Zach, here. There's actually an open source project called Sigrok that's compatible with a ton of logic analyzers, including the one-chip knockoffs from China.

http://sigrok.org/

Your second scenario sounds pretty cyberpunk too! I'd certainly love it if more people purchased our games, but piracy is unavoidable. I'd rather have a Russian 12-year-old pirate our games than never get a chance to play them.