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Leopard to contain Anti-Piracy features?

G

Gav

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 23, 2007
185
0
I read somewhere, probably by a mis-informed weirdo (lol) that Leopard was going to implement some sort of Anti-Piracy feature, like Activation on Windows...

Anyone know if this is true (beta testers maybe)?

If it is, its a bit of a downer, especially when you have a house full of Macs that you want to upgrade. Although, the family pack has a pretty decent price...
 
I haven't heard this, I'm sure if this was the case that the big sites, i.e MacRumors, Appleinsider, Digg et al would have picked up on it, especially if it were in the Dev builds right now.
 
I hate activation on software because it can mess things up so badly and screw you over when you have legitimate issues. It's also pretty pointless because inevitably it will be cracked.

On the other hand, given how many Leopard "users" there are on this forum at the moment...
 
AlBDamned said:
I hate activation on software because it can mess things up so badly and screw you over when you have legitimate issues. It's also pretty pointless because inevitably it will be cracked.

On the other hand, given how many Leopard "users" there are on this forum at the moment...
Click to expand...

I imagine that those "users" will buy the real deal when it is out and have just downloaded it to get a taster as to what it will be like when it is released. After all the year long gap between keynotes about Leopard + the rehashing of the same information used in the keynotes leaves a lot people wanting to know what the "Top secret" features and the other 290 features are. Then again some will just download it again.
 
There may well be anti-piracy measures in Leopard, but judging from Apple's past record it's likely not going to be for users of Macs, but rather directed toward users trying to install Mac OS X on "generic PCs" (like the current /System/Library/Extensions/Dont_Steal_Mac_OS_X.kext).
 
Clearly, when someone says there is "some sort of anti-piracy feature", then they don't have very much clue what they are talking about. Is that supposed to mean that I can't make copies of Leopard? Or that I can't download pirated music? Or I can't use pirated software? Or pirates can't easily steal my data, including credit card numbers? Or Leopard won't work on any pirate ships? Or something entirely different, that your source just didn't understand?
 
M@lew said:
Since people need to have a Mac to use OSX, I don't think there's much need for an anti-pirate system.
Click to expand...


the real reason is most people who own macs purcahse their software, and apple tracks that data. If your logic were true, everyone would purchase windows which isn't the case particularlly in Asia.
 
Gav said:
If it is, its a bit of a downer, especially when you have a house full of Macs that you want to upgrade. Although, the family pack has a pretty decent price...
Click to expand...

M@lew said:
Since people need to have a Mac to use OSX, I don't think there's much need for an anti-pirate system.
Click to expand...

I think the former explains the latter. People wanting to use the single license to upgrade a house or a family pack beyond it's scope are the reason that there is a need for an anti-pirate system. But, Apple does it the smarter way (well, for them). I'm sure they expect a certain amount of piracy and they build that expectation into their pricing structure. If people went on a piracy-rampage, that's when things would get ugly and apple would have to institute some lockdowns. In the meantime, we can all pay for it.
 
This rumor or whatever it is could be some kind of fear coming from Leopard's code signing feature that has been mentioned here and there. I'll quote an official public blurb here:

Leopard's code signing feature allows the Keychain and other system software to verify your application's ownership without prompting the user, even after you've updated the program. Find out how digitally signing an application ensures the integrity of your code and enables the system to recognize unauthorized changes and alert the user. Learn how signed applications work, how signing improves security and your customers' experience, and how to sign your applications.
Click to expand...

In other words, as advertised, this is a feature that will be under the local admin's (or in a personal setting, the user's) control. The implementation is very much like how DRM works, but the part where the end user gets to decide what happens makes this something very different.
 
There is no anti-piracy activation like in Windows or anything like that from what I can tell. Of course, it could be something during the initial setup done behind the scenes...but I doubt it. This is as of Leopard 9A499.
 
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