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

[Howard Lowndes]

The point is that if you change a component of you machine then you have
to re-register.  Now either you have to go through an interrogation as to
why you need to re-register, which could ask all sorts of questions; or
the re-registration is automatic, in which case what is the point of it in
the first place, other than as an inconvenience.

Howard.
______________________________________________________
LANNet Computing Associates <http://www.lannet.com.au>

On Fri, 18 Feb 2000, Peter Bowditch wrote:

> > 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
>