Interactive and me - An open letter to ISC.

[Martin Weitzel]

In article <1990Jul11.164044.7241 at sco.COM> jim at iggy.UUCP (Jim Sullivan) writes:
[some lines deleted]
>Software piracy exists and until the ethics and morals of the software user
>community improve, companies will have to go to serialization codes and such
>to try and prevent software piracy.  If anyone has a better idea of how to
>prevent multiple copies of the software to be installed, then please, present
>their solution.

Please, can anybody explain how serialization "prevents" software piracy?

If *I* load the floppys on a second system, *I* have the key. Same if I
hand the disks to someone else. Is the "serialization" meant to protect
against the rare case that somebody steals the floppys? But what if I keep
the sheet with the key close to the floppys? (And: Is it explicitly
forbidden to make a note of the key on the label of the floppys, to
protect myself against the - much more probable - case I loose that
sheet?)

Furthermore, some (most?) serialization schemes don't prevent making
an operational copy from an allready installed (or "serialized")
version of a program. So, what does it really buy?
-- 
Martin Weitzel, email: martin at mwtech.UUCP, voice: 49-(0)6151-6 56 83