Advent of Computing Episode 92 - Copy Protection
Oct 2, 2022
A dive into the origins of commercial software and how the 1969 unbundling changed the market. A look at early technical protections from hardware keys to crypto microprocessors. Tales of tape and dongle tricks on home computers and the arms race between pirates and vendors. Reflections on how protection strategies often ended up harming ordinary users.
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Compiled Code Made Commercial Software Possible
- The rise of compiled languages created a separable product: machine code distinct from readable source, enabling closed-source distribution.
- This technical separation laid groundwork for a commercial software market once binaries could be sold without revealing source.
IBM Unbundling Created The Software Market
- IBM's 1969 Great Unbundling forced software and services to be charged separately, turning previously free, shared code into leased commercial products.
- That policy shift created demand for third-party software and exposed vendors to petty piracy threats.
Law Couldn't Stop Everyday Software Theft
- Early vendors relied on legal contracts and copyright to stop piracy, but those were slow and weak against everyday copying.
- This legal gap incentivized hardware/software-based copy protection efforts starting before home computing.