At 1:52 AM -0600 1999/11/22, Steven Pollack wrote:
>I recently started thinking about the (HASP?)software key that is required for
>use with FormZ. As I researched this technology on the web I started to
>wonder how come more software developers, including Microsoft, don't require
>these ingenius little anti-piracy devices.
>
>Are the software developers working on something else or do you think these
>will someday become part of the consumer software market? You always hear
>that entire countries, such as China, operate on pirated Microsoft software
>and that being a reason for their Y2K woes. You would think Microsoft would
>be very keen to capture the appropriate dollars for their product. Is this
>just a strategy of getting the world addicted to Microsoft software by
>allowing for free samples only to later protect the product with products such
>as these?
>
>Thanks for any insight you have into this.
>
>Steven Pollack
>http://www.xyzacademy.com
>
>
>For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
That generic term for a HASP is a "Dongle." They've been around for a
very long time! Almost as long as personal computers -- which pretty
much made the dongle a necessity in the first place. It contains a
small ROM chip that has a "hard-coded" number that corresponds to the
user/serial number of the software in question. Some may even contain
a small authentication program, that can go one step beyond just
verifying a number. They aren't as prevalent today as they once were,
as programming techniques have improved the piracy protection on the
software side. But they still have their use.
I certainly can understand why so many complain about the dongles.
I've seen workstations that have so many dongles stacked onto one
another, it looks like the computer was browsing through one too many
adult web sites during the night! It can really plug up the
computer's serial ports.
What Michael suggested is a valid alternative, where the host machine
of the software is used for the registration instead of that little
dongle. What is actually used is the hardware number of the ethernet
card contained in the host machine. So if the computer doesn't have
an ethernet card, you are out of luck.
As an alternative, Intel came up with the idea of putting a serial
number right on the Pentium chip -- essentially a built in dongle.
When you look at it in the light of being used as a built in dongle,
it is a great idea! But the privacy pundits blew out several blood
vessels, pointing out the all-too-obvious dark side to this built in
serial number.
The problem with the two schemes is when you upgrade to a more
powerful machine. For the ethernet card technique, you have to move
the ethernet card to a new machine -- and you pray that the thing is
compatible with the new machine. If you upgrade your ethernet to a
faster system, such as the new gigabit ethernets, you will not be
able to reap the benefit, as you will still need to keep the old
ethernet card, or buy a whole new license ($$$$!). It is worse with
having the serial number on the CPU of the computer, as there is no
way to transfer that number. If you upgrade your computer, then you
instantly obsolete all your licenses that use the CPU registration.
But the dongle makes transferring the license so much easier (and
cheaper!). My own computer uses a USB port, so I can yank the dongle
off one machine and stick it on another with ease, and without
needing to turn off the computer. This makes it convenient if the
main computer is busy with a task, I can pop the dongle on my old
computer, and get to work. No down time. If I'm traveling, I can just
as easily pop it onto the USB port on the portable, and keep working
while flying.
Another trick you can do with a USB dongle is run a USB-cable from
your computer, through a small hole drilled in the back of your desk,
and into a drawer. Just stack all the dongles in the back of the
drawer, and no one can see -- or steal -- any of the dongles.
Just about every computer under two or three years old has a pair of
USB ports on the back. If you don't believe this, turn your computer
around and take a look.
Bill Richards
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For more information about the rp-ml, see http://ltk.hut.fi/rp-ml/
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