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Apple Files Patent for "Tamper-Resistant Code"

freaktheclown writes "The US Patent and Trademark Office has revealed that Apple has filed patent no. 20050246554 for a "system and method for creating tamper-resistant code." The system is presumably for use in Apple's Intel version of its Tiger operating system."

74 of 401 comments (clear)

  1. Link to patent publication by Paska · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those who are interested, link to the original application publication.

    1. Re:Link to patent publication by Xyrus · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'll just set that on the wall next to the unpickable lock, the unstealable car, and the unhackable DRM.

      ~X~

      --
      ~X~
    2. Re:Link to patent publication by wickedsteve · · Score: 3, Informative

      That was tamper-resistant not tamper proof. I believe it will stand there next to flame-resistant items and water-resistant stuff.

    3. Re:Link to patent publication by SFalcon · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's not a good analogy. If flame-resistant blankets were like tamper-resistant code, once fire managed to burn the blanket it would then post all over the internet describing how it succeeded, resulting in increasingly efficient burning of said blankets.

    4. Re:Link to patent publication by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 4, Funny
      I'll just set that on the wall next to the unpickable lock, the unstealable car, and the unhackable DRM.
      Don't forget the unsinkable Titanic , too!
    5. Re:Link to patent publication by Chosen+Reject · · Score: 2, Funny
      --
      Stop Global Warming!
      Just say no to irreversible processes!
    6. Re:Link to patent publication by catwh0re · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I guess that's why they used the words tamper resistant, instead of tamper proof.

    7. Re:Link to patent publication by VC · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There's an iso standard for how water resistant watches have to be to get the 30/50/100/200/1000 metre resistant mark.

      A 30 metre resistant watch will probably survive washing up, or wearing in the shower. a 50 should survive surface swimming. a 100 should survive diving to 10 metres, a 200, should survive diving to 30 metres and a 1000 to as deep as humans have ever been and survived.

      The standards are ISO 2281 and ISO 6425 if anyone cares.

  2. Oh, I get it by ndansmith · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If you set the source code file to "Read Only," no one can change it.

    Why didn't I think of that?

    Seriously, this idea sounds so silly, it will only invite more developers to hack OSx86 in their spare time. With OpenDarwin already ported to x86, unless they make serious changes to the OS X kernel, I doubt any measure of TPM will be able to keep people from homebrewing their Macs now.

    1. Re:Oh, I get it by Gentlewhisper · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nothing beats the smell of a homebrewed mac in the morning :)

    2. Re:Oh, I get it by snuf23 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just because a company could install the OS on it's hardware does not make it legal. Dell cannot sell computers with OS X on them without consent from Apple. I seriously DOUBT they would secretly make it so that OS X would run on Dells. To do so would violate the DMCA and would not be able to be passed of as an accident.

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
    3. Re:Oh, I get it by MacGod · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ultimately, I don't think Apple cares much about the geeks hacking away at this. Most of their customers won't bother with any such hacking (especially given Apple's traditional target markets of non-techie creative users in film, image editing etc and the comparatively-neophyte home users). And even if they did get OS X to work on their Dell PC, there would be no drivers for their modem, sound card, video card etc. It just wouldn't be worth the hassle for most people.

      What this will do (and this is why it's "tamper-resistant", not "tamper-proof") is make it enough of a pain in the ass that I can't just take my OS X CD and merrily install it on my friend's Dell box. Which will ensure that most users simply won't bother. The geeks can hack away, and Apple will complicitly aloow it by simply not caring that much; we geeks represent too small of a market, and many of us wouldn't be paying for the software anyway. Apple just wants to make sure there aren't hundreds of Mac newbies out there calling their support line with questions like "I bought OS X and installed it on my Dell. Why won't it work?".

      --
      "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one " -Albert Einstein
  3. That's fair. by JohnnyLocust · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seeing how Apple's business model revolves mostly around hardware sales, I can understand why they'd go to such lengths to keep people from installing it on any computer they want.

    1. Re:That's fair. by martalli · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Because the draw to their hardware is the software and easy user environment. Everyone is going to prefer using the software on their low-cost dell and homebrew boxen over snazzy looking, overpriced hardware.

      If they could get past the issue of drivers, maybe they ought to be selling this like windows, though. After all, their OS is leaps ahead of Win XP in usability...they could charge for the software. They could require system vendors to demonstrate conpatibility before getting an "Apple Compatible" logo (costing ~$30/system on top of the software). They may not overwhelm Windows, but I would bet they could get up to 10+% of the market

    2. Re:That's fair. by Omestes · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Apple is not MS, I think they have other standards besides JUST market share.

      I think they want to be BETTER in all ways, and let that sell their computers.

      Jobs is a perfectionist, I think, before he is a capitalist.

      You make better customers when you do this, have a superior product in all ways. How many Windows fanatics are there compaired to the Mac people. Much more? Pretty good being that MS has a 80% market share, yeah?

