Apple Applies For Automatic Shutdown and Piracy-Fighting Patents

[MacRumors]

The US Patent Office has revealed a number of recent patent filings by Apple.

The first notable filing deals with automatic shutdown of a device and/or host after certain conditions are met, such as after a portable media player's battery is finished charging, or after a file transfer is complete. Apple suggests a scenario where an iPod or iPhone is plugged into an iMac to charge, but the user wishes for both to go to sleep or shutdown after the charge is complete (which may take several hours). The application, #20070294546, initially filed June 19, 2006 was made public today.

The other filing of note, patent application #20070288886, deals with attempts to fight software piracy.

A digital rights management system permits an application owner to cause code to be injected into the application's run-time instruction stream so as to restrict execution of that application to specific hardware platforms. In a first phase, an authorizing entity (e.g., an application owner or platform manufacturer) authorizes one or more applications to execute on a given hardware platform. Later, during application run-time, code is injected that performs periodic checks are made to determine if the application continues to run on the previously authorized hardware platform. If a periodic check fails, at least part of the application's execution string is terminated--effectively rendering the application non-usable. The periodic check is transparent to the user and difficult to circumvent.

Apple has thus-far resisted industry trends towards activation of software, and currently only uses such methods in some of its most costly professional software. While it is clear that Apple has been working on methods to combat piracy, it remains to be seen how far Apple will employ the methods in its software. Readers are reminded that only a portion of the applications filed end up making it to shipping products.

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[Bonte]

Filemaker pro has some stiff DRM-like protection, i could easily see iTunes DRM (of some sort) become standard for music, video, e-books and sofware.

[CANEHDN]

I think that's a great idea. I hope something like this comes about soon.

[Squonk]

This could be used to prevent all of Apple's software and Mac OS from running on non-Apple sold hardware. So the hackintosh's would be dead in the water. Sounds like a good thing for Apple. I've been curious to try OSX on my HP mini tower just to see it work, and software protection would lock that out.

[~Shard~]

The automatic shutdown ability makes sense - it would be a nice little touch. As for the piracy-fighting measures, good luck with that - it's an uphill battle to say the least. Personally, I respect Apple's current "honor system" when it comes to their software and do not take advantage of it.

[notjustjay]

Originally Posted by CANEHDN

I think that's a great idea. I hope something like this comes about soon.

Which, the charge-and-shutdown? Or the anti-piracy code?

Or were you just hoping to make First Post?

I'm not a big fan of anti-piracy or activation measures, but I definitely understand the need for them. Personally I don't tend to pirate Apple software because I find it to be high-quality and well-priced and such a joy to work with, that I *want* to give money to reward the people who wrote it. There may be some merit to the psychology of Apple trusting its users to do the right thing, and me wanting thusly to live up to that expectation.

Ultimately I think that's the best anti-piracy measure you can have. Make quality software that's well-priced, and trust your users to do the right thing.

[GoodWatch]

Originally Posted by Squonk

This could be used to prevent all of Apple's software and Mac OS from running on non-Apple sold hardware. So the hackintosh's would be dead in the water. Sounds like a good thing for Apple. I've been curious to try OSX on my HP mini tower just to see it work, and software protection would lock that out.

IMHO the hackintosh's are no real threat and history tells us that most, if not all, protection schemes are circumvented.

[Brianstorm91]

Automatic shutdown is a great idea.

[Stella]

The "Apple Applies For Automatic Shutdown " sounds like patent abuse.

[plumbingandtech]

well-priced

Yah. Except define exactly "well-priced"...

It could be zero and the thieves will still dowload it illegally. Justification is a wonderful thing to those that pirate.

It costs too much, I wasn't going to buy it anyway, the Developer is big, he won't missed my money.. blah blah...

[lofight]

Really nice idea, you just click on a button, turn computer off after charging ipod, downloading file and rendering images, and you leave come back computer is off and it did all your tasks.. clever

[crazycap]

apple seems to patent everything they can think of, whether it a hit or miss...

I guess they figure out they have nothing to loss

[drierp]

Why doesn't apple just dedicate a USB port to have power even if the machine is off (yet plugged in).

I'd rather have the machine off, from a power standpoint, anyway.

Simple is better..

-Peter

[tveric]

Yeah, what a great idea - if your goal is to cause a pain in the ass for people who legitimately buy the software.

Anyone remember what happened when Microsoft introduced activation schemes for Windows XP? A living nightmare for a huge number of legitimate buyers of Windows XP, that's what. Meanwhile, pirated versions on the net were either hacked, cracked, or simply the "non-activation" corporate version of XP. In other words, it did next-to-nothing to combat piracy (casual "make-a-copy-for-my-friend" was the only thing this eliminated) while causing headaches for legit users that wanted to transfer their XP copy to another hardware platform, or even just change out an existing video card/motherboard/etc.

I had one friend who, after buying XP and attempting to move it to a new box 6 months later, ended up getting fed up with the activation "piracy protection" after he couldn't get it to work at all on the new box, and simply downloaded the corporate version. Good job Microsoft, drive actual buyers of your DRM-laden **** to piracy.

Do we really want to see Apple go farther down this road? Think before you answer.

[GoodWatch]

Originally Posted by drierp

Why doesn't apple just dedicate a USB port to have power even if the machine is off (yet plugged in).

I'd rather have the machine off, from a power standpoint, anyway.

Simple is better..

-Peter

I just bought the USB power adapter.....

