sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) (06/27/87)
After unwittingly purchasing my second piece of software with this most annoying feature, Starglider, I hereby swear to always check for this and never ever buy software that has it again. I realize that programmers want to protect their hard earned bucks (I am one), but I don't like it and I'm not buying it. I'm going to do my damndest to hack the programs so that this feature is removed, and if anyone wants to sell me a piece of software that will do that for me, my wallet is open. Word can't express the frustration at having to pull out a manual that I don't even need after reading it once, and having to look up a word to continue with the program. What's the point of having a hard disk if it takes two minutes to locate your manual and look up the word? I just wanted the software people to know that they lost this customer with that kind of bullshit. Sean P.S. Hats off to the people releasing all the fine public domain Amiga software that I am seeing nowdays. You really shame the companies that don't even trust their legitimate customers. -- =========================================================================== Sean Casey UUCP: cbosgd!ukma!sean CSNET: sean@ms.uky.csnet ARPA: ukma!sean@anl-mcs.arpa BITNET: sean@UKMA.BITNET
dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) (06/27/87)
>Word can't express the frustration at having to pull out a manual that I >don't even need after reading it once, and having to look up a word to >continue with the program. What's the point of having a hard disk if it >takes two minutes to locate your manual and look up the word? As far as games go, this type of copy-protection suits me just fine.. it means they don't have to copy protect the disk which means you can back the thing up and use the backup and THAT is more important to me that taking 10 seconds to lookup and type a word. So the question to all you gamesters out there: Would *you* rather use this method, or a copyprotected disk bound to fail? BTW Startglider is a well done game... I splurged and bought it yesterday. Too give you an idea, it is sort of like Arctic Fox combined with the Star Wars arcade game. It Uses color stick objects with hidden line removal on a per object basis, as well as animating some of the objects. The game *screams*. They *tell* you to back it up and use only the backup. My all around favorite, however, is Marble Madness. -Matt
iqbal@pnet01.CTS.COM (Iqbal Hans) (06/28/87)
Your complaining about looking up a word in the manual? At least you can
backup your game without worrying about screwing up your disk. What I hate are
games from Activision. If your copy program doesn't work on that particular
game, guess what happens. You get read/write errors whenever you try to boot
up the game.
********************************************************************************
UUCP: {akgua, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, nosc}!crash!pnet01!iqbal
ARPA: crash!pnet01!iqbal@nosc
INET: iqbal@pnet01.CTS.COMsdl@linus.UUCP (Steven D. Litvintchouk) (06/28/87)
Posting-Front-End: GNU Emacs 18.41.1 of Thu Apr 9 1987 on linus (berkeley-unix) > As far as games go, this type of copy-protection suits me just > fine.. it means they don't have to copy protect the disk which means > you can back the thing up and use the backup and THAT is more > important to me that taking 10 seconds to lookup and type a word. I agree. And a smart vendor can actually use this copy protection scheme as a shrewd marketing "hook." Consider "Alien Fires" (Jagware, Inc.). The disk is not copy protected. You can actually play the game for a good while, exploring various rooms, etc., before encountering the copy protection. But to get to the next level of play, you are then prompted to enter a word from the manual (this isn't mentioned in the manual). Neat idea! If someone has a copy of the disk, they can get hooked on the game, and then they'll be forced to buy a copy of Alien Fires to get the manual, so that they can continue playing. Steven Litvintchouk MITRE Corporation Burlington Road Bedford, MA 01730 Fone: (617)271-7753 ARPA: sdl@mitre-bedford.arpa UUCP: ...{cbosgd,decvax,genrad,ll-xn,philabs,security,utzoo}!linus!sdl
sean@ms.uky.edu (Sean Casey) (06/28/87)
In article <1296@crash.CTS.COM> iqbal@pnet01.CTS.COM (Iqbal Hans) writes: > Your complaining about looking up a word in the manual? At least you can >backup your game without worrying about screwing up your disk. Yes I am complaining. It is quite inconvenient for me. Several others I know feel the same way. If the vendor is going to purposefully inconvenience me, a customer who spent hard earned bucks on the program, because he doesn't trust me to not to give it away, then I'm not going to buy it in the first place. I resent that sort of treatment, and I am letting them know by not being their customer. I AM NOT HERE TO DEBATE WHETHER THE PRACTICE IS ETHICAL, MORAL, RIGHTEOUS, NECECESSARY, OR WHETHER THIS FORM OF COPY PROTECTION IS "REALLY" ANNOYING OR INCONVENIENT. IT IS INCONVENIENT FOR ME, AND FOR OTHERS I KNOW, AND WHAT I AM HERE FOR IS TO INFORM VENDORS THAT I WILL NOT BUY THEIR SOFTWARE IF IT HAS THIS FORM OF PROTECTION. Sean -- --- Sean Casey UUCP: cbosgd!ukma!sean CSNET: sean@ms.uky.csnet --- ARPA: ukma!sean@anl-mcs.arpa BITNET: sean@UKMA.BITNET --- We want... a shrubbery!
