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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to computer software or programs and, more
particularly, to a method and system for protecting software programs from
unauthorized use and/or copying.
With the tremendous increase in the number of home computers, as well as
business computers that are currently in use, there has been a
corresponding increase in computer software or programs for use with such
home and business computers. For example, specialized applications
programs have been developed for everything from presenting elaborate
spread sheets and desk top publishing to sophisticated computer games. In
general such applications programs are sold to the end user either
directly by the individual or company which developed the program, or
through an established distribution network which may include mail order
and/or retail sales outlets. In many cases, the applications program is
stored within a standard magnetic storage medium, such as floppy disk, to
facilitate loading of the program into the home or business computer for
performing the desired task.
Control of the software, particularly software distributed on a floppy
disk, has become a major problem, due to the ease with which a program
stored within a floppy disk may be duplicated. Although, in theory, the
copyright laws protect software developers from unauthorized copying of
such programs, it is impractical, if not impossible, for software
developers to fully enforce their copyrights, particularly against
companies or individuals making a relatively small number of copies. For
example, a small company may purchase one copy of the original software
from the developer and may then produce four or five unauthorized copies
of the software for separate use on computers at different locations
within the company.
Likewise, a group of individuals may combine their money to purchase one
original of the software for a particular computer game and then make a
number of unauthorized copies for separate use of the software by each of
the individuals within the group on their own computers. In either event,
the developer of the software is unable to enforce its rights against the
copiers since, without having inside information, it is not possible for
the software developer to know that the unauthorized copies of the
software were made and/or who made the unauthorized copies. Moreover, it
would be prohibitively expensive to take legal action to enforce
copyrights with respect to such small numbers of unauthorized copies.
Accordingly, software developers are generally unable to enforce their
rights and, therefore, are suffering economic loss.
Various methods have been developed to prevent the unauthorized copying of
software. One such method involves requiring the purchaser of the software
to enter into a license agreement which permits use of the software only
upon a single designated computer and prohibits the purchaser from making
unauthorized copies. This form of protection is difficult and expensive to
enforce, particularly when dealing with smaller companies and individuals.
A second form of protection requires utilizing a secret code or password
which must be obtained from the software supplier and entered when using
the software. While this form of protection has merit, it still does not
preclude unauthorized use or copying on a relatively small scale since the
code or password can be obtained by one person from the software supplier
and can be given to the other users within the company or group.
A third form of protection involves placing restrictions within the
computer program which completely preclude copying or permit only a single
copy of the program to be made. While this form of protection can be
effective, it may prevent a legitimate purchaser of the software from
making a single backup copy, as permitted by law. In addition, specialized
programs have been developed to circumvent or override this type of
protection. Other forms of copy protection have been developed and
employed with limited success. In some cases, the other forms of
protection are too expensive to employ with some software, and, in other
cases, these other forms of protection are not technically suitable for
some software.
The present invention overcomes many of the problems inherent in the
existing forms of protection for computer software and provides protection
from both unauthorized use and copying. With one embodiment of the present
invention, the serial number of the particular hardware, as well as the
serial number of the particular copy of the software, must be entered,
along with a unique activation number obtained from the software supplier,
in order to enable use of the software. The software performs an operation
upon the hardware serial number, the software serial number and the
activation number to produce an intermediate code which is compared to a
number hidden within the software and uniquely associated with the
particular copy of the software. The program is arranged to automatically
change the hidden number in a predetermined manner whenever the software
is copied. The software is only operable if the comparison indicates that
the intermediate code and the hidden number are identical. In this manner,
only a single embodiment of the software can be used with the activation
number initially supplied by the software developer. Every time a copy of
the software is made, the user must contact the software developer to
obtain a new activation number. In this manner, the software developer is
able to keep accurate records with respect to the number of copies made
and may charge the user accordingly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, the present invention comprises a method and system for
protecting a software program recorded within a storage medium for use
with, or transmission to, computer or processor based hardware. The method
comprises inputting a hardware code uniquely associated with the
particular hardware with which the software is to be employed and
inputting a first software code uniquely associated with the particular
embodiment of the software being employed. A first predetermined operation
is performed upon the hardware code and the first software code to produce
a first intermediate code. A unique activation code for the particular
embodiment of the software being employed is inputted, the activation code
being received from the software supplier. A second predetermined
operation is performed upon the first intermediate code and the activation
code to produce a second intermediate code. The second intermediate code
is compared with a second software code uniquely associated with the
particular embodiment of the software and stored at a hidden location
within the software, the second software code not being ascertainable by
the user. The software is enabled for use if the second intermediate code
and the second software code are identical.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of a
preferred embodiment, will be better understood when read in conjunction
with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention,
there is shown in the drawings an embodiment which is presently preferred,