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
    3. Re:That's fair. by catwh0re · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Another good example is that Apple's new iMac comes with a remote control and software that is driven by this. This software has now been hack to run on all Apple hardware with very little effort, even though it's not meant to be used on non-iMac computers.
      Sure it runs, but it runs best when there is a remote control driving it.
      My point is that Apple have logical ways that entice people to spend their money rather than hack around it, if the mac is for convienience and luxury, then hacking, possible slowdowns via emulated hardware and losing stability are simply not on the agenda.

      Additionally a similar argument is that alot of Mac software doesn't come with activation(when their intel counterparts do.) This is because there is strong correlation between people that purchase macs and people who are willing to cough up the dollars for software to run on it. A person who is unwilling to pay for software, is also someone who is unwilling to pay the premium prices that apple ask for.

      And Another: You can burn all your DRM iTunes Music Store songs to CDs, re-rip them and put them on any device you like... but the majority are happy with just using it on an iPod.

      My point is that, by taking away trivial hacks to make OSX work on generic hardware, the people who are likely to buy a mac, still will. The people who are never going to buy a mac, will hack it and run it on any hardware they like and probably aren't interested in purchasing an apple anyway; but this will just eat away a bit of that MS Windows marketshare. (Which makes Jobs happy.)

    4. Re:That's fair. by zootm · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't really mean to sound whiney, but it's never cool to like the market leader. It's cool to like the smaller company. Macs are good for art, so the artist clique are the ones that identify the systems as cool — just as "proper" geeks are usually Linux enthusiasts. It's all image.

      I don't think there's as much of a void between Apple and MS as people think. Apple's market share just comes from their "cool factor", so it's something they focus on.

  4. Aptly named. by AFCArchvile · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's called "tamper-resistant" because the Titanic was unsinkable.

    --
    "Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
    1. Re:Aptly named. by Sailor+Coruscant · · Score: 2

      Also because 'untamperable' sounds sucky.

  5. Are they trying to patent checksums? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    1. A method comprising: receiving a first object code block; translating the first object code block into a second object code block, wherein the translating includes applying tamper-resistance techniques to the first object code block or the second object code block; and executing the second object code block.

    Sounds like a checksum would fall into that category.

  6. Prior Art! by EdwinBoyd · · Score: 5, Funny

    I do believe HAL 9000's tamper resistant code kicked into high gear around hour 2 of 2001.

    "I'm sorry Dave, I can't let you do that"

  7. Yes it really is (Re:Aptly named). by jockm · · Score: 3, Informative

    They didn't say tamper-proof. They said resistant. The scheme they describe would make it rather hard to alter they bytestream.

    The Titanic was really sink-resitant...

    --

    What do you know I wrote a novel
  8. Translating code blocks by Trevin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My first reaction to this subject was "there is no code which cannot be cracked, given enough time and determination."

    After looking over the article, the method reminds me of Synapse Software's SynCalc (and related) programs for the 8-bit Atari computers. They had some real good code obfuscation, and they managed to do it in less that 48K of RAM! I never did get as far as figuring out whether they were using more than one level of a virtual machine, code obfuscation, or what have you.

    1. Re:Translating code blocks by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 2, Funny
      Why is Slashdot so obsessed with cracking OS X to run it on generic x86 machines? So they don't have to pay for OS X? You know it's strictly for warezing up on Bittorrent to screw Apple.
      Er, no. It's to avoid paying Apple usurious rates for hardware.
  9. Don't they mean... by Chickenofbristol55 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...that they just want people not to tamper with their code? I see no need for a patent. I recall a time when a patent was for something important: a novel idea or mechanism of some kind. Making a patent doesn't really do much, other than making it impossible for other people/companies to hack into osX 86. But then again, it was illegal anyway, so no one could (legally) hack osX x86 before this patent. Seems kind of redundant.

    --
    public class null extends java applet { System.out.print ("Tabula Rasa"); }
    1. Re:Don't they mean... by Unordained · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Don't you mean it makes it illegal for anyone else to build a tamper-resistant software product (using this method) and/or tool for making other software tamper-resistant? At no point does this patent prevent the tampering, nor circumvention of the not-quite-uncircumventable method. The legality of tampering is irrelevant.

  10. Tamper resistent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They are patenting Perl?

    1. Re:Tamper resistent? by zsau · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Have you seen this? It's just scary!

      --
      Look out!
  11. Re:in other news ... by JediLow · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, I never knew Microsoft was going for a complete change in their business model.

  12. The most interesting thing about this by spirit_fingers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For me as an administrator in a Mac-centric company, the most interesting part of this is Apple's accomodation of Linux, Windows and the Mac OS on their intel platform while simultaneously attempting to prevent their OS from being installed on a generic intel PC. If Apple can pull it off, it will give a significant value-add to their intel boxes. That's something that Micheal Dell would give his right arm to be able to do.

    1. Re:The most interesting thing about this by tool462 · · Score: 2, Funny
      That's something that Micheal Dell would give his right arm to be able to do.
      Since Apple is getting a patent on this process, he'll likely have to, if he wants to use it.
  13. Emulators by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Nevermind the DRM stuff, this is the interesting part. OS X/Wine, anyone?

