The prevention of unauthorized copying of software or media. From the 1950s to the 1980s, software copy protection was not an issue. Vendor support for mainframes and minicomputers had always been vital, and only legitimate licensees could receive it. As desktop computer software became more complex, technical support became just as important, but could be obtained from many sources, not just the vendor of the product.
Software Copy Protection
In the early days of floppy disk-only computers, some software copy protection methods were used, but "copy buster" programs were quickly developed to break them. When hard disks became the norm, software copy protection was abolished. In order to defragment a hard disk, files had to be easily copied from one part of the disk to another.
The Internet has provided some assistance with software copy protection. In order to receive automatic patches and updates, the software is registered with the vendor at time of installation, and the same update will only be sent once to the same account. Other methods are used to ensure that software is always running in the same machine (see Windows Product Activation). See hardware key for an effective, but unpopular method.
Media Copy Protection
Copy protection for music and movies is a constant dilemma for the publishing and broadcasting industries. Every recipient that receives a digital file has the ability to reproduce a perfect copy of the original unless the file is protected via digital rights management (see DRM). See DMCA and peer-to-peer network.
Software Copy Protection
In the early days of floppy disk-only computers, some software copy protection methods were used, but "copy buster" programs were quickly developed to break them. When hard disks became the norm, software copy protection was abolished. In order to defragment a hard disk, files had to be easily copied from one part of the disk to another.
The Internet has provided some assistance with software copy protection. In order to receive automatic patches and updates, the software is registered with the vendor at time of installation, and the same update will only be sent once to the same account. Other methods are used to ensure that software is always running in the same machine (see Windows Product Activation). See hardware key for an effective, but unpopular method.
Media Copy Protection
Copy protection for music and movies is a constant dilemma for the publishing and broadcasting industries. Every recipient that receives a digital file has the ability to reproduce a perfect copy of the original unless the file is protected via digital rights management (see DRM). See DMCA and peer-to-peer network.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Weekend Gadget Guidance: Speed up Vista installation via thumb drive
- It's Labor Day weekend. Have you given your computer a fresh Windows install for the holiday? (If you're the kind of guy or gal who's into periodically wiping your hard drive, this tip's for you.) The How-To Geek over at Lifehacker recently posted a...
- Blog posts 2008-08-29
- PikySuite (exe)
- PikySuite is a set of 3 products (PikyBasket, PikyFolders, & PikyTools) that eliminate day-to-day computing frustration from activities such as copying files & accessing favorite/recent folders. PikySuite is meticulously designed to save a lot of unnoticed time & effort wasted on trivial file/folder tasks everyday. PikyBasket is a file copy...
- Software downloads 2008-08-29
- Say goodbye to Yahoo! Mash
- On today's web, so many social sites never get off the ground because users don't easily migrate from their online communities. As much as I want MySpace to die, people will still be using it as long as their friends are using it. Yahoo's mashup social network...
- Blog posts 2008-08-28
- An IE8 Beta 2 Q
- An IE8 Beta 2 QWhat if you uninstall beta 1 first?Will you fall back to IE7 then be able to install beta 2 with a fallback to IE7?Can I uninstall IE8? Yes ... unless ...... you downloaded and installed IE8 Beta 1 prior to installing Windows XP SP3, in which...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-28
- Ocean Coast Themes (Windows Mobile) (exe)
- Ocean Coast Themes Windows Mobile Windows Themes package comes in free and cost version, none of them contains any kind of malicious software or plugins. Free version is free to download and use, has only one theme just to see how it looks like on your mobile device. In order...
- Software downloads 2008-08-28
- HTML2Any for Windows (exe)
- HTML2Any is the software to convert html/text data to html/javascript/text data with charset encoding conversion or without. Open, drag'n'drop, paste from clipboard, set source charset encoding and reopen source document, convert to destination document, then save it in the wished charset, copy to clipboard or repaste it to source field....
- Software downloads 2008-08-28
- PDF UNdo (exe)
- PDF UNdo is a versatile and most importantly simple to use PDF to Word, RTF or TXT converter. PDF documents are converted with immense accuracy and preserve the formatting of the original document including images. PDF UNdo will copy fonts down to size and type, preserve single and multi-column pages,...
- Software downloads 2008-08-28
- MailRetriever (exe)
- MailRetriever for Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager DPM is an affordable and easy-to-use software package for browsing, recovering, searching, exporting, and analyzing e-mail and mailbox content directly from a Microsoft Exchange Data Store EDB. MailRetriever integrates directly with Microsoft DPM so you can open data stores directly from a...