it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the
specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer and a floppy disk,
within which is stored a computer program;
FIG. 2 is a schematic flow diagram which depicts a method for a software
supplier to generate an activation code in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the invention; and
FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram of a preferred embodiment of a portion
of a computer program which verifies that an activation number received
from the software supplier is correct and enables use of the remainder of
the computer program.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate like elements
throughout, there is shown in FIG. 1 a typical personal computer 10 of a
type well known in the art, and commercially available from a variety of
manufacturers, for example, IBM Corporation. The personal computer 10
includes a standard keyboard 12, a standard cathode ray tube (CRT) or
screen 14 and a pair of floppy disk drives 16. The keyboard 12 is employed
to facilitate communication between an individual user and the computer 10
in a manner which is generally well known in the computer art. The CRT 14
also functions in a manner well known in the computer art for displaying
information inputted through the keyboard 12, as well as information
outputted by the inner workings of the computer 10. The disk drives 16 are
employed in a manner well known in the computer art for receiving one or
more floppy disks to facilitate the loading or entry of computer software
or programs stored within a floppy disk into the computer 10. A typical
floppy disk 18 is illustrated in FIG. 1. As used herein, the terms,
"program," "computer program," "software" and "software program" are
interchangeably used to mean a series of instructions which are used to
control the operation of computer hardware or other computer based or
processor based hardware.
While in the present description of a preferred embodiment of the
invention, a personal computer 10 is shown and described, it will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be
employed in conjunction with any other type of computer, including
standard computers such as a mini computer or a main frame computer,
and/or special purpose computers. In addition, the present invention may
be employed in connection with any other type of computer or processor
based hardware such as computer or processor controlled machinery or
equipment and any device or network of devices using digital signals or
switching.
Likewise, while in connection with the description of the presently
preferred embodiment, the computer program or software is illustrated as
being stored within a floppy disk 18, it will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art that the program or software could alternatively be
stored in any other type of storage medium, for example, a different
magnetic medium, such as a hard disk magnetic card, magnetic tape, etc.; a
semiconductor based storage medium, such as a random access memory (RAM),
a read only memory (ROM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), etc.; or
a nontraditional storage medium, such as a digital audio or video tape or
disk or network of storage devices. Accordingly, it should be clearly
understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular
computer hardware 10 or storage medium 18 used to illustrate the preferred
embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 shows the operation of the presently preferred embodiment of the
invention. Each original copy or embodiment of the computer software has a
first software code which is uniquely associated with that one particular
embodiment. In the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the
first software code is comprised of the serial number for that particular
copy of the software. When the software is stored within a floppy disk 18,
the serial number is generally imprinted upon a label or other indicia
applied to the upper portion of the floppy disk 18 in a manner well known
in the art. In the present embodiment, the first software code or serial
number is preferably numeric and is comprised of any number of digits.
Associated with each original copy of the software is a second software
code which is stored within the software at a hidden location. The second
software code is unique for each original copy of the software and may
have a predetermined relationship with the first software code or serial
number. In any event, the software supplier is able to identify the second
software code for each particular embodiment of the software by reference
to the first software code or serial number. As previously indicated, the
second software code is hidden within the software at a location which is
not identifiable or ascertainable by the software user. In the presently
preferred embodiment, the second software code is numeric and may
sometimes be referred to as the hidden number. However, it will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that the second software code
could be some other specialized code, such as alpha, alphanumeric or
digitally coded signal.
The computer program automatically changes or increments the second
software code in a predetermined manner each time the software is copied.
In the presently preferred embodiment, the numeric second software code or
hidden number is incremented by the addition of a predetermined number,
such as 7, each time the software is copied. The software user is not made
aware of the manner in which the hidden number is changed and cannot
ascertain this information. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the
art that the second software code could alternatively be changed in some
other manner such as by multiplying the code by a predetermined number, or
performing any other type of mathematical or logical operation upon the
second software code.
When a user wishes to use a program protected by the present invention, the
software program is installed into the hardware being employed by the
user. Of course, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
in some circumstances, such as when employing a hard disk or a fixed
storage medium such as an EPROM or the like, the software will already be
"installed" into the computer and need only be recalled and transferred
from the storage medium into the active memory of the computer. The
program then requests that the user input a hardware code uniquely
associated with the particular hardware with which the software is to be
employed. In the presently preferred embodiment, the hardware code is the
PG,11 numeric serial number of the hardware upon which the program is to
operate. However, the hardware code could be something other than the
hardware serial number and need not be numeric. The program also requests
that the user input the first software code or serial number for the
particular software. Of course, it will be appreciated by those skilled in
the art that in the case of some computers and some storage media, the
program may have the ability to recall or otherwise obtain and input the
software serial number and possibly the hardware serial number without any
specific action by the user.
