Preventing date rollback

[mike at bria.UUCP]

In article <1991Jan7.201353.17937 at nas.nasa.gov> vancleef at nas.nasa.gov (Robert E. Van Cleef) writes:
>The sad thing about all of these copy protection schemes is that they serve
>the needs of the vendor, not the needs of the client. 

That is because the user is most likely NOT interested in protecting the
interests of the vendor.  Can you realistically expect the industry to roll
over when the users are busy sticking a knife in our back?

>We recently invoked the "roll back the clock" function to allow the continued 
>execution of one protected program because the update the vendor gave us to 
>restore functionality required us to install an OS software upgrade that we 
>aren't ready to install...

While unfortunate that your vendor wouldn't be able to help you without an OS
upgrade, that is sometimes the cost of improvement.  You have an agenda, but
*so does the software company*.  If you don't like the fact that they are
requiring to move forward faster than you feel comfortable with, then you
simply are using the wrong product.  The point is, *life goes on*, and with
that comes change. 

>Software protection schemes that are tied to system hardware numbers, such 
>as ethernet addresses or CPU ID numbers are just as bad - all it takes is a 
>visit from your friendly hardware field engineer to break everything. 

If you are doing something like swapping motherboards, then simply let the
software company know in advance what you are doing, and I'm sure they'll 
accomodate you.  If you want to take the attitude of "why should I have to 
call someone else when I'm changing something on my machine", then you're
living in a vacuum, and your expectations will never be met.

>Software protection schemes may appear to be necessary from a business 
>perspective, but you need to take the needs of the customer into 
>consideration.

If the copy protection causes daily interference in one's life, then I
would say that the protection was a hassle, and dump the product.  On the
other hand, the customer needs to consider the needs of the author(s).
Assuming that no one pointed a gun at your head and said "buy this software",
you made a choice, and with that choice comes rules.  Live with it or
get out.

>Recently we almost returned four software licences (at $5k each) to the 
>vendor because it was so difficult to install. The difficulties were caused 
>by their copy protection scheme.

Then that software is poorly designed, and I would have gotten out.

>Remember what the PC world found out the hard way. Without customers you 
>don't have a business! Installing the worlds smartest and most sophisticated 
>copy protection system will not sell one package. You are a lot better off 
>spending you time and energy building a loyal customer base that wouldn't 
>even consider cheating on you because they believe that they get top value 
>for their investment.

** Climbing up on my own soapbox **

May I ask what planet you are living on?  A "loyal customer base that
wouldn't even consider cheating on you"?  ARE YOU SERIOUS?  One of the
worst things that can befall a software company is the users liking it too
much ... they feel "obligated" to "share" it with their friends.

The fundamental problem here is that people do not consider the output
from my brain in the form of a working program to be real property.
People would not even think of holding up a 7-11 will freely copy my stuff
and duplicate it for any Tom, Dick and Harry who asks, and I don't get
a dime.  And yes, dammit, it does have to do with money!

I'll put it to you as my grandfather has told me: Locks aren't made to
keep criminals out, but to keep honest people honest.

People rip us (software engineers) off because it is easy to do it.  Make
it more difficult, and it will be done less.  Period.

** Getting off my soapbox now ... *

Your ideas are nice, but simplistic.  The world does not consist of wonderful
hardworking people all out to help everyone else.  People will cheat each
other for all eternity.  Why?  Because they can.

Gee, my view of the world is rather bleak, isn't it? :-)
-- 
Michael Stefanik, Systems Engineer (JOAT), Briareus Corporation
UUCP: ...!uunet!bria!mike
--
technoignorami (tek'no-ig'no-ram`i) a group of individuals that are constantly
found to be saying things like "Well, it works on my DOS machine ..."