| 摘要 |
The present invention is directed to methods and apparatus which may be used to help prevent electronic devices such as, for example, cell phones from operating with software copied from (and only authorized for use by) another device. The present invention is also directed to devices such as, for example, cell phones, that employ any of such methods and apparatus. Aspects of the present invention compare a program identifier (associated with software stored in a device) to a reference identifier for the device so as to determine whether the software is authorized for use with that device. Some embodiments respond to the comparison substantially in hardware, so that the software being checked is less able to prevent the device from being disabled in the event that the program identifier and the reference identifier do not match one another.
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