. The copy-protection mechanism uses the black box plus the unique dongle to give the appropriate response to the software. The remedy for dongle-based copy-protection is to patch the software to remove the dongle code; if the code to access the black box + dongle is removed, you don't need the hardware any more. Naturally, this is slow and tedious work. The dongle sellers are betting that it'll be less hassle for you to carry dongles around in your pocket than to patch each version of the program you get. While they may be correct on that point, it's MUCH EASIER to buy some competing unprotected product instead. I don't see much future for copy-protection; games will probably be holdouts for a while, though. I'd expect a two-tier pricing system instead: the cheap price gives you a copy of the current version of the program; the expensive price gives you that plus support and discounts on upgrades to later versions. -- {hplabs,amdahl,3comvax}!bnrmtv!perkins --Henry Perkins It is better never to have been born. But who among us has such luck? One in a million, perhaps.