Re:Experiments with disabling the ME on Sandybridge x230
by SlamminAtWork on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @01:49PM
(#12490620)
x86 hasn't been around long enough for a copyright to expire; the only feasible type of protections to expire would be patents. In the US, copyrights last for 120 years after creation of the work or 95 years after the initial publication, whichever is shorter. (Referenced from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_St...)
Re:Experiments with disabling the ME on Sandybridge x230
by wtallis on Tuesday September 13, 2016 @03:58PM
(#12491682)
There is copyright for the masks used to fabricate chips, and those only last 10 years: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap9.html
x86 is also copyrighted, but it's expired. Most the parents have expired and it's starting to become more common to 486 and 386's in very cheap embedded controllers.