- Software downloads 2008-08-28
- Internet Explorer 8 beta 2
- With the public release of its second beta, Microsoft said it intends for the Internet Explorer 8 browser to be more customer-oriented than previous versions of its browser. Our initial impression of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 is positive: we think Microsoft has not only caught up with Opera, Safari,...
- Product reviews 2008-08-27
- "Why do you hate Vista so much?"
- "Why do you hate Vista so much?"Reasons that Vista bothers me...1) I have now spent over 4 hours trying to get SP1 installed on a new box.... the BSOD's are blurry (kind of funny huh?) The same box, XP installed with less heart ache and fewer issues... while I am...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- Patent suit alert: This time, Google and Verizon on the hot seat
- Patent suit alert: This time, Google and Verizon on the hot seatgood for him - stop patent pirates! and "patent" deformdoes this not seem like an appropriate action for an inventor to take? if i copy your article without your permission, do I get a pass? probably not because you...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- Who's Dumber: Bad Guys … Or Good Guys?
- Who's Dumber: Bad Guys … Or Good Guys?Bad guys don't need applauseJust money. So they'll modestly attempt to avoid receiving their due when they compromise systems. I wouldn't assume that not hearing about a success means the success has not occurred.Also, this statement is confusing:Now, we have the...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- Psystar countersues Apple for anticompetitive business practices
- Psystar countersues Apple for anticompetitive business practicesOh this is going to be goodApple is going to have a tough time wiggling out of this one and MS have a great opportunity, ad-wise, to strongly differentiate themselves, not that they had any difficulty with that in the first place, but keying...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-27
- iPodRobot PC Transfer (exe)
- iPodRobot PC Transfer batch copy your iPod music and videos back to your computer folder or iTunes music library with just few clicks, include playlists, songs rating, comment, play count, and volume adjustment. It is useful when you reinstall your system or you just want to copy music and videos...
- Software downloads 2008-08-27
- RegMusicMakerPro (zip)
- RegMusicMakerPro 8 Track Polyphonic Synthesizer, select, copy, paste x 8 functions, built in Media Player and mixer, 178 polyphonic instruments, 180 tempo rates, alpha blending, midi mapper, MP-401, and MS GS wavetable synth.This version is the first release on CNET Download.com.
- Software downloads 2008-08-27
- PrtScr (cab)
- How to save a copy of the mobile device screen? This simple utility makes screenshot and saves it into the BMP file. Just run the program and check file 'prtscr.bmp' in 'My Documents' folder. Also you can specify your own screenshot file name in the command line of application. This...
- Software downloads 2008-08-27
- Does Psystar have a legit argument in Apple countersuit?
- Does Psystar have a legit argument in Apple countersuit?AppleIf Apple wants to grow they need to open up their OS. After using Apple computer for few weeks I realize why people choose Windows over Apple inspite of the issues like system-hang, slower wakeup/sleep, etc. Opening up would resolve such issues...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Malware detected at the International Space Station
- Malware detected at the International Space StationBetter use Linux next timeI'm amazed that anything M$ is allowed into space. It's totally insane. What next - avionics powered by Windows? That's one flight I won't be going on :DRE: Malware detected at the International Space StationNorton Anti-virus updates on a daily...
- Discussion threads 2008-08-26
- Feel like taunting an identity thief? Don't.
- The next time you get the urge to enter angry messages to phishers on fake malicious Web sites, stop and consider this discovery by researcher Joe Stewart. The identity thieves behind the Asprox botnet have built extra logic into phishing sites to detect taunts and subject those...
- Blog posts 2008-08-26
- Malware detected at the International Space Station
- Malware is reaching new heights, and going into Space through a removable media carrying the W32.Gammima.AG password stealing malware to the International Space Station. According to SpaceRef.com : "W32.Gammima.AG worm is a level 0 gaming virus intended to gather personal information. Virus was never a threat to any of...
- Blog posts 2008-08-26
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Marc Canter: The master of multimedia speaks
-
In this Super Techies interview, larger-than-life techie Marc Canter talks with ZDNet's Editor in Chief Dan Farber about his career as a multimedia pioneer.
- Watch the video >>
- Demo: Virtualization with the Intel® Xeon® Processor
-
In this Flash demo, you'll learn about virtualization performance and features ideal for consolidation, load balancing, and disaster recovery with leading enterprise reliability.
- Watch how the Intel Xeon processor can increase performance and reliability of your servers >>