[Clive At Five]

While I disagree with software piracy, I don't like the idea of Apple being paranoid about it. And THEY were the ones who bashed the "Big Brother" image in 1984...

-Clive

[hagjohn]

Isn't that what Windows Product Activation does?

A digital rights management system permits an application owner to cause code to be injected into the application's run-time instruction stream so as to restrict execution of that application to specific hardware platforms. In a first phase, an authorizing entity (e.g., an application owner or platform manufacturer) authorizes one or more applications to execute on a given hardware platform. Later, during application run-time, code is injected that performs periodic checks are made to determine if the application continues to run on the previously authorized hardware platform. If a periodic check fails, at least part of the application's execution string is terminated--effectively rendering the application non-usable. The periodic check is transparent to the user and difficult to circumvent.

[thevofl]

Steve Jobs said that the way to combat internet piracy of music is to offer the music at a reasonable price.

I wonder why he doesn't employ that philosophy with his own software. hmmmmm

[Consultant]

Originally Posted by crazycap

apple seems to patent everything they can think of, whether it a hit or miss...

I guess they figure out they have nothing to loss

That's because Apple allowed Bill Gates access to the original Mac OS, which resulted in the knockoff otherwise known as windows.

[Slip]

Originally Posted by tveric

Yeah, what a great idea - if your goal is to cause a pain in the ass for people who legitimately buy the software.

Anyone remember what happened when Microsoft introduced activation schemes for Windows XP? A living nightmare for a huge number of legitimate buyers of Windows XP, that's what. Meanwhile, pirated versions on the net were either hacked, cracked, or simply the "non-activation" corporate version of XP. In other words, it did next-to-nothing to combat piracy (casual "make-a-copy-for-my-friend" was the only thing this eliminated) while causing headaches for legit users that wanted to transfer their XP copy to another hardware platform, or even just change out an existing video card/motherboard/etc.

I had one friend who, after buying XP and attempting to move it to a new box 6 months later, ended up getting fed up with the activation "piracy protection" after he couldn't get it to work at all on the new box, and simply downloaded the corporate version. Good job Microsoft, drive actual buyers of your DRM-laden shite to piracy.

Do we really want to see Apple go farther down this road? Think before you answer.

You know what, I think I prefer the currents Apple software management...
The idea of the setting the iPod to sync and then shut down looks quite good, though sounds like something that could be achieved in Automator...
But hey, Im not the one prgramming it

[Mydel]

I like the way it is now. ALL anty-piracy patents can/will be circumvent sooner or later. Im not taking advantage and all my Apple software is legit. But for example I hate that iwork require activation. If I loose the key than good luck with activation. It happend to me twice in case of Diablo. And they wont replace my code without proof of purchase what would mean shipping disks to US. That cost more less the same what a new game.
So I think they should NOt go down the Microsoft road. And we all know that keygen are available all over the net

[Small White Car]

This looks to me like something they'd do with iPhone software, not Mac software.

They've already made it clear they want to control what happens on iPhones very, very closely. This would fit that model. And the patent comes just in time for the SDK announcement in February.

So the timing and the motivation all match when it comes to the iPhone. On the Mac side, nothing's really changed recently, so why suddenly change the way they do business there?

[notjustjay]

Originally Posted by plumbingandtech

It could be zero and the thieves will still dowload it illegally. Justification is a wonderful thing to those that pirate.
It costs too much, I wasn't going to buy it anyway, the Developer is big, he won't missed my money.. blah blah...

The big guys, the counterfeiters, and the cheapskates are going to pirate it anyway. Nothing you can really do to stop them by force. Registration codes? Google "<productname> registration key" and you've got one. Dongles, activation phone-homes, or other tomfoolery? Google "<productname> activation crack" and you're in.

The ones you want to sell to are the casual thieves, the college students, the regular guys like you and me. Show me a product that's well written and wows me and then tell me it only costs $x (you're right, the magic number will vary) and I'll say "Wow?! Really, that's all they want?? Sold! I'll buy one right now!" Cases in point, from my own experience: DEVONthink, Salling Clicker, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, iLife, iWork, Final Cut Express, ScenalyzerLive (a DV capture tool for the PC, cost me a paltry $30 and saved me hours of work, I would have happily paid $99+).

Show me a bloated, crappy, crashing product and then tell me it costs 10 times more than I expect to pay, and I'll say "Hmm... I wonder if my friend Joe has a copy I could borrow..." Or, the most honest thing I can say is "I'll live without it then". Either way, no sale. Cases in point: various Microsoft and Adobe products.

The key is, there's virtually nothing you can do about piracy. Any attempts to do so only end up hurting the real users. In the end, stopping piracy is not the problem you need to solve. Increasing your sales is the problem you need to solve. Make a good product, charge a good price, and watch your sales increase. Isn't that the whole reason we're all on Macs in the first place?

[0racle]

Originally Posted by Stella

The "Apple Applies For Automatic Shutdown " sounds like patent abuse.

Especially since many file transfer applications have that feature already. Moving it to an OS API is very handy and would be a good reason to upgrade, I doubt it's patentable.

[rockosmodurnlif]

Aren't there third party solutions that shut a computer down after a task is completed?

When my Powerbook fell and broke, I took a backup I made of the hard drive and copied it onto an older Powerbook. This DRM method seems to want to make it so that I would not only have a broken PowerBook but also broken applications. Thanks for looking out for me?