This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Software protection dongle" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(March 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
A software protection dongle (commonly known as a dongle or key) is an electronic copy protection and content protection device. When connected to a computer or other electronics, they unlock software functionality or decode content.[1] The hardware key is programmed with a product key or other cryptographic protection mechanism and functions via an electrical connector to an external bus of the computer or appliance.[2]
In software protection, dongles are two-interface security tokens with transient data flow with a pull[clarification needed] communication that reads security data from the dongle. In the absence of these dongles, certain software may run only in a restricted mode, or not at all. In addition to software protection, dongles can enable functions in electronic devices, such as receiving and processing encoded video streams on television sets.
^Amos, S. W.; Amos, Roger S. (2002). Newnes Dictionary of Electronics (4th ed.). Newnes Press. p. 152. ISBN 0750643315. OCLC 144646016. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
^Stobbs, Gregory A. (2012). Software Patents (Third ed.). Wolters Kluwer. pp. 2–90. ISBN 9781454811978. OCLC 802867781. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
and 28 Related for: Software protection dongle information
A softwareprotectiondongle (commonly known as a dongle or key) is an electronic copy protection and content protection device. When connected to a computer...
with softwareprotectiondongles—a form of hardware digital rights management in which a piece of software will only operate if a specified dongle—which...
of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found on videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, HD-DVDs, computer software discs...
Product activation Product key Regional lockout Technical support Softwareprotectiondongle Windows Genuine Advantage Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp....
rights of anyone. Unlicensed software outside the scope of copyright protection is either public domain software (PD) or software which is non-distributed...
some kind of software, dongle or password access device installed in instances of the work, any attempt to bypass such a copy protection scheme may be...
Software cracking (known as "breaking" mostly in the 1980s) is an act of removing copy protection from a software. Copy protection can be removed by applying...
the same time. Another license model is licensing per dongle, which allows the owner of the dongle to use the program on any computer. Licensing per server...
toner cartridges. Regional lockout CIC (Nintendo) Vendor lock-in Softwareprotectiondongle Lexmark Int'l v. Static Control Components, a U.S. Sixth Circuit...
built. That process is commonly used for "cracking" software and media to remove their copy protection,: 7 or to create a possibly-improved copy or even...
firstly with CopyControl (a software-based copy protection system), then Dinkey Dongle (small hardware copy protection keys that connect to parallel...
Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete. A dongle shall be considered obsolete if...
customization or enhancements. A hardware-based protection key, or dongle, is best suited to software publishers concerned about the security of their...
hardware dongle required by some computer programs to prove ownership of the software. The dongle is placed in an input device and the software accesses...
notable copy protection schemes for various medias. Dongle Hardware key containing electronic serial number required to run the software; relatively expensive...
established with proceeds from Steve Chang's previous sale of a copy protectiondongle to a United States-based Rainbow Technologies. Shortly after establishing...
medical instrumentation. Even uninterruptible power supplies and softwareprotectiondongles declare themselves under this class, despite the fact they often...
mainframe computer systems Hasp key, a Hardware Against Software Piracy copy-protectiondongle Hasp, part of a latch This disambiguation page lists articles...
computer or other device's software. The dongle, or key, essentially creates a secure encrypted tunnel between the software application and the key. The...
graphics tablets and similar devices. Special-purpose uses included softwareprotectiondongles and even the TelePort modem. The first Macintosh to move on from...
encryption: Protection against ciphertext modification by an attacker Cold boot attack Comparison of encrypted external drives Disk encryption software Disk...
technology created by Steve Wozniak to connect keyboards, mice and softwareprotectiondongles such as those from Avid Technology. Two USB ports were also included...
restrictions in software, and attempts to make circumvention of these restrictions more difficult. Digital rights management Dongle Secure cryptoprocessor...
Copy software called "nibble" copiers appeared that could exactly reproduce such disks. Publishers turned to other methods. Hardware dongles were occasionally...
commercially-available USB dongle, which has been criticized as a form of commercial copyright infringement, and described as a "ReDRM" dongle because copies of...