I don't. I don't think somebody would risk ruining a $40000 piece of equipm=
ent.

What if the copy doesn't work out? Would you say a "professional" copy
has a better than 95% chance of being flawless? Not to mention that
while the copy is being done their equipment is sitting still, not
working and not generating revenue, and if they depend on that to work
then their entire production stops.

Remember they only get one chip per piece of equipment. And if
somebody calls me saying their control unit is broken and I find
there's a PIC missing that's going to be very expensive to replace.

On 11/15/06, Mauricio Jancic <info@janso.com.ar> wrote:
> To copy a PIC "professionally" takes about 2000 US dollars. If your
> equipment costs 40.000 US Dollars I think it might be a great investment,
> don't you?
>
> That's why they are saying that code protection is not that important.
>
> Mauricio Jancic
> Janso Desarrollos
> www.janso.com.ar
> info@janso.com.ar
> (54) 11-4542-3519
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu
> > [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of Crist=F3v=E3o Dalla Costa
> > Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 7:01 PM
> > To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
> > Subject: Re: [PIC] Hobbyist method to break PIC code protection.
> >
> > For me code theft is a very valid issue. It might not make
> > sense when you think of $400 gadgets, but with $40.000
> > industrial equipment the picture is quite different.
> >
> > As example, my own company manufactures testing equipment
> > which measures power output. It's in our interest to develop
> > a reputation of manufacturing accurate equipment however that
> > often conflicts with the customer's interest of having better
> > results to show and we don't want them tampering with the results.
> >
> > We also don't like the thought of people copying our firmware
> > which would also let them copy our PC software. Granted, it
> > would be illegal do redistribute our PC software but that
> > could happen in a limited scale such as inside a single
> > company and we'd never know.
> >
> > Therefore we took a number of measures: Code protection,
> > obfuscating the serial link and obfuscating the data files
> > saved by our computer software. Nothing that took significant
> > time to implement, but certainly added a couple levels of
> > difficulty to anyone interested in reverse engineering.
> >
> > And yes, our product is both expensive enough and needed
> > enough that people might be motivated to do just that,
> > copying the mechanical design and hiring a technician to
> > duplicate our capture/control board which is extremely
> > simple. And that's a very real danger.
> >
> > Code protection alone makes me sleep easier since nobody
> > would want to risk losing their equipment by trying to pry
> > the firmware from our PICs (of which they only have a sample of one).
> >
> >
> > On 11/15/06, David VanHorn <dvanhorn@microbrix.com> wrote:
> > > On 11/15/06, Andre Abelian <aabelian@mason-electric.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > This is my second company I worked in last 2 years that
> > they do not
> > > > enable CP at all and once I asked them about it the answer was if
> > > > some is smart enough to break the code protection then should be
> > > > able to make entire project from the scratch.
> > > > Then I told them why do you lock your car doors? any way
> > I have to
> > > > go.
> > >
> > >
> > > I used to do car alarms for a living, and I was constantly asked to
> > > install them in convertibles.
> > > Nice way to loose a top.
> > >
> > > In principle I agree though, I think the threat of code
> > getting stolen
> > > is overrated.
> > > That would mean that they would have to clone your hardware
> > too, and
> > > if they don't have the design resources to roll their own, then how
> > > will they maintain a design they don't really know anything about?
> > > --
> > > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your
> > > membership options at
> > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
> > >
> > --
> > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change
> > your membership options at
> > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
> >
>
>
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