phillip@cbmvax.UUCP (Phillip Lindsay GUEST) (06/29/87)
in article <8047@linus.UUCP>, sdl@linus.UUCP (Steven D. Litvintchouk) says: > In-reply-to: dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU's message of 27 Jun 87 16:18:23 GMT > Posting-Front-End: GNU Emacs 18.41.1 of Thu Apr 9 1987 on linus (berkeley-unix) > > >> As far as games go, this type of copy-protection suits me just >> fine.. it means they don't have to copy protect the disk which means >> you can back the thing up and use the backup and THAT is more >> important to me that taking 10 seconds to lookup and type a word. > > I agree. And a smart vendor can actually use this copy protection > scheme as a shrewd marketing "hook." > Another nice side-effect might be "people reading the manuals for a change." Not to mention that small start-up's can reduce support costs (how many disks has EA had to resend?) -phil ============================================================================== Phillip (Flip) Lindsay - Wake up and watch CNN at: Heather Ridge Apts. #G-115 UUCP: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!phillip Mantua, NJ 08051 No warranty is implied or otherwise given in the form of suggestion or example. Any opinions found here are of my making.
spierce@pnet01.UUCP (06/29/87)
Just thought I would post an opposing viewpoint. I don't mind the copy-protection scheme used on Starglider -- I am glad to be able to make unlimited backup copies. Maybe I should mention that I don't own Marauder II. -- Stuart Pierce --
cmcmanis@pepper.UUCP (06/29/87)
In article <6816@g.ms.uky.edu> sean@ms.uky.csnet (Sean Casey) writes: >After unwittingly purchasing my second piece of software with this most >annoying feature, Starglider, I hereby swear to always check for this and >never ever buy software that has it again. Hey, at least the damn program disk isn't copyprotected with some bogus file or something. You can backup the disk and run from the backup without any problem. I really detest schemes like MicroProse's on Silent Service (*Both* look in the manual and bogus bits) especially when their own program can make the disk unusable. I applauded Jes San for making it possible to keep my main disk intact. How hard is is really to look up a word? Is it harder or easier than sending a broken disk back to the manufacturer. --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
richc@madvax.UUCP (Rich Commins) (06/29/87)
This talk of looking up a word in the manual as a prefered way of
copy protection is like asking "Which is better; to be hanged
or burned at the stake". They all get you to the same end!. Some
copy protection is worse than others, but for different reasons.
I HATE ALL COPY PROTECTION OF ANY KIND!
Lets find a way of protecting the vested interests of the programmers
and still not burden the user with kludges to prevent illegal copies.
If the software that is being sold was of better quality I think their
would be less stealing of software. I've seen better public domain
software, than some of the stuff being sold.
