Message-ID: <136@tektools.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Feb-85 11:37:56 EST
Article-I.D.: tektools.136
Posted: Mon Feb 18 11:37:56 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 22-Feb-85 01:07:24 EST
References: <414@bonnie.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 28

> When I boot a protected disk into internal RAM, what's to prevent me
> from copying the program to another disk?  Someone told me that my
> drive heads will get messed up.  Is this true?  Can we discuss how
> one can copy protect their own disk?

   Copy protection does not prevent you from actually copying anything. It
just prevents the copied program from running. When the program initializes, it
looks for something weird on the disk: certain error patterns, tracks written
off center, codes written in unused portion of the BAM, etc. if these are
not present, it assumes that it is a copy and wipes itself out. What copier
programs do is find these weirdnesses, and copy them too.
   Copying a copy protected program can in no way damage your disk drive.
It is theoreticly possible that running a copied program might damage your
disk. The program could, when it discovered that it was a copy by one of 
the above means, download a program into the drive that could try to damage
the drive by beating the head against the stop. I know of no companys that
have resorted to this yet.
   If you want to protect your diskettes, you will have think up a scheme
that no one has come up with yet. Then don't tell anyone. We've already
had several rounds of new protection schemes, followed by new copier
programs. I expect this this competition to continue.

Joel Swank
Software Center Tools Support
50-487
Tektronix
Beaverton OR 97077
(503) 627-4403