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From: lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Copy protection: A marketing analysis
Message-ID: <1359@apple.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-Jul-87 20:39:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: apple.1359
Posted: Thu Jul 23 20:39:47 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 25-Jul-87 10:55:54 EDT
References: <207@cc5.bbn.com.BBN.COM> <892@omepd> <1393@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> <575@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> <1756@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Reply-To: lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein)
Distribution: na
Organization: Advanced Technology Group, Apple Computer
Lines: 38
Keywords: ID code, replacement, Lisa

In article <1756@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> kagle@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Jonathan C. Kagle) writes:
>
>	This method was used in the Lisa (later Lisa 2 and Mac XL :-).  I think
>that high production costs and the below problems caused Apple to discard this
>concept on their Macintosh.  Any comments Apple?
>

Sure thing.  Let me pull out my Lisa O/S manual.

The Lisa hardware did have unique serial numbers in the machines.  The O/S
supported protected operations on a file.  In particular you could make any
file be a protected master.  The system shells both supported protected
masters.  When the user copied a protected master, it became permanently
tied to that machine.  (Note that every disk that went out was identical
ie, not tied to a particular machine).

If a file was protected, then the O/S Open call would fail unless the
machine ID matched the ID stored in the file.  

As someone mentioned before, this scheme does not prevent someone from
doing a bit copy on the master diskette to make 2 protected masters.  Also,
you would think that this would be the ideal form of copy protection, but
in reality, users didn't like it either.  For example, if they had 2
machines, they had to keep track of which disks belonged to which machine.

The Macintosh was designed by a whole different group.  I don't know why
they did not use hardware serial numbers.  It probably was a combination of
cost and philosophic opposition to copy protection.

-- 
Larry Rosenstein

Object Specialist
Apple Computer

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