The program performs a first predetermined operation upon the hardware code
or hardware serial number and the first software code or software serial
number to produce a first intermediate code. In the presently preferred
embodiment, the first predetermined operation comprises the operation of
adding the numeric hardware serial number to the numeric software serial
number to produce the first intermediate code which is also numeric.
However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a
different mathematical operation, such as multiplication, division, etc.
may alternatively be employed. Moreover, since the hardware code and the
first software code need not be numeric, some other type of operation or
data manipulation may alternatively be employed. In the preferred
embodiment, the result of the first predetermined operation or first
intermediate code may be stored in a predetermined location or register.
The computer also requests the user to input an activation code received
from the software supplier. The activation code is unique for the
particular embodiment of the software being employed, as well as for the
particular hardware with which the software is employed, and is
individually determined or generated by the software supplier in a manner
which will hereinafter be described. In the presently preferred
embodiment, the activation code is numeric and may be referred to as an
activation number. However, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the
art that the activation code need not be numeric but could be some other
form, such as alpha, alphanumeric or any digitally coded signal.
The program performs a second predetermined operation upon the first
intermediate code and the activation code to produce a second intermediate
code. In the presently preferred embodiment, the second predetermined
operation comprises the operation of addition and the numeric first
intermediate code is added to the numeric activation code to provide a
second intermediate code which is also numeric. However, it will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that the second predetermined
operation may be a mathematical operation other than addition (i.e.,
multiplication, division, etc.) or may be a non-mathematical operation,
such as a logical operation.
In the presently preferred embodiment, the second intermediate code is
temporarily stored in a predetermined location, such as a register. The
program then compares the second intermediate code with the second
software code or hidden number. The comparison may be made in any known
manner. If the comparison indicates that the second intermediate code and
the second software code are identical, the software is enabled and the
user is permitted to operate the software uninhibited. On the other hand,
if the comparison indicates that the second intermediate code and the
second software code are not identical, the program is halted and the user
is prevented from using the software. The user is then required to contact
the software supplier and provide the software supplier with information
to permit the software supplier to determine or generate a correct
activation code. The information which must be provided to the software
supplier includes the serial number of the hardware upon which the program
is to operate, the serial number of the software and the number of copies
of the software which have been made. In this manner, the software
supplier may confirm how many copies have been made and upon which
different hardware serial numbers the particular program has been operated
in the past and can utilize this information to obtain compensation from
the software user commensurate with the number of copies and the number of
different computers upon which the software is, or has been, operated.
Thus, a software purchaser is precluded from using unauthorized software
copies and is also precluded from using the software on more than a single
computer without compensating the software supplier.
FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of a preferred method for the software
supplier to determine or generate an activation code or activation number
to be supplied to the user. The purchaser of the software must contact the
software supplier and provide to the software suppler the first software
code or software serial number, the hardware code or hardware serial
number, as well as whether the original software is to be employed or, if
not, the number of times copies have been made and the copy number. The
software supplier then accesses its records to obtain the second software
code or hidden number uniquely associated with the particular serial
number of the software purchased. If the original software is being used
and one or more copies of the original software have been made, the second
software code is appropriately changed or incremented in the same manner
in which the software increments the hidden number so that the software
supplier has a second software code which is identical to the then current
second software code in the particular embodiment of the software
(original or copy) that the user is about to operate. The software
supplier then performs the first predetermined operation, in the presently
preferred embodiment, addition, upon the software serial number and the
hardware serial number to produce a first intermediate code in the same
manner in which it would be accomplished by the software. The software
supplier then performs a third predetermined operation upon the then
current second software code and the first intermediate code to produce
the activation code. In general, the third predetermined operation is
complementary to the second predetermined operation which is performed by
the software. Thus, in the present embodiment, the first intermediate code
is subtracted from the second software code to produce the activation code
or activation number. The activation code is then provided to the software
user to enable use of the software in the manner described above.
Preferably, the software supplier will establish a telephone "hot line" to
permit software users to conveniently obtain the proper activation code
for the software. Preferably, the software supplier will have a computer
system available for prompt generation of the activation code upon
receiving the necessary information from the user.
From the foregoing description, it can be seen that the present invention
comprises a method and apparatus for protecting a software program from
unauthorized use or copying. It will be appreciated by those skilled in
the art that changes may be made to the embodiment described above without
departing from the broad inventive concepts thereof. It is understood,
therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment
disclosed, but is intended to cover all modifications which are within the
scope and spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
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