crum@utah-gr.UUCP (Gary L Crum) (12/03/84)
Is it legal to copy the Mac ROM data onto a diskette? If so, perhaps a 'leach' technique could be used by a mac-compatible machine. First, the buyer of the mac-compatible could be provided with a program which would save the ROM routines (all 64K) on the provided disk. This would be a one-time operation for the customer. Second, a mac-emulator program could then be run on the mac-compatible which would load the ROM routines into a 'special' section of RAM that could sub- sequently be write-protected (virtual ROM, if you will). One might think of the emulator disk as a 'MacWorks' for the proposed mac-compatible machine. Oh, yes, the Macintosh is able to access its ROM faster than its RAM. If equal (or superior) performance is desired, then the clock rate of the mac- compatible could be boosted (and the 68000-10 could be used, if necessary). Once again, my original question: Is it legal to copy the Mac ROM data onto a diskette? (The data would *not* be packaged with the machine; the customer could merely find a friend's mac to get the data from) Also, has anyone thought about designing a replacement-board for the Mac which would upgrade the data bus lines to 32-bits (for the 68020, of course)? Thanks, Gary L. Crum crum@utah-cs.arpa crum@utah-cs.UUCP
jimb@amd.UUCP (Jim Budler) (12/04/84)
In article <> crum@utah-gr.UUCP (Gary L Crum) writes: >...... >Once again, my original question: Is it legal to copy the Mac ROM data onto >a diskette? (The data would *not* be packaged with the machine; the customer >could merely find a friend's mac to get the data from) > > All you have done is changed the illegal act from the manufacturer of the clone to the individual purchasers, perhaps making it more difficult for apple to prosecute but NOT more legal. -- Jim Budler Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (408) 982-6547 UUCPnet: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd!jimb Compuserve: 72415,1200 The Source: STW265
chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Cheshire Chuqui) (12/04/84)
References <1259@utah-gr.UUCP> Reply-To: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Cheshire Chuqui) Distribution: Organization: Plaid Heaven Keywords: Summary: >Is it legal to copy the Mac ROM data onto a diskette? If so, perhaps a >'leach' technique could be used by a mac-compatible machine. This is, I believe, called stealing. Last I looked, stealing wasn't legal. Two precedents-- Apple vs. Franklin Computer over the Franklin clones borrowing Apple's software (Franklin lost) and Microsoft vs. Advanced Logic Systems over ALS's CPM board for the Apple-- ALS 'borrowed' the boot proms from the Microsoft CP/M card and got caught (the programmers initials were hidden in a documented but not obvious position-- interesting proof). The mac roms are proprietary and I'm sure that they are covered by copyright, at least. Any Mac compatible that attempts to use them without licensing the technology from apple will find themselves in deep trouble, and Apple will be more than happy to jump on them (justifiably so-- the development costs in those rams are enormous). chuq -- From the center of a Plaid pentagram: Chuq Von Rospach {cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA ~But you know, monsieur, that as long as she wears the claw of the dragon upon her breast you can do nothing-- her soul belongs to me!~
msc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) (12/06/84)
References: <1964@nsc.UUCP> > The mac roms are proprietary and I'm sure that they are covered by copyright, > at least. > > chuq proprietary information and copyright are mutually exclusive. -- From the TARDIS of Mark Callow msc@qubix.UUCP, qubix!msc@decwrl.ARPA ...{decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!qubix!msc, ...{amd,ihnp4,ittvax}!qubix!msc
jimb@amd.UUCP (Jim Budler) (12/06/84)
In article <> msc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) writes: >References: <1964@nsc.UUCP> > >> The mac roms are proprietary and I'm sure that they are covered by copyright, >> at least. >> >> chuq > >proprietary information and copyright are mutually exclusive. >-- You must be confusing proprietary information with trade secrets. Proprietary means property. That's all it means. Copyrighted means the right to copy an article is governed by the laws of the United States. You will very often find copyrighted proprietary information. Try the source code for Unix. -- Jim Budler Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (408) 982-6547 UUCPnet: {ucbvax,decwrl,ihnp4,allegra,intelca}!amd!jimb Compuserve: 72415,1200 The Source: STW265
winkler@harvard.ARPA (Dan Winkler) (12/07/84)
References: <1964@nsc.UUCP> > ...got caught (the programmers initials were > hidden in a documented but not obvious position-- interesting proof). The > mac roms are proprietary and I'm sure that they are covered by copyright, > at least. Any Mac compatible that attempts to use them without licensing > the technology from apple will find themselves in deep trouble, and Apple > will be more than happy to jump on them (justifiably so-- the development > costs in those rams are enormous). An Apple employee who worked on the Mac project told us that the Mac ROM actually has a theft protection device built in. We couldn't get any details, but the idea was that if you copy the Mac ROM, Apple will be able to take your machine into court and make the ROM do something dramatic and unexpected to demonstrate that they understand it much better than you do. Maybe it prints out "Help! I'm Stolen!" or something like that.
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (12/08/84)
> You will very often find copyrighted proprietary information. > > Try the source code for Unix. Not so! Unix source code hasn't carried copyright notices for a long time. Why? Because copyright implies *publication*, and is -- more or less, roughly speaking -- incompatible with trade-secret protection, which is how Unix innards are protected. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry