Is Apple finally cracking down on software pirates?
By Triston McIntyre
For the longest time now, those who have chosen to take the “unpaid” route for Apple software have been able to do so without repercussion; however, Apple submitted a patent earlier this month that might be looking to crack down on all those hapless pirates.
Though the title, “Run-Time Code Injection to Perform Checks,” is a bit dry (apparently Apple isn’t hiring any creative writing majors to the patent and legal offices), Forbes suggests this patent could mean that Apple is taking a page out of Microsoft’s playbook to work against those who would steal Apple software.
The other possibility I see in this is that Apple is looking to restrict the use of its software to only Apple hardware. A lot of people are running hacked versions of OSX on platforms other than Apple’s, and I prefer to think that, instead of cracking down on pirates, Apple just wants to make sure those who want the Apple experience are purchasing Apple technology.
Either way, both moves couldn’t hurt Apple. Many users appreciate Apple’s current stance on piracy, which is sort of a, “you bought the technology so we’re happy,” position, but couldn’t be disappointed (unless they themselves were pirates) by a move to verify the legitimacy of a piece of software.
If you want Apple stuff, buy it.
Related:
Stumble It!
Entry was posted
on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
under 
Print This Post
Read more entries by Triston McIntyre.
December 27th, 2007
I find your seemingly cavalier attitude to be a bit odd considering todays climate of decreasing privacy.
From the little information in your article it would seem as if Apple is designing a system of adding non-user approved code into the processing life of the given computer.
This has two [possible] negative effects for any computer user.
1) Because this code will take time to execute it will reduce the amount of processor time and other resources that the user may want spent else where. AKA it will slow the computer down.
2) Any code that “tracks” or other wise identifies it self to a third (non-internal) party has a potential to be misused and abused. Now from your article it does not specify if this is what the patent entails. However given what many other companies have attempted I would not be surprised.
In addition there are various legal concerns regarding software tracking systems. Just look at Sony’s mishap with DRM or with the recent Vista anti-pirating scheme.
Now all this is not to say that I think that people should not buy the software they use. I do support that a user should legally own the software that they use.
To summarize my point, *I* the owner should have complete control of any hardware, software, equipment or system which I purchase.
No one would argue that if I bought a hammer, I should only be able to use a specific brand of nails. The same is true with software. If you purchase any apple software you should have every right to run that software (including Apple OS X) on any device, hardware or system that you wish to.
Lastly, the argument that there can be no legitimate complaint or opposition to this policy unless the person is a software pirate, is abhorrent to many principles upon which this country (being the US) stands. I refer to principles in both common morality and legality. This same argument with which you close your article was most dramatically demonstrated during the McCarthy era. I think we can all agree that that spectacle was a travesty.
Having said all of that, I do wish to thank you for bringing this bit of information to my attention.
Sincerely,
J. Scott
December 27th, 2007
You know, I agree with you on many of those points; however, I think that privacy is being invaded to a much more alarming degree in day to day life, by the government, for instance, that complaining about this sort of thing seems a bit futile. We live in a M$ driven world in which most of these sorts of invasive practices are in place; are you saying that, even though Passport and other things like that already own all of our information, that Apple is wrong to follow suit? I’m not saying that it isn’t invasive; I’m simply saying that Apple isn’t doing anything that the rest of the world isn’t already doing.
My entire point for the article, as someone who isn’t a pirate, is that Apple wouldn’t be doing wrong to crack down on piracy, and that I think you should only be able to use Apple software on Apple hardware…if you’re curious as to why I believe that, go check out some of the other articles on why Apple’s image is so successful. Anyway, thanks for the comments.
December 27th, 2007
I think that you have the wrong idea of what the patent software actually is. Read here:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2007/12/22/the-new-apple-patent-wga-evil-or-iphone-knievel/
December 28th, 2007
You do not purchase software like a hammer, you buy a license to use the software. I may purchase my satellite dish, but I don’t have the legal right to hack the rom or card to receive free programming.
Apple should lock down OSX if they want to safeguard hardware sales. While Apple hardware compares well if you take an existing Mac model and compare a PC with the closest hardware, there are huge holes in the lineup where Apple doesn’t offer an equivalent. The Mac faithful refer to this as the cheap, lowest common denominator peecee that will somehow spontaneously self destruct within months and have the aesthetics of a 2″ zit on the forehead. Normal folk who don’t do much besides play DVD’s and music, email and surf the web call them computers for the rest of us. Apple makes great computers, but OSX is the reason folks buy a Mac. Apple rightly fears the ramifications of the unwashed masses being able to use its’ OS on unsanctified silicon.