In the early years of the microcomputer, there were many different flavors of computers. This meant that the earliest software had to be delivered in source form. It was nearly impossible for the publisher of the software to control what the end user did with the software. With the non-standardized microcomputers of that time, it was not possible to deliver the shrink-wrapped software we are so familiar with now. The net effect of this was that a software marketplace as we know it did not exist.
As the number of different manufacturers, declined, and consolidation of the market proceeded. In the first wave it became possible to deliver the software as a binary image. This made the software machine readable, but did not make it possible to directly modify the software. This also lead to many different copy protection schemes that endeavored to make it impossible to copy the disk the software came on.
The market consolidation continued, until the early nineties, when Microsoft Windows became the market leader and defacto standard for desktop operating system software. This allowed a common nascent software marketplace to evolve into the proprietary software industry we now know.
Currently, the Microsoft domination of the marketplace is essentially complete. The copy protection schemes have continued to be refined, until the current era where the license for an operating system has now been tied to a specific system. Which means that if you replace your existing equipment you must pay for a new license with your new equipment. This concept has also been carried over to application software, which greatly expands the cost of a new PC.
Through actions of the RIAA, MPAA, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the concept of copy protection has been extended via Digital Rights Management (DRM) to nearly all music, film, digital television. The intention of the digital rights management scheme is to tie the use of a given entertainment software product to the life of the media it is distributed on, thereby requiring repurchase if the media fails. It is also meant to eliminate the possibility of casual sharing. DRM has proven to be controversial, as it essentially punishes the legal purchaser of the product(?) and has led to many problems and law suits, consequentially, at this time it appears to be going out of favor.
In the United States, our government has repeatedly come done on the side of the producer. Apparently favoring the vendor over the consumer. From the end users standpoint, proprietary software provides an easy, convenient, highly restricted, and expensive solution for computer use. In the end most of the copy prevention schemes, and DRM, have been unsuccessful at anything except annoying their customers. To a large extent the licensing restrictions placed on proprietary software have been ignored.
03/28/08