Intel Posts Updated "Software Defined Silicon" Driver To Activate Licensed Hardware Features

[loganj]

so next will see hacking the intel cpu license?

[ddriver]

Fuck you Intel.

You showed them!

[CommunityMember]

so next will see hacking the intel cpu license?

It seems likely that the devices with such feature licenses will be targeted towards the large (corporate) customers, who, even if the tech is eventually hacked, will respect the licensing of the devices they purchase (as potentially many many millions of dollars are at stake if you knowingly violate the license). While one can always find exceptions, large corporate customers are extremely likely to pay even for feature licenses which are only enforced on the honor system (the feature is there, you can use it, but you are supposed to pay because you are an honorable partner). Those corporations that are eventually found to have not paid for such honor system licenses are typically those that some low level employee either was not aware of, or did not happen to mention to management, that they needed a license, and just starting using the feature, and once identified that it should be licensed it is, as it is just the cost of doing business.

[ms178]

It seems likely that the devices with such feature licenses will be targeted towards the large (corporate) customers, who, even if the tech is eventually hacked, will respect the licensing of the devices they purchase (as potentially many many millions of dollars are at stake if you knowingly violate the license). While one can always find exceptions, large corporate customers are extremely likely to pay even for feature licenses which are only enforced on the honor system (the feature is there, you can use it, but you are supposed to pay because you are an honorable partner). Those corporations that are eventually found to have not paid for such honor system licenses are typically those that some low level employee either was not aware of, or did not happen to mention to management, that they needed a license, and just starting using the feature, and once identified that it should be licensed it is, as it is just the cost of doing business.

While this might be true for corporate buyers, I have the secondary market in sight. I am also currently using a used Xeon for its incredible value. In the past you could overclock them, but as time went on Intel more and more locked the Xeons down, fortunately Haswell-EP has a bug where you can run all cores on its maximum turbo frequency with some BIOS modding. I can picture a vibrant used market with these Xeons somewhen in the future if similar hacks to unlock more CPU features existed. Also the secondary-market sellers and the primary customers would profit as demand would be better, providing some re-sell value to them instead of e-waste.

[hvis]

Can't wait for the future where users can also "pirate" hardware, not just software.

[ddriver]

Can't wait for the future where users can also "pirate" hardware, not just software.

You'd still be pirating software - just a license, and it wouldn't work without already having the cpu.

To pirate hardware would require to either:
1 - basically steal it
2 - steal the design schematics and produce the hardware yourself, which you certainly won't be doing

[hvis]

You'd still be pirating software - just a license, and it wouldn't work without already having the cpu.

To pirate hardware would require to either:
1 - basically steal it
2 - steal the design schematics and produce the hardware yourself, which you certainly won't be doing

I'm guessing the end destination of of this "feature enablement" stuff would be hardware subscriptions, where you get the device itself for little to no money and they pay the manufacturer for the subscription to be able to use it. Then we would come full circle, and it some point it will indeed be possible to "download a car". Or most of it.

[andreano]

I wouldn't be so negative. The reality of price differentiated "products" for a lot of things with a high development cost is already so that it's all the same product, just disabled to a varying degree. At best, you can disable a defect non-vital part to improve yield. If the part wasn't defect, and you can unlock it later, then it doesn't go to waste.

[skeevy420]

Artificial software limitations that restrict features and abilities in an attempt to create multiple product lines and raise profits should be illegal. Not to mention how irresponsible that usage of finite resources is and all the excess waste those kinds of business practices create.

Not that Intel cares about the environment...ever since AMD caught up to them their only strategies have been using as much power as possible for 5Ghz bragging numbers and pairing that with schedulers and restricted cores that physically can't go full Intel with stupid high power usage.

Frankly, there's nothing that Intel is doing that AMD can't do now or someone else hasn't already done. I mean, anyone can throw assloads of power at the problem and ARM was doing big.LITTLE years ago.

[Ironmask]

I'm guessing the end destination of of this "feature enablement" stuff would be hardware subscriptions, where you get the device itself for little to no money and they pay the manufacturer for the subscription to be able to use it. Then we would come full circle, and it some point it will indeed be possible to "download a car". Or most of it.

You already need to pay Tesla $100 to activate your seat warmers.

Never buy Tesla, make fun of everyone who does.