[OpenBIOS] [PATCH 0/7] ppc: improve fake copyright message handling

[Tarl Neustaedter]

On 2016-Feb-12 19:09 , BALATON Zoltan wrote:
>
> Even if the plain text string says:
>
> Copyright IS NOT BY Apple Computer, Inc; THIS STRING IS JUST FOR
> COMPATIBILITY WITH MacOS

Yup. It says "copyright" and it has "name of corporation who isn't us".
Everything else is just lawsuit bait. Seriously.

>
>> You're better off with an obfuscated string which doesn't match blind
>> string comparisons.
>
> I think we don't agree on this (they will find it anyway once they
> list the device tree from anything they boot with it so I don't think
> obfuscation solves any problem just tries to hide it) but as I've said
> I don't mind it either way just think the obfuscation is ugly and
> probably unnecessary overcautiousness (is that a word in English?)
> until there's some evidence that it's needed. And we could still add
> that complication when there is some evidence in the future.

One of the things the lawyers do is search binaries and source code for
the string "copyright". If it's ROT13, they don't find it. And as I
understand the latest patch, the unencrypted version doesn't appear in
the device tree until just before calling MacOS, and is removed right after.

With legal departments in the USA, it's not whether someone can win a
lawsuit that makes them nervous. It's whether someone can manage to
*file* a lawsuit. Although, just writing a piece of paper isn't enough,
it has to pass "the giggle test" (seriously). If it makes the judge
giggle, the lawsuit gets tossed before it sees the light of day and
doesn't make anyone nervous. If the judge doesn't toss it, legal
departments go into overdrive and people start getting fired.

So no legal department is going to allow use of code that shows a naked
string saying "copyright" and "apple" in the same sentence. It does not
matter if the words say "we don't mean it", it has the name of a
corporation with a large legal department, it's safer for the lawyer to
say "no". They tend to be remarkably unhumorous about things which might
cost them their jobs.