--
--
Rich Commins (415)939-2400 \ /\
Varian Instruments, 2700 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 \/--\
{ptsfa,lll-crg,zehntel,dual,amd,fortune,ista,rtech,csi,normac}varian!richaddonw@zehntel.UUCP (Don White) (06/30/87)
> > Your complaining about looking up a word in the manual? At least you can > >backup your game without worrying about screwing up your disk. > > Yes I am complaining. It is quite inconvenient for me. Several others Unfortunately, the industry and the public have agreed. It is OK to copy protect games. I haven't seen ANY unprotected games. And people are buying them. Given this REALITY I prefer the kind of copy- protect scheme that gives me the convenience of backing up my investment. I will however continue to VIOLENTLY complain about copy protecting programming tools, utilities, and other programs that I NEED. > Sean > -- > --- Sean Casey UUCP: cbosgd!ukma!sean CSNET: sean@ms.uky.csnet > --- ARPA: ukma!sean@anl-mcs.arpa BITNET: sean@UKMA.BITNET > --- We want... a shrubbery! Don White Box 271177 Concord Ca. 94527-1177 berkeley!zehntel!donw
richc@madvax.UUCP (Rich Commins) (06/30/87)
In article <22328@sun.uucp>, cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes: > In article <6816@g.ms.uky.edu> sean@ms.uky.csnet (Sean Casey) writes: > >After unwittingly purchasing my second piece of software with this most > >> How hard is is really to look up a word? Is it harder or easier than >> sending a broken disk back to the manufacturer. >> >> --Chuck McManis Has anyone ever used a xerox machine before? All this does is make the legal owner and the software pirate both look up the word in the manual! It does nothing to prevent software piracy and causes the legal user to waste his time looking up stupid words. -- -- Rich Commins (415)939-2400 \ /\ Varian Instruments, 2700 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 \/--\ {ptsfa,lll-crg,zehntel,dual,amd,fortune,ista,rtech,csi,normac}varian!richc
scott@applix.UUCP (Scott Evernden) (07/01/87)
Of course, the all time award for most-annoying-copy-protection must go to "Balance of Power". Not only did Chris Crawford decide to use the look-up-the-word strategy, but he ALSO copy-protected the disk. And, believe it or not, the game actually needs to WRITE TO THE (master) DISK during play! -scott
cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (07/01/87)
In article <594@madvax.UUCP> richc@madvax.UUCP (Rich Commins) writes: >In article <22328@sun.uucp>, cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes: >> How hard is is really to look up a word? Is it harder or easier than >> sending a broken disk back to the manufacturer. > > Has anyone ever used a xerox machine before? All this does is make > the legal owner and the software pirate both look up the word in the > manual! It does nothing to prevent software piracy and causes the > legal user to waste his time looking up stupid words. Note: I don't want to start a copy protection discussion, we have hashed that out before. EVERYONE agrees that if it were up to them NO software would be copyprotected. This message concerns the METHOD used and why I think it may be more effective than the 'break the disk' type. Using a small book that has to be looked in to get the words has the advantage that the disk you are using is capable of being backed up. It appears to based on the assumption (which I believe to be true) that most pirating occurs 'spontaenously.' That is, when person A visits Person B and sees this neat new game. Then person A asks to get a copy to see if they would like to buy it (sort of a free trial). And Person B says sure, and whips out Maurauder or something and whizzes out a copy. Now if they have to copy the manual too, they might say "Well, you need this manual too." If they are a good friend maybe they lend it to them to get copied, maybe they don't. And if they do, Person A still has to go out and get it copied which is a royal pain. Obviously this is no protection against serious pirates who take over a PIP or copy center and whip out a 100 copies of the manual. Secondly, the copyright laws are much more enforceable for books than they are for software since just about any judge can see that copying a book is in violation of the copyright laws. So when you find someone with 20 copies of the 'Novella' there isn't anyway in hell they can claim 'backup' and have a judge believe them. --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) (07/02/87)
In article <594@madvax.UUCP> richc@madvax.UUCP (Rich Commins) writes: >In article <22328@sun.uucp>, cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes: >> In article <6816@g.ms.uky.edu> sean@ms.uky.csnet (Sean Casey) writes: >> >After unwittingly purchasing my second piece of software with this most >> >>> How hard is is really to look up a word? Is it harder or easier than >>> sending a broken disk back to the manufacturer. > > Has anyone ever used a xerox machine before? All this does is make > the legal owner and the software pirate both look up the word in the > manual! [ ... ] Ha! Now the justice department has got you by the short ones. Copying copyrighted computer software is still a nebulous issue, despite what the Lotus legal department would have you believe. However, Xeroxing a copyrighted *book*, or, in this case, manual, is *very* illegal. Not to mention a b*tch to do. It ain't worth the immediate and potential long-term trouble (unless it's an AtariSoft game :-) ). _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape ihnp4!ptsfa -\ \_ -_ Bike shrunk by popular demand, dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac O----^o But it's still the only way to fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") "Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctor
