[LINK] Win 2K, Office 2K to ship with new antipiracy devices

[Peter Bowditch]

> Am I missing something, or is this a unique identification; and just what
> is the "signature" of the hardware of the machine?

This sort of thing has been used for years. For example, it was in the 
DOS version of Attache accounting software. You hash some values 
that can be read from the machine such as RAM size, hard disk size, 
CD-ROM make and model, hard disk model, serial numbers of devices, 
etc and  get a magic number that is unlikely to be the same if you do 
the same calculation on another machine. There is no way to go back 
from the key to the values used to create it (I have the number 
9456345789 in front of me - please tell me what numbers were summed 
to get this value).

You can reinstall on the same machine without any problems, but you 
have to register again if you change major components on the machine. 
People worried about privacy invasion might like to consider what 
registration is for (and you can always give a false name and address).

I am a bit surprised to see that the experts and conspiracists have only 
just discovered this, since it has been in Office 2000 for the last six 
months.

.................................................
Peter Bowditch
Gebesse Computer Consultants
peterb@gebesse.com.au
http://www.gebesse.com.au
ACT! Certified Consultant