    20. A method comprising: receiving a system call, wherein the system call is formatted for requesting a service from a first operating system, wherein the system call is included in a first object code block, wherein the first object code block is a run-time translation of a second object code block; determining which system call services of a second operating system are needed for providing the service; determining whether system call services for servicing the system call have been disabled, wherein the determining is based on a tamper-resistance policy; servicing the system call, if the system call services for servicing the system call have not been disabled.

    21. The method of claim 20, wherein the tamper-resistance policy disables system call services that access system resources.

    22. The method of claim 20, wherein the first operating system is selected from the set consisting of Mac OS X, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

    23. The method of claim 20, wherein the second operating system is selected from the set consisting of Mac OS X, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

  14. Old Idea-Prior Art by TFGeditor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Back in the day when memory was at a premium (64k-bytes max), self-replicating code was the bane of both "hackers" and sys admins.

    (yawn)

    --
    Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
  15. Can some ... by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... kindhearted soul please translate claim 20 from Lawyer to plain English for me?

    20. A method comprising: receiving a system call, wherein the system call is formatted for requesting a service from a first operating system, wherein the system call is included in a first object code block, wherein the first object code block is a run-time translation of a second object code block; determining which system call services of a second operating system are needed for providing the service; determining whether system call services for servicing the system call have been disabled, wherein the determining is based on a tamper-resistance policy; servicing the system call, if the system call services for servicing the system call have not been disabled.

    --
    Only to idiots, are orders laws.
    -- Henning von Tresckow
    1. Re:Can some ... by kebes · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'll gladly translate into multiple dialects for you.

      Marketing language:
      "20. A method comprosing: receiving a system call, wherein the system call is in synergy with other components of a system, wherein the sum of the system is leveraged to meet market demands in a new and fundamentally influential way, wherein a paradigm-shift results from the impact of the novel processes and inherently forward-looking business model that thereby ensues."

      Money language:
      "20. A method comprising: we program our computer to do something, someone else somewhere on earth programs their computer to do something that turns out to be similar; we determine that they have a computer doing something that only we are allowed to do; we sue; we make money."

      Tinfoil-hat language:
      "20. A method comprising: receiving a system call, wherein the system call is formatted to include all personal information on the computer, wherein this information is then encrypted and sent off to corporate HQ servers in order to be analyzed and thereafter used against the user of the originating personal computer sytem."

      (very) Plain english:
      "20. A method comprising: stuff happens."

      Plain english:
      "20. A method comprising: A translation layer between different operating system abstraction levels. When a running program (which may have been translated from a stored version of the program) makes a system call to the operating system, this methodology will handle that system call in such a way as to be "tamper resistant." For instance, it will only allow operations determined to be acceptable."

  16. There's another, more interesting aspect of this: by phillymjs · · Score: 5, Interesting
    An excerpt from an article on Architosh:

    However, the patent describes a process whereby users would be able to load one of three operating systems as their primary OS and then load a secondary operating system as their secondary OS. In the patent application, titled, System and method for creating tamper-resistant code, they describe the process as thus:

    22. The method of claim 20, wherein the first operating system is selected from the set consisting of Mac OS X, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

    23. The method of claim 20, wherein the second operating system is selected from the set consisting of Mac OS X, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

    From the sound of this, Apple is indeed going to do what I had simultaneously hoped for and feared: They're going to enable people to boot into OS X and run Windows at the same time (and vice versa)-- probably very similar to the way Classic runs now.

    I had hoped for this because it makes switching infinitely easier-- people can just load up Windows and their apps on their Intel-based Mac, and make a gradual transition to OS X. Those who use Windows-only vertical-market apps will have the world of the Mac opened up to them.

    I had feared this because there are bound to be some cheap/lazy asshole developers who will take one look at the Windows compatibility environment, cancel the Mac versions of their products, and tell Mac users to just use the Windows versions in said compatibility environment. I'd hate to see this reverse the Mac application availability renaissance that has been going on for the last few years.

    ~Philly
  17. Hey... back off by ImaLamer · · Score: 4, Funny

    I for one welcome our new tamper-resistant overlords.

  18. Tamper-resistant != tamper-proof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Tamper-resistant perhaps, but not tamper-proof! Cracks to this (along with everything else developed for the mac) are readily available. As the popularity of the platform grows, so will the number of people cracking, hacking and providing patches.

  19. Does it have to work to be patentable? by erroneus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Essentially, I cannot imagine how it could happen effectively. I program is a series of isntructions. We can talk about multiprocessor systems and all that all day long, but the fact is, it's code that is watching code to ensure it is authentic.

    That said, someone could try to create a processor that does not but audit the code being run and that it be outside of the main system's functions. I can imagine a lot of things that could be done with a scenario like that... but again, just like a thousand other things, it'll be hackable.