rjg@nis.NIS.MN.ORG (Robert J. Granvin) (07/02/87)
In article <594@madvax.UUCP> richc@madvax.UUCP (Rich Commins) writes: > > Has anyone ever used a xerox machine before? All this does is make > the legal owner and the software pirate both look up the word in the > manual! It does nothing to prevent software piracy and causes the > legal user to waste his time looking up stupid words. Well, let's assume for a moment that you're not using a company owned Xerox machine for your copying. Your only other real alternative is to stop by a library/drug store/house of endless copiers and pump off the sheets at 15 cents a crack. By that time, considering the size of some of the novelettes included, you might as well buy another copy of the game. Kinda wasteful for a 'pirate', wouldn't you say? (Refusing to enter the realm of copyrighted book copying, using company copying machines for personal gain/use and of course, time involved in such an adventure). -- Robert J. Granvin UNIVERSE: rjg@NIS.MN.ORG Programmer/Analyst - Technical Services UUCP: ihnp4!meccts!nis!rjg National Information Systems, Inc. ATT: (612) 894-9494 "Look out - M aer, >
kenr@mfbbs.UUCP (Ken R?????) (07/03/87)
[Is this really necessary?] In article <8706271618.AA13698@cory.Berkeley.EDU> dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) writes: > > As far as games go, this type of copy-protection suits me just fine.. >it means they don't have to copy protect the disk which means you can back the >thing up and use the backup and THAT is more important to me that taking 10 >seconds to lookup and type a word. > > So the question to all you gamesters out there: Would *you* rather >use this method, or a copyprotected disk bound to fail? Other than the minor annoyance of finding the manual when I want to use a program, typing in the word doesnt bother me too much. But I think its incredibly obnoxious for them to make you look in the manual AND copy protect the disk heavily as is the case with Silent Service. BTW: Is anyone interested in a Fairy Tale Advenute character editor? After getting sick and tired of getting my butt kicked in that game I figured out how the save game works. Its nice having 1500 bravery, vitality, and luck (You'll never kill me!!! :-) ). And i'm in the process of putting together a character editor, but wondering if anyone wants it. Reply through mail. (If I messed up in any way, please don't flame me, i'm new to usenet) _______________________________________________________________________________ seismo!okstate \ | Ken Rawlings rutgers!okstate > !svo!mfbbs!kenr | ihnp4!okstate / | "We don' need no stinking disclaimers!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Work is an irrational interruption of ones private life" - P. Porizkova"
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (07/03/87)
In article <540@applix.UUCP>, scott@applix.UUCP (Scott Evernden) writes: > Of course, the all time award for most-annoying-copy-protection must > go to "Balance of Power". Not only did Chris Crawford decide to use > the look-up-the-word strategy, but he ALSO copy-protected the disk. > And, believe it or not, the game actually needs to WRITE TO THE (master) > DISK during play! > > -scott Yeah, but he only uses 2% of the CPU bandwidth to do this... -- Richard Sexton INTERNET: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM UUCP: {akgua, hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, ihnp4, nosc}!crash!gryphon!richard
jdow@pnet02.CTS.COM (Joanne Dow) (07/05/87)
I beat on him about that on bix mostly in the mail. He's adamant that this
is the right thing to do as there is so blasted much piracy. Even so it was
not very long before it was copyable. (And I hope he took some heed about
writing to the master disk...)
<@_@>
jdow@bix
UUCP: {cbosgd, hplabs!hp-sdd, ihnp4}!crash!gryphon!pnet02!jdow
INET: jdow@pnet02.CTS.COMmichael@stb.UUCP (Michael) (07/05/87)
In article <168@zehntel.UUCP> donw@zehntel.UUCP (Don White) writes: > > Unfortunately, the industry and the public have agreed. It is > OK to copy protect games. I haven't seen ANY unprotected games. And > people are buying them. Given this REALITY I prefer the kind of copy- > protect scheme that gives me the convenience of backing up my investment. Tell that to the owners of 500's and 2000's, who have 1.2 in ROM, where they can't do anything about it. Tell that to owners of games whose protection doesn't like expansion memory or 1.2. Tell that to people whose protection fails rendering the disk unusable. Tell that to owners of the C-64 where games would whack the disk head against the edge, knocking it out of alignment. Note my new .signature -- : Michael Gersten seismo!scgvaxd!stb!michael : Copy protection? Just say Pirate!
