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73 Amateur Radio - Free and Open Source Software
73 Amateur Radio - Free and Open Source Software
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Number 9 on your Feedback card<br />
The Net/ROM-NordLink Question<br />
A case ofsoftware piracy?<br />
by Neil Shapiro WB2KQI<br />
Editor's Preface-As digital technology<br />
finds a larger place in amateur radio, the<br />
same complex legal and ethical problems in<br />
the computer industry are boundto crop<br />
up. This article focusses on one such<br />
issue-alJeged sof tware piracy-that has hit<br />
the amateur packet radio community.<br />
The conflict ston ed between two groups:<br />
Sof tware 2000, a sof tware development<br />
company in the US; and NordLink, an<br />
amateur packet radio club in Germany.<br />
Sof tware 2000 developed a program, called<br />
Net/ROM, to enhance packet radio data<br />
transfer. Shon ly thereafter, NordLink<br />
came out with a program, called TheNet,<br />
thai hadprecisely the same specs-s-i.e., it<br />
perfanned the same range oftasks in the<br />
identical hardware configuration-as<br />
Net/ROM, Version 1.3. Software 2000<br />
marketed their program-installed on a<br />
ROM chip-for$65. NordLink made their<br />
program available free ofcharge.<br />
Ron Raikes WB8DED, presidentof<br />
Sof tware 2000, soon began to claim that<br />
NordLink pirated the Net/ROM sof tware.<br />
The author, Neil Shapiro WB2KQI, made<br />
his own investigation andpresents his<br />
findings in this article.<br />
See the sidebar f or a briefoverview of<br />
packet radio.<br />
We want your input on this important<br />
issue. Send your correspondence in<br />
reference to " Net/ROM-Nordl.ink<br />
Question. ..<br />
...de Bryan NSIB<br />
T<br />
he packet radio community is now<br />
embroiled in a controversy that could<br />
affect the rest of amateur radio. On the high<br />
level , the problem focusses on principles of<br />
copyright and computer law; on the grassroots<br />
level, it boils down 10 eth ics and community<br />
acrion.<br />
Net/ROJ\.I<br />
Ron Raikes WB 8DED. founder and owne r<br />
o f Software 2000, began marketing Net/<br />
ROM nodes in May 1987. Raikes began beta<br />
testing (i.e. fiel d testing) the chip in 1986.<br />
The ROM chip he supplied plugs into many<br />
popular TNC-2 compatible terminal node<br />
co ntrollers, such as AEA 's PK-80. and<br />
MFJ's 1270/74s. The chip's instructions turn<br />
a Net/ROM-equipped T NC into in a Netl<br />
ROM node station. Other hams using factory-delivered<br />
TNCs can call into a Net/ROM<br />
node near them . often wit h j ust a 2 meter<br />
handheld or other low power transceiver.<br />
Net/ROM is a form of extra intelligence<br />
that automates packet data routing . A station<br />
so equipped transmits a beacon w ith its call<br />
34 73 Amateur Radio • J une, 1989<br />
and a library of other Net/ROM-equipped<br />
stations it can link 10. A Net/ROM station<br />
also listens 10 the call for the beacons of other<br />
Net/ROM stations and automatically records<br />
the information in these beacons . From this<br />
initial informatio n. Net/ROM nodes automatically<br />
configure possible routes o f linked<br />
Net/ROM nodes for packets to travel. The<br />
end result is that users transmitting a packet<br />
need only specify the destination- Net/ROM<br />
nod es take care of all the routing! W ith this<br />
system, convenient and low-power long-distance<br />
communications are possible , and are<br />
becoming more routine .<br />
Raikes' product is stored on a ROM chip.<br />
Just as a compute r program exists on a floppy<br />
disk or a casseue tape, it exists within a ROM<br />
chip. It helps to th ink of a ROM program as<br />
existing in a protective hard shell.<br />
Too Big a Byte?<br />
In computers. it' s pretty much a given that<br />
any breakthrough product will be quickly followed<br />
by similar products, as programmers<br />
see what is possible and begin to develop their<br />
own ideas. At first . it seemed j ust a happy<br />
demonstration of such a development when<br />