    Apple should just face the facts: Build on a system that is already populated with crackers and coders who are intimately familiar with hacking software systems, and you are giving them a new toy to play with. They had a good thing going when they were vending relatively unique hardware. Now they have decided to switch, ever increasingly, to less propietary hardware in order to save costs. They did it when they adopted PCI, PC style memory and IDE mass storage devices. Before long, people were upgrading their own systems with non-Apple stuff. Now the very core of the computer itself is being moved over to something more readily available on the market... they don't expect people to want to play?

    They are going to spend a LOT of money to avoid the unavoidable... they are going to waste a LOT of money. At some point they are going to have to choose either to abandon the OSX86 project and go back to PowerPC or just live with the fact that some people will run their OS on PCs not made by them.

    1. Re:Does it have to work to be patentable? by Myria · · Score: 2, Funny

      The USPTO has stated that their policy on perpetual motion patents can be changed by providing them with a working model.

      Melissa

      --
      "Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
    2. Re:Does it have to work to be patentable? by Lars+T. · · Score: 2, Funny

      Power your time machine with it, and go back in time to patent both.

      --

      Lars T.

      To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  20. Missed the point by rhesuspieces00 · · Score: 4, Informative

    This article has been up on mac-centric news sites for a while now. The difference is that all the others pointed out the more interesting aspect of the new patents: You can select, from MacOS X, Windows, and Linux a primary OS and secondary OS.

    So not only is Apple not preventing users from installing Windows or Linux along side OS X, they are going out of their way to enable them to do so.

    Michael Dell is feeling a tightening of the rectum right about now.

    And yet...slashdotters are still preoccupied with how Apple might someday try to prevent the OS from being installed on non-Apple hardware.

  21. Prior art? by Mr+Z · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think Arxan has significant prior art here. They specifically mention obfuscation. I unfortunately can't say much more other than that I've seen some demos of what they offer under NDA. I wish their web site had more meat (e.g. a white paper). I will say they have some bright guys, some of whom come from the NSA, working with them. Heck, even Gene Spafford's on their technical advisory board.

    And for the paranoid, I've mentioned nothing above I couldn't find on Arxan's or someone else's public website.

  22. typo in the patent? by conJunk · · Score: 5, Funny
    A system and method for creating tamper-resistant code are described herein. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving a first object code block. The method also comprises translating the first object code block into a second code block, wherein the translating includes applying taper-resistance techniques to the first object code block or the second object code block. The method also comprises executing the second object code block.

    it's candle proof? it can't be narrowed?

    1. Re:typo in the patent? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't know, I am just a gluer.

      Glue all the way!! Death to duct-tape!!

    2. Re:typo in the patent? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 4, Funny

      It should read "tapir-resistant".

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  23. Re:So.... by garote · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Why not? All corporations are, by definition, for profit organisations. They don't care about what's right for their customers or otherwise, they only call about one single thing... their bottom line.

    That sounds hip and jaded, but it also belies a disturbing lack of faith in society. Next you'll declare that all employees care about, by definition, is their paycheck -- therefore they don't care if their job consists of beating children with baseball bats, as long as it pays the bills. And all politicians care about is getting elected, therefore they'll just put their feet up and masturbate once they get into office; and all men care about is sex, and all women care about is babies ... et cetera.

    In this specific case, what's wrong with Apple developing technology to make its products hard to emulate or reverse-engineer? Aside from its potential for harassing pirates, I don't see the harm in it. And the harm to pirates is most likely illusory anyway, since pirates and crackers are a very, very resourceful demographic.

    Tamper-proof code is still ultimately only as secure as the hardware at its weakest link, and that weakest link for Apple will be this: The DVD that a new OS upgrade ships on. Put it in the drive, read it off. From there, it's only a matter of a carefully developed emulation environment and a precise sequence of code patches until the software is just as redistributable as the latest RedHat image.

    Still, and as has been said a million times already, Apple doesn't need to make it impossible - just inconvenient for the layman. And even if Apple ties its OS to its hardware with a zillion steel cables, ... what's the loss, for a company that refuses to license them separately? You wouldn't complain that the software operating your Honda Accord isn't portable to your Ford Taurus, would you? (Well, if you're a Linux rivethead, you'd probably point and laugh, but you still wouldn't complain.)

    As for the Powerbook with strips "all over" the LCD ... call AppleCare and keep complaining until they take it back. A friend of mine (who now works for Apple, ironically) sent his 15" PowerBook back THREE TIMES before receiving a machine that didn't have white spots on the LCD, and Apple paid the postage both ways each time. (They also told him they were tracking all the returns in order to build a legal case against the supplier of their LCD screens.)

    And as for "why shouldn't I just buy a Dell", ... I don't know, why shouldn't you just buy a Dell? Get the freaking system you'll be happy with. The rest is just slashdot-esque dick-measuring.

  24. Re:Looks like some of the IOCCC code is being rele by vought · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From reading it, I think it has more to do with TPM....