glee@cognos.uucp (Godfrey Lee) (07/06/87)
In article <1296@crash.CTS.COM> iqbal@pnet01.CTS.COM (Iqbal Hans) writes: > Your complaining about looking up a word in the manual? At least you can >backup your game without worrying about screwing up your disk. What I hate are >games from Activision. If your copy program doesn't work on that particular >game, guess what happens. You get read/write errors whenever you try to boot >up the game. Come on, guys. You are talking about the lesser of two evils! I prefer no copy protection at all! It IS a real pain having to look up the manual everytime, and they don't even have the decency of doing a little human engineering! The question says nth word, mth line, pth page, which is the reverse of how you have to find the word!! That just gets me more frustrated! By the way, I paid for every game I play, except for public domain ones, which are sometimes better games! -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Godfrey Lee, Cognos Incorporated, 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA K1G 3N3 (613) 738-1440 decvax!utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!cognos!glee
cjp@vax135.UUCP (Charles Poirier) (07/07/87)
In article <6816@g.ms.uky.edu> sean@ms.uky.csnet (Sean Casey) writes: > >Word can't express the frustration at having to pull out a manual that I >don't even need after reading it once, and having to look up a word to >continue with the program. What's the point of having a hard disk if it >takes two minutes to locate your manual and look up the word? A key-manual is the protection scheme that is least abusive to my equipment. It doesn't take anything like two minutes if you know where your manual is to start with. Think of it as a soft dongle (pardon my French). Disk-based copy protection gronks my drives to dust, and it is (in my humble opinion) likely to destroy the disk long before my manual would become unreadable. And you can't even put disk-protected software on hard disks in the first place, so what's the beef? Unless you like a "key-disk" scheme, where you get to swap out the master disk after verifying its presence. That is still somewhat awkward and puts the master disk somewhat at risk. Not bad, not good. As long as there are thieves, there are going to be locks. Let's not promote the use of locks that damage the merchandise. -- Charles Poirier (decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4,attmail)!vax135!cjp "Docking complete... Docking complete... Docking complete..."
phillip@cbmvax.UUCP (Phillip Lindsay GUEST) (07/08/87)
in article <594@madvax.UUCP>, richc@madvax.UUCP (Rich Commins) says: > Keywords: user frustration > Summary: I HATE ALL COPY PROTECTION! > > In article <22328@sun.uucp>, cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) writes: >> In article <6816@g.ms.uky.edu> sean@ms.uky.csnet (Sean Casey) writes: >> >After unwittingly purchasing my second piece of software with this most >> >>> How hard is is really to look up a word? Is it harder or easier than >>> sending a broken disk back to the manufacturer. >>> >>> --Chuck McManis > > Has anyone ever used a xerox machine before? All this does is make > the legal owner and the software pirate both look up the word in the > manual! ... Documentation is a luxury for pirates. Apple pirates I knew (all dead know :-> ) had a few hundred disks and maybe enough documentation for 20% of the software. If you look at how most pirates get software ( BBS's, User Group Mass Copy etc) you can see how a pirate might get pisst if the software is "Type the word from the manual" protected. I can't say how effective it is, but I feel it is "atleast" as effective as protected disks...and safe. -phil ============================================================================== Phillip (Flip) Lindsay - Wake up and watch CNN at: Heather Ridge Apts. #G-115 UUCP: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!phillip Mantua, NJ 08051 No warranty is implied or otherwise given in the form of suggestion or example. Any opinions found here are of my making.
scotty@l5comp.UUCP (Scott Turner) (07/10/87)
In article <1812@vax135.UUCP> cjp@vax135.UUCP (Charles Poirier) writes: >equipment. It doesn't take anything like two minutes if you know where >your manual is to start with. Think of it as a soft dongle (pardon my Obviously you've never misplaced a manual, or had it sprout legs. "Were is my XXX manual?" "Uh, I borrowed it Scott and it's at home, sorry..." Or how about you took the manual home and left it there? I obey the law, I have no bootleg software on any of my Amiga disks. Why should I be treated like a criminal and forced to pass a litmus test everytime I want to use a piece of software? That's what happens everytime that program comes up and asks you to find a word in the manual "Scotty, time to prove to me again that you really own me." There's a REASON for that amendment that goes "Unreasonable search and seizure", it's rather bothersome having people search you over and over again for signs of illegal activities. If we won't put up with it from law enforcement personel why should we let software get away with it? This is what I mean by we gave these corporations and inch and they've taken a MILE from us. They like to cast US as the bad guys, but they aren't all that clean themselves. Scott Turner -- UUCP-stick: stride!l5comp!scotty | If you want to injure my goldfish just make UUCP-auto: scotty@l5comp.UUCP | sure I don't run up a vet bill. GEnie: JST | "The bombs drop in 5 minutes" R. Reagan Disclaimer? I own L5 Computing. Isn't that enough?
