Article 1018 of comp.society.privacy: Path: leela.CS.ORST.EDU!flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU!ogicse!emory!gatech!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!ukma!computer-privacy-request From: elevine@world.std.com (Eugene Levine) Newsgroups: comp.society.privacy Subject: Detecting Piracy (I and II) Message-ID: Date: 3 Feb 93 09:37:10 GMT Article-I.D.: pica.comp-privacy2.15.3 Sender: comp-privacy@pica.army.mil Organization: Computer Privacy Digest Lines: 64 Approved: comp-privacy@pica.army.mil X-Submissions-To: comp-privacy@pica.army.mil X-Administrivia-To: comp-privacy-request@pica.army.mil X-Computer-Privacy-Digest: Volume 2, Issue 015, Message 3 of 6 This morning's Boston Globe (2/3/93) carried a story about the local cable company's newest twist on detecting unauthorized use of their programming. They offered a "free" T shirt to people who watched an ad which could -according to the company- only be seen on television sets receiving signals without paying for them. Two hours later, I received the note below (which seems to have been inspired by the same spirit). Gene Levine elevine@world.std.com [Moderator's Note: I stripped off about 50 lines of forwarded mail headers. This was in this morning's risks digest. ._dennis] COMPUTER CHEATS TAKE CADSOFT'S BAIT Employees of IBM, Philips, the German federal interior ministry and the federal office for the protection of the constitution are among those who unwittingly 'turned themselves in' when a German computer software company resorted to an undercover strategy to find out who was using illegal copies of one of its programs. Hundreds of customers accepted Cadsoft's offer of a free demonstration program that, unknown to them, searched their computer hard disks for il- legal copies. Where the search was successful, a message appeared on the monitor screen inviting the customer to print out and return a voucher for a free handbook of the latest version of the program. However, instead of a handbook the users received a letter from the Bavarian-based software com- pany's lawyers. Since the demonstration program was distributed last June about 400 people have returned the voucher, which contained coded information about the type of computer and the version of the illegally copied Cadsoft program being used. Cadsoft is now seeking damages of at least DM6,000 (ECU3,06E2) each from the illegal users. Cadsoft's tactics are justified by manager Rudolf Hofer as a necessary defence against pirate copying. The company had experienced a 30% drop since 1991 in sales of its successful Eagle design program, which retails at DM2,998. In contrast, demand for a DM25 demo version, which Cadsoft offered with the handbook of the full version, had jumped, indicating that people were acquiring the program from other sources. Although Cadsoft devised its plan with the help of lawyers, doubts have been raised about the legal acceptability of this type of computer detective work. In the case of government offices there is concern about data protection and official secrets. The search program may also have had side-effects that caused other files to be damaged or lost. Cadsoft is therefore preparing itself for what could be a long legal battle with some customers. So far it has reached out-of-court agreement with only about a quarter of those who incriminated themselves. ***************************************************************** * Brian Markey Internet: bmarkey@sni-usa.com * * Siemens Nixdorf USENET: ...!uunet!bmarkey@sni-usa.com * * Research & Development Division * * 200 Wheeler Road # 435 TEL: [usa](617)273-0480 X 3438 * * Burlington, MA 01803 FAX: [usa](617)221-0236 * ***************************************************************** - ----- End of forwarded message -----