    In one embodiment the system comprises a processor and a memory unit coupled with the processor. In the system, the memory unit includes a translator unit to translate at runtime blocks of a first object code program into a blocks of a second object code program, wherein the blocks of the second object code program are to be obfuscated as a result of the translation, and wherein the blocks of the second object code program include system calls.

    TPM contains flash. and can obfuscate code at runtime. I'm not in the know, except that I have worked on some publicly available TPM spec stuff.

  25. Re:There's another, more interesting aspect of thi by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Using Classic (or for that matter, X) apps on OS X is certainly possible, and even fairly easy -- but it's just enough of a PITA to remind you that you're not using the OS's native environment. I suspect that any Apple-built Windows compatibility layer will be the same way. People will put up with it if they have to, but their preference will be for native OS X versions.

    I mean, there's probably an entire team at Apple devoted to making it just right: easy enough to claim compatibility, hard enough to act as a spur for native development. And they probably have tastefully decorated offices, too. ;)

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  26. Re:There's another, more interesting aspect of thi by maelstrom · · Score: 4, Funny

    No worries mate, it worked out pretty good for OS/2 Warp.

    --
    The more you know, the less you understand.
  27. This smells of MS style TCPA... by plasmacutter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    microsoft's aim in supporting TCPA was to make their code "tamper resistant" by encrypting parts of the OS with pgp style encryption.. and using tpm modules to store the private pgp code. thereby making only the cpu and "trusted" applications capable of running the code through disassemblers.

    To see apple jumping at something like this first is scary. When i found out apple boards had TPM's i suspected, though objectively. To me.. apple is pretty much signalling their intent to join ranks with gates and his hollywood buddies and cooperate with their plans to push lock down computing. Knowing how jobs has reacted to drm in the past.. it's just shameful.

    What's sad is it' was never necessary. From what i remember of my hardware courses last semester, the newest x86 cpus are basically a cisc interpreter attached to a risc chip. All apple would have to do is have intel make the chips: A. without the interpreter at all.. thus making it a different platform with added benefit of greater efficiency and cost savings to boot.. or B. work with intel to make a different microcode interpreter.

    I'm glad i bought the last of the PPC generation powermacs because it looks as if apple will lose a customer. Over the past 2.5 years i've poured over 10 grand into apple because it was objectively the best by a slim margin.. guess not anymore. linux will be king now, and a lot lighter on my wallet.

    --
    VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
  28. Re:Looks like some of the IOCCC code is being rele by ZhuLien · · Score: 2, Interesting

    hmmm, method means a piece of code in a particular memory location executes, then in the same memory location a new piece of code executes. sounds not a lot different that something normally done by any application that wants to reuse a bit of memory to me.

  29. Apple's Gift to the BSD Community by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    22: The method of claim 20, wherein the first operating system is selected from the set consisting of Mac OS X, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.
    23: The method of claim 20, wherein the second operating system is selected from the set consisting of Mac OS X, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.
    29: The method of claim 24, wherein the machine includes an operating system selected from the set consisting of Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
    66: The machine-readable medium of claim 64, wherein the first operating system is selected from the set consisting of Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
    67: The machine-readable medium of claim 64, wherein the second operating system is selected from the set consisting of an Apple Macintosh Operating System, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

  30. Re:in other news ... by richdun · · Score: 3, Funny

    Also, Slashdot seeks new software to spell-check all posts, especially those that misspell words in the topic title, which appears in the title bar while viewing the page.

  31. I've SEEN this! by TheSpoom · · Score: 4, Funny

    I recently had a friend ask me for help in debugging a PHP extension for some CMS... Ah, Google to the rescue; it was SEF Advance, a Joomla extension that did... something, I never really bothered to find out. Anyway, issue was that the guy was trying to debug the script locally (maybe to add something) and it was saying that it "was only licensed to x and y domains", where x and y were the production servers. The code itself was a bunch of open source config variables, then a statement as follows:

    eval(gzinflate(base64_decode('7T39Vxs5k...')));

    The parameter went on for ages. When I changed the eval to echo, I got another block of the same, only the data was different. Apparently the guy had just gzipped his code over and over (five times to be exact) and used that as "encryption" so nobody would be able to modify it. I got around it in around five minutes, and sure enough, the domains were simply an array in the decrypted (inflated?) code.

    The point is, according to the parent, it looks like Apple is patenting object code encryption, which has been done many, many times before in many different ways. I'm sure that the rest of the patent indicates something "unique" (and I put unique in quotes because there's no way to know it hasn't been done before somewhere) but in the end it's just diminishing possible future innovations by a little bit, like all software patents.

    (Does this mean I'm liable under the DMCA? :^D)

    --
    It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
    - E. Debs
    1. Re:I've SEEN this! by MouseR · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Perhaps the difference lies with plausible links with the Intel DRM built into their next CPUs.

      Thus, a vendor-ID-ed CPU family, locked to Apple, would be the only one capable of accessing crucial DRM-ed parts of the OS (the one wich loads AQUA and friends--not the open source Open Darwin layer).

