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