[RKDinOKC]

The first known public virus was created by Microsoft (supposedly they were the biggest complainers about piracy at the time) and released in Venezuela to try to stop software piracy. Back then (microsoft word was version 3) if you bought a computer in Venezuela you could get any software you wanted installed for free because they did not recognize US copyright laws. Venezuela was the largest source of license cracked software. The name of the virus was Scores because it would edit the scores in all of the then popular games. I came hacked into pirated software and added itself to other program files. It was difficult to get rid of once contracted. And yes, it reduced the amount of software piracy for a while.

That is the reason why first Quark, then Microsoft, then Adobe started with the super long license strings. Quark was also the first to have the software check on the local network to see if any copies with the same serial number was running. Then they were the first to have their software check your license with their servers while booting. Quark was the king of publishing until they drug their feet updating there software to run on OSX. They are still the best at producing color separations for printing of offset presses.

I recently had a copy of Adobe Photoshop C3 stop running because it said my software had expired and was no longer supportedl Everything seems to be headed for forcing subscription based usage.

The newest version of Mac OSX, El Capitain, will only install and run software that is specifically approved and certified by Apple. It insures there is nothing to harm your system and the software is checked to make sure it is exactly what is certified so nothing can be hacked into it. One of the reasons by Mac users rarely run antivirus software. I've always said it is possible to hack a mac, BUT if you are smart enough to actually do it, you are making more than enough money doing something else that you don't want to waste your time.