German ham Hans George Giese DF2AU<br />
released his TheNct ROMs. His program did<br />
exactly the same th ing as Ron ' s Net/ROM<br />
program. with the additio n of tw o co m<br />
mands. All other commands and operations<br />
appeared identical. Hans soon put into the<br />
publ ic domain his TheNet source code (the<br />
program in the form of the language it was<br />
written in). Public domain software is free for<br />
the taking . TheNct nod es quickly began to<br />
appear.<br />
Net/ROM nodes continued to appear, but<br />
much more slowly . Still. it came as a shock to<br />
many people when Ron suddenly accused the<br />
people at TheNet of stealing his program.<br />
How Cloned?<br />
Think for a moment about the idea of<br />
cloned computers. Dozens of computer manufacturers-c-Kaypro.<br />
Tandy . NEC , Leading<br />
Edge, Standard, Franklin, etc.- produce<br />
models that all appear to be exact copies of<br />
IBM computer systems in what they do. IBM<br />
may not be happy about these clones, but they<br />
don't often make accusations of theft. What<br />
moves Raikes then to claim theft over a single<br />
ROM program. when IBM doesn't comp lain<br />
about a whole cloned computer system?<br />
The answer lies in how the product was<br />
cloned. There are two principal ways to elone<br />
hardware and software- independent developme<br />
nt and reverse-eng ineering . To understand<br />
how they differ, you must understand<br />
the meaning of configuration and specification.<br />
Configuratio n is the way a compute r . or<br />
program, performs a given spec. The spec is<br />
the range of functions a prod uct can perform<br />
given a particular user interface . Often, the<br />
spec of a product is called its " look and<br />
fee l." There are often many config urations<br />
that can carry out the same spec. For an<br />
analogy . I + 2 + 3, 2 + 2 + 2, and I + I +<br />
4- three different sum ming groups- all give<br />
the same sum of6.<br />
In the case of independent development, a<br />
developer notes the specifications of a<br />
product he wants to clone . He then puts<br />
to gether a d evelopment g roup of pregrammers<br />
and engineers who arc " untainted.<br />
" tha t is. they have no knowledge of<br />
the inner workings of the product to be<br />
cloned. In hardware and software development,<br />
there are a vast num ber of ways to<br />
design a prod uct to meet the same specificatio<br />
ns. There' s virtua lly no chance that an<br />
independent development team will come up<br />
with the same configurations as that in the<br />
clone . (There are other " look and feel" issues<br />
which can complicate legalities even<br />
further, but the preceding is enough background<br />
to understand the issue facing us in<br />
ham radio today). Independent developme nt<br />
is a legal approach, the one performed by the<br />
PC clone manufacturers.<br />
To " reverse-engineer " means 10copy part<br />
or all of the original product config uration. In<br />
the case of software, this means 10 simply<br />
look at the program or mechanically copy it<br />
onto your own distribution device, such as a<br />
floppy d isk or ROM . Ifthe original prod uct is<br />
copywrited, this is strictly illegal. It is still<br />
illegal if the clone is a modification of the<br />
copywrited original product. The point is that<br />
it is illegal to use the original product's configuration<br />
in any way , even as a base for a<br />
new program.<br />
Back To Net/ROM<br />
Ron Raikes accuses Hans Giese DF2AU of<br />
reverse-engineering his product . He first<br />
sought legal counsel, but the cost of an international<br />
co py rig ht infri ngeme nt lawsuit<br />
against a group in Germany (Hans Giese' s<br />
NordLink Group) would be a crushing financial<br />
blow to a small development firm like<br />
Software 2000. Ron then brought his story to<br />
fellow amateurs . which sparked a raging debate<br />
, especially in the Hamnet forum ofCompuScrve,<br />
an on-line information service .<br />
THE INVESTIGATION<br />
Why Look Into It?<br />
Ham radio is becoming more and more<br />
computerized. Contemporary PLL rigs have