      Anyone will still be able to boot OpenDarwin on pretty much any Intel hardware.

      But, running the sugar on the cake will be very hard without Apple ID-ed CPUs (and hence, motherboard) without actually using an Apple-issued motherboard.

  32. Re:What if MS makes Windows Incompatible w/ Apple by Scowler · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Why would MS be opposed to someone installing Windows or other MS software on Apple hardware? That makes no sense. MS is primarily a software company, and they could care less which x86 hardware their software is being run on. From their point of view, the guy who purchased Apple hardware primarily intended to run OSX in the first place, and any Windows usage on the machine is bonus to them.

    Indeed, Microsoft might be secretly happy about this scheme, since they might be less beholden to Dell.

  33. Re:Sounds impossible by StikyPad · · Score: 4, Informative
    Sounds kind of like having an acid that can eat through anything. How do you can you keep it in a container if it can eat through anything?

    By separating it into 2 or more inert components and storing them seperately. How is that at all like tamper-resistant code?

    It's not impossible to create code that is very difficult to alter in a desirable manner, unless that desire is to have it cease functioning. The current StarForce copy protection achieves this by encrypting the executable and libraries of the program in question, and then running them on its own virtual machine which runs at the driver level. It sounds like Apple is planning to do exactly the same thing, unless I'm misinterpreting their patent. Each of their points says:
    "a machine-readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: installing a first object code program, wherein the installing includes, statically translating the first object code program into a second object code program that is executable on a machine, wherein the statically translating includes, determining an identifier based on a state of the machine or a user attribute; and obfuscating the first object code program or the second object code program, wherein the obfuscating depends on the identifier; and storing the second object code program for execution by the machine."
    But that's just how I'm reading it.. I could be wrong. At any rate, StarForce has yet to be cracked directly, but since its main purpose is to prevent copying, other weaknesses have been exploited; mainly in the area of virtual drives. Evidently it tries to identify the drives on a system, and if it successfully IDs one, it will require the disc to be placed in that drive. To ensure forward compatibility, if it cannot identify any of the drives, it will accept any drive that the disc appears to be in. It still attempts to blacklist virtual devices though, so the virtual drive software must be obfuscated. As I said, the only successful means of defeating the protection thus far have been to alter the data external to the program; the executables and DLLs themselves have not been successfully cracked, except when the publisher opted not to use encryption.
  34. obl. Simpsons quote required here. by pboulang · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dr. Nick: Inflammable means flammable? What a country!

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    This comment is guaranteed*

    *not guaranteed

  35. Has anyone actually read TFPA? by podperson · · Score: 4, Informative

    So patents are apparently written in a very strange way for reasons that no doubt make sense to someone. Aside from converting a tree structure into a series of numbered paragraphs (this patent describes an X being comprised of Y and Z. The Y comprises a Q, R, and S. etc.) it is also written in a bewilderingly specific and yet vague way so as to at all times make it clear that whenever they talk about something in particular, they in fact mean to include stuff that they haven't mentioned and may not even have thought of.

    So, having tried to wade through all of this, here's my potted summary.

    A "tamper-resistant" code block can be created *automatically* (i.e. not by hand) by translating an ordinary code block into a tamper-proof code block. The tamper proof code-block may be composed of checksummed code with extra inserted code that performs arbitrary operations (using, for example, information stored on a ROM, or taken from the computer's clock, or from the user's settings) and then is expected to produce a specific result.

    E.g. multiply the current time by the user's name converted into a number and subtract the checksum of the code block and produce the number it did when the code was initially "tamper-proofed".

    To verify the code has not been tampered with it can be executed in an environment (a virtual machine, say) which behaves like the real environment but where system calls have no effect so that only the ancillory results are produced. If these results aren't right, the code block is rejected.

    I'm probably missing a lot, but the proposed system is AT LEAST this sophisticated, which is a heck of lot more convoluted than, say, checksumming code blocks. I think figuring this out is well beyond the script kiddies that produce the majority of malware.

    1. Re:Has anyone actually read TFPA? by softweyr · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Your analysis seems close. The basics of this technique are not really all that new, a company named Clyde Digital produced several system monitoring tools for VAX/VMS back in the late 80s that loaded VMS system patches. The code for the patches was encrypted uniquely for each customer; the customer's license key was used to decrypt the code as it was loaded into the VMS kernel. This would certainly qualify as an obfuscation, if not the on-the-fly obfuscation mentioned in the patent.

      Creating a chip to sit on a memory bus and decrypt instructions as they are fetched from memory, which is what this really sounds like, is sick and wrong. One question that leaps immediately to mind is what kinds of hoops you have to jump through to get your operating system 'keyed' so it will boot on the iMax86.

      Jeers to Apple for attempting to create a system we won't be able to run open source operating systems on, if that's what they're shooting for.

  36. Re:I ask again: what DRM? by rsborg · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Jobs has publically stated that Apple is not in the business of treating its customers like criminals.

    That's all well and good... I trust Jobs despite his egotistical nature (unfortunately, he's often right). But...