kent@xanth.UUCP (Kent Paul Dolan) (07/13/87)
In article <294@l5comp.UUCP> scotty@l5comp.UUCP (Scott Turner) writes: >In article <1812@vax135.UUCP> cjp@vax135.UUCP (Charles Poirier) writes: >>equipment. It doesn't take anything like two minutes if you know where >>your manual is to start with. Think of it as a soft dongle (pardon my > >Obviously you've never misplaced a manual, or had it sprout legs. "Were is my >XXX manual?" "Uh, I borrowed it Scott and it's at home, sorry..." Or how about >you took the manual home and left it there? What gets lost in this discussion is how easy it is to subvert "word in the manual" copy protection. It doesn't take a lot of time for the original owner or some enterprising pirate to type the ENTIRE manual onto disk. At worst, if the original disk was full, this ups the cost of piracy from $0.99 (surely you don't believe pirates can afford DSDD disks at $1.34? ;-) to $1.98, as a whole second disk is used for the manual. For the Knights Templar in the crowd, just think of this as a way to avoid losing the manual, or of still being able to use the information therein after the original becomes part of a late night peanut butter sandwich by accident. Of course the original (paying) purchaser of the software has to be pretty ticked off at the vendor (say by EA not putting the Bard's Tale copy protection file in it's own directory so that a user could copy the rest of the code and data into 2meg of ram and reASSIGN all the other logical names to ram:, thus stopping the once per 10 seconds access to the disk for picture data, while still enjoying key disk copy protection) to bother to type in a whole manual, but vendors seem to excel at finding ways, like beating disk drives to death, to irritate purchasers into finding ways to get even. Kent, the man from xanth.
cjp@vax135.UUCP (Charles Poirier) (07/14/87)
In article <294@l5comp.UUCP> scotty@l5comp.UUCP (Scott Turner) writes: >In article <1812@vax135.UUCP> cjp@vax135.UUCP (Charles Poirier) writes: >>equipment. It doesn't take anything like two minutes if you know where >>your manual is to start with. Think of it as a soft dongle (pardon my > >Obviously you've never misplaced a manual, or had it sprout legs. "Were is my >XXX manual?" "Uh, I borrowed it Scott and it's at home, sorry..." Or how about >you took the manual home and left it there? I have had to scrabble around for the manual a time or two. I learned to keep better track of it. I don't have any use for the manual elsewhere than where my Amiga is, so they don't get separated. I don't lend out my manual. They might lose it, or make a copy or something. If I were running a software company, I'd make allowance for catastrophic loss of the key manual. Like, send back the original disk and I'd return a complete replacement. Keeping track of the returned disks' serial numbers would protect me from abuse by potential "manual breeders". >I obey the law, I have no bootleg software on any of my Amiga disks. Why should >I be treated like a criminal and forced to pass a litmus test everytime I Nobody wants to be treated like a potential criminal. Not you or I, and especially not the REAL criminal. Can you think of a non-insulting way for a dumb piece of magnetic material and a dumb sheaf of pages to distinguish between us and the criminals? If you don't test *something*, the criminals get away clean. (I'd have said "scott-free", but in deference to the replyee, I refrain. :-) :-)) It's like locking your house and car -- a determined thief will get past those locks, but most people agree that the locks are worth the trouble nonetheless. Enough -- -- Charles Poirier (decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4,attmail)!vax135!cjp "Docking complete... Docking complete... Docking complete..."
sbmueller@watmath.UUCP (07/18/87)
In article <540@applix.UUCP> scott@applix.UUCP (Scott Evernden) writes: >Of course, the all time award for most-annoying-copy-protection must >go to "Balance of Power". Not only did Chris Crawford decide to use >the look-up-the-word strategy, but he ALSO copy-protected the disk. >And, believe it or not, the game actually needs to WRITE TO THE (master) >DISK during play! > >-scott Fortunately, Marauder II removes both forms of protection for you. (This is of course assuming that you bought both your copy of Marauder II and Balance of Power. If you got your copies another way, please disregard this information, I don't want to encourage piracy or anything :-) Having read more than I really care to about the evils of copy protection, I'm not going to add my opinion to the list. Being about 400 articles behind in this NewsGroup, I apologize in advance if similar information has already been posted. Looks like I'm going to be here all night reading! APD: ||~ (all purpose disclaimer: Or Not) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Na na na naaa" - The Beatles Amiga (TM?) "Who Ha, Whoha" - FGTH This space // Bizarre/Design "Aah, aah" - Queen currently // Twisted/Fate under \\ // DY/DX "Has anyone seen my marbles?" construction. \// Body/Fisher - SBMUELLER@WATMATH.UUCP Freak --------------------------------------------@-#$--!@#$--$----#$%^&* parity error