Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:07:21 -0500 (EST)
From: Ricky Beam <jfbeam@bluetronic.net>
To: =?iso-8859-1?q?M=E5ns_Rullg=E5rd?= <mru@kth.se>
cc: <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: Copy protection of the floppies
In-Reply-To: <yw1xu14sdbwo.fsf@kth.se>
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.33.0311251054040.13188-100000@sweetums.bluetronic.net>
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On Tue, 25 Nov 2003, [iso-8859-1] M?ns Rullg?rd wrote:
>> About 15 years ago, there were many gaming softwares which were procected,
(it was more than 15 years ago.)
>> for example, by checking "gap" between sectors.
>
>Can't that be done with a regular floppy drive and some special
>software?

Please heed the lessons already learned in the software industry...
Copy protection doesn't work.  It works about as well as locks on doors
as it'll keep the honest people honest, and offer a small obstacle to
the dishonest.

As others have stated, anything *you* can do with a PC floppy drive, *I*
can do. (And given this thread, I can probablly do a few things you
currently cannot.)  Ultimately, any copy protection comes down to
the software on the floppy.  If the machine can read it to execute it,
the hacker can read it to remove the checks.  No ammount of hand-waving
will change that. (That, btw, is why the DMCA, et. al., exist.)

--Ricky


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