    What happens when he no longer runs Apple (succumbing to that great GC in the sky, or losing interest, etc.)? Do you trust #2 at Apple to keep this claim? And for how long?

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  37. My letter to Apple for what I want on a x86 Macs by saha · · Score: 3, Insightful
    See request #4. Note this was dated Oct 5th 2005, before the announcement PCI Express gfx cards.


    What the (blank) department would like to see in future Intel based Macintosh computers.

    1. A multi-button mouse. With the recent "Mighty Mouse" part of this need has been address. Although, this mouse could use more ergonomic feedback and improvements. A default option from the Apple Store for the "Mighty Mouse" is fine, but additional choices for a two button or three button mouse from a pull down menu choice will give customers more flexibility.

    2. The HFS+ journaled filesystem must coexist with an NTFS, or any Linux filesystem like XFS or ext3 on a multi- partition harddrive.

    3. Intel based Macs should have IEEE-1394 support and have Firewire target mode and netboot from EFI (the new Intel based BIOS)

    4. Intel based Macs should be able to run Windows XP SP2 on it and future Windows Vista. i.e. minimize or eliminate custom ASICs on motherboard that would cause problems installing Windows. Dual booting Intel based Macs will be desirable, but what would be even better is virtualization using Intel's Vanderpool technology to run the few Windows applications that haven't been ported to Mac OS X i.e. AutoCad, Rhino 3D.

    5. Intel based Macs have to support PCI Express x16 for graphics cards. Support high end professional graphics card from Nvidia Quadro and ATI FireGL with CoreImage support is absolutely critical for engineering, scientific and the visualization industry. If possible a 3rd player supporting Mac OS X, like 3DLabs Wildcat Realizm series. This would greatly benefit the Mac OS X platform as a more serious player in the CAD and high end computer graphics industries.

    Last but not least for all Macs (x86 and PPC) an easy integration with Active Directory or AFS for user login. Currently both methods require work on Mac OS X.

  38. re: unhackable DRM, etc. by King_TJ · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well - we *do* already seem to have virtually "unhackable" DRM out there right now. Anyone see a working hack for DirecTV receivers using the "P4" series cards?

  39. Re:reminds me and makes sense of ms droping office by qengho · · Score: 2, Informative


    remember when microsoft dropped office for the mac.

    Sure don't. You must be thinking of Internet Explorer, abandoned years ago at version 5. Office is still supported on the Mac.

  40. Small - Medium Businesses as well by alexhmit01 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, if I was doing IT for a larger company (my small company has 15 people, adding 5 every 6 months or so, so we buy that many new Macs), and I could buy a Dell and pop in an Apple DVD, that would be my Mac stations... Basically, for anyone that wanted OS X, it would be easier and cheaper normally to buy the lowest end Dell and stick OS X in there... Sure the equivalent Dell to an Apple is about that same price as the Apple (+/- 10%), but Apple has limited selection... Sure the equivalent Dell to the Mini (including XP Pro) is about $550, but I can buy a $300 Dell... and possibly do dual-monitor for $300-$600, compared to $2000 with Apple...

    Basically, Apple doesn't want people buying design workstations (dual monitor, decent RAM, etc.) buying a $1200 Dell instead of a $2000 "PowerMac," and spending $200 to get the Mac OS X, they want to sell the $2000 hardware and make their $400 in margins...

    Sure, there WILL be a way to buy an off the shelf machine, or alternatively, assemble off-the-shelf parts to match what the Mac has, flash firmware or whatever to match Apple's trickiness, and run OS X... guess what, college kids will do it... but there is no way for my company I would do that...

    Because if I roll out a patch (say, 10.5.3) and it breaks my machines, I'm SOL until a new "hack" comes out... or a security patch does it, etc., etc... Sure, for a hobbyist they'll do it... and I doubt Apple cares that a few Alpha geeks run hacked Macs... they get some mindshare and possibly sell some software (maybe not the OS, but maybe Pages or Quicktime Pro, or anything), and maybe when that kid makes purchase decisions he'll buy Macs...

    What they DO NOT want is my small company buying 5 Dells + 5 Dell monitors + OS X DVDs, instead of 5 Mac Minis + 5 Apple monitors (the combo looks SO slick) and then buying OS X upgrades annually...

    It's not about normal unsupported... it's about some OS upgrade breaking the system and leaving me fucked with an insecure machine until the upgrade happens. ALL they need to do is have the stock kernel check something in the hardware and it will accomplish 80% of their objectives. Anything ELSE they do it just gravy... my guess is something in the kernel, and something in the closed source layers... basically force you to apply a new hack every security patch/OS upgrade, and that will keep all but hobbyists from going that route... and that is ALL Apple needs.

    Alex

  41. evil, bad patent by idlake · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The patent contains no interesting, new methods. Instead, Apple is attempting to patent the general idea of transforming a program into a tamper resistant form.

    The USPTO will probably grant this, or many of its claims, despite its lack of novelty. But this patent is a poster child for what is wrong with the patent system.

