bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) (05/18/89)
In article <616@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> csachs@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Colin Sachs) writes: >I am seeking information regarding any software package which would >allow one to keep people from copying software from a hard disk on >a Macintosh computer. Tall order, I know, but my "boss" wants me to >check into the possibility of one existing. Any information relating >to such a program would be appreciated. Please e-mail directly to me. The System and the Finder both control file odds and ends. There's got to be some code in there somewhere that controls copying files. Therefore, isn't it possible to patch the System and/or Finder to either remove or alter the code that allows copying files? I'm not familiar with the way that the Macintosh file manager is laid out, but I think that it would be at least possible to make the Finder cease to recognize drag-copying - so when you attempt to drag an application to your disk, nothing happens (the file is not copied). I know that here at Princeton, at least, a brain-damaged System might be useful. If the System didn't know how to copy files, then people who use public Macs couldn't put stuff on, or copy stuff off, them. Of course, they wouldn't be able to drag-copy their papers from the hard drive to their floppies, either - so they just open the file with their favorite word processor and use "Save As...", assuming they didn't have enough foresight to put the document on their floppy in the first place. Sure, this copy protection scheme can be circumvented, but it might just be a workable deterrent to blatant copying. Has this approach been tried before? How difficult would it be to implement? -- | Brian S. Kendig /\ +----+ /\ of Power | bskendig | | Computer Engineering / Triforces! \ Courage | @phoenix.Princeton.EDU | | Princeton University +----+ \/ +----+ Wisdom | @PUCC.BITNET | | "Estu la Forteco kun vi." - Obi-Wan Kenobi | @somewhere_past_Betelgeuse |
ih@doc.ic.ac.uk (Ian Harries) (05/19/89)
In article <8505@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) writes: >In article <616@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> csachs@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Colin Sachs) writes: >> [request for hard disk copy-protection] > > [suggestion about the System and the Finder ] I have implemented the following 'copy-protection' on our AppleShare servers - compile the following LightSpeed C launcher program main() { Launch(0, "\pMacWrite"); /* for instance */ } then give the program the same OwnerName and ICN# as the program to be launched. Put the launcher in the same folder, make the original program invisible and there you are ! People can copy the tiny launcher to their heart's content - and much good may it do them. A further sophistication (?) would be to stuff the original program with unused resources until it is too large to fit onto a floppy. I realise that my method requires some knowledge of the use of ResEdit. (Also that AppleShare 2.0 supposedly provides an 'execute non-copiable' option !) hope this might be useful ... Ian Harries Department of Computing MicroComputer Support Officer Imperial College 180 Queen's Gate Janet: ih@uk.ac.ic.doc London SW7 2BZ DARPA: ih%doc.ic.ac.uk United Kingdom Uucp: ih@icdoc.UUCP, ukc!icdoc!ih Tel: +44 1 589 5111 x5052
8325499@spinifex.eecs.unsw.oz (Gilbert Taylor-Wood) (05/26/89)
From article <8505@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>, by bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig): >In article <616@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU> csachs@oucsace.cs.OHIOU.EDU (Colin Sachs) writes: > >I am seeking information regarding any software package which would > >allow one to keep people from copying software from a hard disk on > >a Macintosh computer. Tall order, I know, but my "boss" wants me to > >check into the possibility of one existing. Any information relating > >to such a program would be appreciated. Please e-mail directly to me. > >The System and the Finder both control file odds and ends. There's got to be >some code in there somewhere that controls copying files. > The simplest hack is to use ResEdit to add a one meg lump of junk to the resource fork of the applications you wish to protect. That way they are too big to be copied to a floppy disk. This does require a fair amount of disk space though, and fairly dumb users :-). Regards Gilbert --- Gilbert Taylor-Wood P.O. Box 448 Kensington NSW ACSnet : 8325499@spinifex.eecs.unsw.oz AUSTRALIA 2033 Bitnet : 8325499@spinifex.eecs.unsw.oz@munnari.oz