[ILUG] Novell A Linux Leader? GPL 3 and

[Justin Mason]

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Niall O Broin writes:
> On 8 Feb 2006, at 00:05, Declan Moriarty wrote:
> > They could hide as much gpl code as they chose inside the fpga,
> > and nobody could ever find it! They can then construct a narrow
> > set of commands (much like the numbers on your telephone) to
> > interface with the GPL DRM code; Then patent the _interface_ and
> > they will have pirated the gpl protected software, short circuited
> > any protective license, and the part of their code explained in
> > the patent need only be the interface to their cpu, from which
> > they would profit. It's the perfect crime. They could insist that
> > all code is proprietary, and who could argue when you hadn't seen
> > it? Fpga, incidentally stands for Field Programmable Gate Array.
> > Like PALs, you buy them blank and program them to be anything you
> > want. Unlike Eproms, they can not be read.
> 
> Are FPGAs so large now, and have they such functional blocks available, 
> that you could actually do that? You're talking upwards of 100M 
> transistors to produce a modern processor + a big chunk of ROM.

Sounds like a very expensive way to allow yourself to use free software
for free!

After you've done that, you might also need to start looking into Ross
Anderson's research into tamper-protection security mechanisms and the
various means his lab has invented, for looking "inside" and reversing
proprietary hardware.  There's a whole lot more of a rabbit hole to
explore, although I suspect the end result would cost $10,000 and
run at 7Mhz ;)

- --j.
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