Patent · US Expired

Method of preventng software piracy by uniquely identifying the specific magnetic storage device the software is stored on

US5615061A · kind A · utility

49Cited by
9References
7Claims
0Family size

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateSep 29, 1994
Grant dateMar 25, 1997
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 29, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B20/1816
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The present invention provides a new and novel method for generating a identification number unique to a particular magnetic storage device. In a first preferred method, areas of a storage device which are defective are located. Then specific bad bits within the bad area are determined. The locations of the bad areas plus the location of the bad bits are used to create a identification number for the particular storage device. In a second preferred method, the surface of the magnetic storage device is read in the analog domain. The amplitude variations during the read process are used to generate a identification number for the storage device. Once a identification number is determined, it is used for preventing software piracy or other uses where a specific magnetic storage device needs to be identified.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.