comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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optionaL rULe:
Freeware and Open Source Programs
open Source programs
Though the megacorporations are actively waging a Matrix war
against the open source movement, knocking it down to a fringe
phenomenon, open source programs do exist. Open source software
is basically computer software whose source code is readily
available under a certain license that permits users to use, change,
and improve the software, and to redistribute it in modified or
unmodified form. It is often developed in a public, collaborative
manner, though programs originating from open source are less
commonly known than their corporate counterparts that are massmarketed
and heavily advertised. With the Corporate Court Matrix
Authority refusing to share certain code elements of the Matrix
infrastructure (hiding behind megacorporate patents for decades)
with which programs are supposed to interact, corporations have
effectively reduced the frequency of open source programs.
In game terms, open source programs are considered legal software
that can be cheaply bought with a 50% reduction in price and
which have neither the Copy Protection nor the Registration program
options. Open source software degrades in the same manner as pirated
software, as it tends to be updated on an irregular basis.
Alternatively, open source programs produced by warez groups
might be traded for free or patched up more regularly, as long as the
hacker character maintains a warez contact and contributes to the
group. For each piece he contributes, the hacker may download a
number of programs equal to the contact’s Loyalty rating.
Gamemasters may further limit open source programs by ruling
that certain program options are not available for these programs,
by capping the maximum limits of these programs at a rating
of 4, or by making the rating dependent on the warez contact’s
Connection rating.
freeware
Freeware is copyrighted computer software that is made available
for use free of charge for an unlimited time, though creators often
retain control of the program’s source code for future development.
In game terms, freeware programs carry the Copy Protection
program option but not the Registration option and they can be
acquired by player characters at no cost. Since freeware is coded
on a non-profit basis, and the resources of single programmers
or small programming groups are limited, freeware programs are
limited to a maximum rating of 4. Freeware also degrades like
pirated software.
Similar to open source programs, gamemasters may further
limit these programs by disallowing certain program options.
aUtonoMoUS prograMS
Unlike other software, agents have the unique ability
to operate independently of their controlling persona in the
Matrix. This sort of autonomous operation raises several issues
which are addressed here. Though we refer to agents in most
cases, unless otherwise noted these rules also apply to other
autonomous entities such as sprites, AIs (p. 165), and e-ghosts
(p. 170).
Unwired
node Movement and accounts
For an agent to operate independently of its
controlling persona, it must be loaded into a node
the persona has access to. The agent logs into an account
like any Matrix user (either using passcodes or
exploits) and has whatever privileges that account
applies. The agent’s software is actually running on
this node (not on the persona’s node any more), and
so counts towards the node’s processor limit (p. 48).
Likewise, any other programs the agent is carrying
in its payload must also be running, and so also
count towards the processor limit.
Like any Matrix user, the agent can access multiple
nodes at once. Other nodes must be accessed with passcodes
or hacked, per normal rules. The agent remains
loaded on only one node, however—though it interacts
with other nodes, it does not need to be copied and
loaded on them. (In fact, legal unmodified agents are
incapable of copying themselves in this manner.
The agent may move to another node, which
constitutes loading itself onto the new node and
unloading itself and logging off from the old one.
Rather than moving, an agent with the Replicate
autosoft and without copy protection may copy itself
onto another node it has accessed, spawning a new
version of the agent (note that sprites, AIs, and eghosts,
as “living” digital entities, are incapable of
copying themselves this way). Legal and unmodified
agents are not capable of copying themselves due to
copy protection (moving to another node does not
count as copying because the agent is erased from the
previous node as part of the moving procedure).
access id
Unlike Matrix users, agents and other autonomous
programs do not access the Matrix via a device,
and so they are not assigned an access ID. Instead, each
autonomous program has a built-in access ID, sort of
a software serial number. This ID is used when logging
into nodes and interacting with other programs, and
so it may be used to track the agent’s activity through
the Matrix, just like a hacker’s datatrail.
An agent’s access ID may be spoofed (see Spoofing
the Datatrail, p. 224, SR4), but only when it is being
loaded onto a node. Once running, the access ID may
not be switched, not even if the agent moves and loads
onto another node (as the agent must already have accessed
the new node, using its access ID in the process).
copied agents and ids
Note that when an agent program is copied, the access ID
built into the agent is copied as well. This means that any copies
of the agent will have the same access ID. This is not a problem
when a hacker is running such copies simultaneously from his
persona (as his access ID is used in that case), or if the copies are
operating autonomously in independent nodes. If a copy tries
to access a node on which an agent with the same access ID is
already running, however, the node will automatically refuse ac-
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9