  42. Just published a paper on this by brdsutte · · Score: 2, Informative

    And hey, we only needed one machine to implement this. Moreover, in our technique, the program rewrites itself, and it does so fully automatically, so no manual editing is required. Look for our paper on "Software Protection through Dynamic Code Mutation" at last week's Workshop on Information Security Applications (WISA2005), which you can download at www.elis.ugent.be/~brdsutte.

  43. Re: unhackable DRM, etc. by Mister+Transistor · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's not that it's unhackable, it's just too much trouble to have been broken so far. The encryption engine and relevant microcode is hidden deep in an ASIC, and no one has been able to secure an e-beam slicer long enough to open it up. There are only a few of them at major universities and chip fab labs, and it's pretty hard to "borrow" time on them during your lunch hour for such a "project". Someday, it will probably be broken but it has served the purpose of any successful encryption system - to keep sensitive data from prying eyes until it's no longer sensitive.

    Actually, no one ever really cracked the P3 DRM either, what was known was due to internal leaks, rumored to have been possibly deliberate, as NDC (Rupert Murdoch) owns their competitor, Dish Network! Anyway, the P3 hacks were all workarounds that still needed the real hardware DRM decryption engine to do the work. There was rumors of a soft decryptor, but I never saw one and personally I think that was vaporware.

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    -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
  44. Such a confused debate this by Budenny · · Score: 2, Informative
    Here are some of the confused arguments one comes across.

    Apple should not sell the OS seperately because I don't want to buy it. I want the integrated experience. Its a non-sequitur, if that's what you want, buy it. Why should it not sell to others who don't want it?

    Apple is a hardware manufacturer and if it allows people to run the OS on other hardware, it will go out of business. People who argue this, then turn around and claim that Apple hardware is better cheaper and faster than anyone else's. So why will unbundling not lead to a boom in hardware sales?

    Apple shouldn't lock its OS at all. Why not? Of course, its entitled to protect its investment by product activation or DRM or whatever. Everyone else does.

    Finally, we have the argument, if its unbundled, people will try to run it on hardware which will not run it, and this will put off buyers and damage the reputation of the company. This is crazy. It will be shipped with a list of what is supported. And manufacturers of cards, mainboards etc will tell you what the OS requirements are. They do it now, after all. Why would they stop?

    Finally we have the argument, people who buy X and run it on their Toshibas (as ZD-net seems to have done) will not be having the Apple Experience. Well, maybe not. Why do you care? If you want to have the Apple Experience, which seems to consist in looking at a particular case while using X, go ahead. But this is not a reason for selling other people the unbundled X experience, if this is what they want.

    The more I hear people arguing about this, the less sense it makes. Surely the point is, sell the customer what he wants to buy. He probably really does know what he wants. Let the customer worry about value for money and the sort of experience he is having. Don't try to dictate what he is supposed to want or how he is supposed to feel.

  45. Re:And even if I could...would I? by Haeleth · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm sure there are a lot of people who might do it though. People who want OS X's lack of spyware but want to be able to run some Windows software for work or play.

    This is really beginning to get to me. Here I am, having used Windows almost daily for 15 years, and I still haven't been infected with any of this spyware that's supposedly so rampant.

    What on earth can I be doing wrong?

  46. Spoken like a true zealot by goldspider · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You don't know Steve Jobs. What qualifies you to define his character and personality so absolutely?

    You aren't on Apple's board of directors. What qualifies you to discuss his company's methods and intentions as if you are?

    True, I don't know you either, but your words suggest that you're on a steady diet of Apple kool-aide.

    Why is it that software patents and IP law in general is evil except when it comes to Slashdot darlings like Apple and Google? The inconsistency and hypocrisy is a sure sign that religious fanaticism has replaced reasoned thought.

    And no, I'm not new here!

    --
    "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
  47. Re:And even if I could...would I? by freeweed · · Score: 2, Funny

    What on earth can I be doing wrong?

    You're forgetting that the plural of anecdote is still not data.

    --
    Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
  48. Re:uh oh.... by SteeldrivingJon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    " My point is that sometimes, if you don't put up fences, you will attract fewer unwelcome visitors than if you do. We are hard-wired to "push the envelope", to attempt the unthinkable, however it may manifest itself. This is an instinctive behaviour, as much a natural function as having sex or going to the toilet, and any attempt to pretend the contrary will surely be doomed to abject failure."

    I'm sorry, but this just comes of as a sorry effort at excusing the behavior of crackers. "We're just at the mercy of our primate urges! We deserve pity and sympathy! We know not what we do!"

    Yet it's also an effort at self-mythologizing: "attempting the unthinkable". Wow, that's heavy. As if shoplifting is made 'unthinkable' by the existence of security cameras.

    The same argument could be tried by rapists "Women shouldn't try to deny men sex, because that just drives us to take it by any means necessary".

    It's bollocks for rapists, it's bollocks for shoplifters, and it's bollocks for crackers.

    --
    September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA