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From: Uwe Bonnes on 23 May 2010 12:41
John_H <newsgroup(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote:
> Call me a sadist, but I tend to cruise through the license agreements
> and EULAs before installing software to make sure I'm not being
> victimized by using someone's application. I wanted to bring my S3E
> starter kit back up to prototype Xilinx-based algorithms while
> employed by a particularly Altera-friendly group. Loading ISE 12.1, I
> not only find lawyer-speak that's longer than Facebook privacy policy
> but see that:

> "Webtalk" is a required component to run Webpack.

> A quote from the second page of legalese: "Please note that WebTalk
> will collect and transmit certain data that may contain (or be
> correlated to reveal, primarily via the Authorization Codes data)
> personally identifiable information. By agreeing to this Agreement,
> you hereby give your consent (on behalf of Licensee and Users) for
> Xilinx to use and disclose this information anywhere in the world for
> the purposes and as described in this Agreement."

> Crud.

> Anyone know of the last Webpack I could get that doesn't transmit
> things like my constraints, devices, and authorization codes back to
> Xilinx? I just want to prototype some stuff and do NOT like my
> computer to leak information out into the world beyond my control. At
> the moment my form of control is to not install ISE. To not use
> Xilinx.

> Hey - at least it's not like Cadence who says that anything I send
> them - designs, etc - effectively becomes public domain. But it
> leaves a seriously bad taste in my mouth.

http://lekernel.net/blog/?p=1023
--
Uwe Bonnes bon(a)elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de

Institut fuer Kernphysik Schlossgartenstrasse 9 64289 Darmstadt
--------- Tel. 06151 162516 -------- Fax. 06151 164321 ----------
From: John_H on 24 May 2010 06:52
On May 23, 12:41 pm, Uwe Bonnes <b...(a)elektron.ikp.physik.tu-
darmstadt.de> wrote:
>
> http://lekernel.net/blog/?p=1023

Many thanks for finding the blog.
From: radarman on 25 May 2010 16:50
On May 22, 6:50 pm, John_H <newsgr...(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote:
> Call me a sadist, but I tend to cruise through the license agreements
> and EULAs before installing software to make sure I'm not being
> victimized by using someone's application.  I wanted to bring my S3E
> starter kit back up to prototype Xilinx-based algorithms while
> employed by a particularly Altera-friendly group.  Loading ISE 12.1, I
> not only find lawyer-speak that's longer than Facebook privacy policy
> but see that:
>
>   "Webtalk" is a required component to run Webpack.
>
> A quote from the second page of legalese: "Please note that WebTalk
> will collect and transmit certain data that may contain (or be
> correlated to reveal, primarily via the Authorization Codes data)
> personally identifiable information.  By agreeing to this Agreement,
> you hereby give your consent (on behalf of Licensee and Users) for
> Xilinx to use and disclose this information anywhere in the world for
> the purposes and as described in this Agreement."
>
> Crud.
>
> Anyone know of the last Webpack I could get that doesn't transmit
> things like my constraints, devices, and authorization codes back to
> Xilinx?  I just want to prototype some stuff and do NOT like my
> computer to leak information out into the world beyond my control.  At
> the moment my form of control is to not install ISE.  To not use
> Xilinx.
>
> Hey - at least it's not like Cadence who says that anything I send
> them - designs, etc - effectively becomes public domain.  But it
> leaves a seriously bad taste in my mouth.
>
> - John_H

Altera does this as well, but offers the carrot approach instead. Turn
on web talk, and you get to run SignalTap. Xilinx apparently is going
the other route, which I find a bit troubling. However, it is easy
enough to deal with. Install a windows firewall, and block the
application from sending. Unfortunately, this is becoming more and
more common, and you would be surprised at how much traffic comes out
of the average PC without the owners knowledge these days.

If you want to be absolutely sure your firewall is working, run
Wireshark on another system (or, if you are the trusting sort, the
same machine), fire off a build, and see if anything crosses the wire
that looks like it came from a Xilinx tool. It's using https, so you
will probably have to filter on headers.
From: Muzaffer Kal on 29 May 2010 23:42
On Sat, 22 May 2010 16:50:55 -0700 (PDT), John_H
<newsgroup(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote:

>Call me a sadist, but I tend to cruise through the license agreements
>and EULAs before installing software to make sure I'm not being
>victimized by using someone's application. I wanted to bring my S3E
>starter kit back up to prototype Xilinx-based algorithms while
>employed by a particularly Altera-friendly group. Loading ISE 12.1, I
>not only find lawyer-speak that's longer than Facebook privacy policy
>but see that:
>
> "Webtalk" is a required component to run Webpack.
>
>A quote from the second page of legalese: "Please note that WebTalk
>will collect and transmit certain data that may contain (or be
>correlated to reveal, primarily via the Authorization Codes data)
>personally identifiable information. By agreeing to this Agreement,
>you hereby give your consent (on behalf of Licensee and Users) for
>Xilinx to use and disclose this information anywhere in the world for
>the purposes and as described in this Agreement."
>
>Crud.
>
>Anyone know of the last Webpack I could get that doesn't transmit
>things like my constraints, devices, and authorization codes back to
>Xilinx? I just want to prototype some stuff and do NOT like my
>computer to leak information out into the world beyond my control. At
>the moment my form of control is to not install ISE. To not use
>Xilinx.

There is still yet weirder complication to this issue. Even if you
install a regular license and check the webtalk box off, ISE will use
a webpack license if the part you're using is available in the webpack
and will override your webtalk selection. The only option seems to be
to remove the webpack license from your computer.
--
Muzaffer Kal

DSPIA INC.
ASIC/FPGA Design Services

http://www.dspia.com
From: -jg on 30 May 2010 01:41
On May 30, 3:42 pm, Muzaffer Kal <k...(a)dspia.com> wrote:
> There is still yet weirder complication to this issue. Even if you
> install a regular license and check the webtalk box off, ISE will use
> a webpack license if the part you're using is available in the webpack
> and will override your webtalk selection. The only option seems to be
> to remove the webpack license from your computer.

Hmm, there must be Xilinx customers, who chave quite deeply secret
designs, and this chatter must be a real concern to them ?
Sounds like the only sure way, is to ring fence the machine from the
internet completely - which makes SW updates more time consuming. -
and this might even dictate TWO PCs on a designer's desktop : one for
the valuable IP designs, and a net-hack that can chatter away ?
-jg
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