According to RAW an Agent has the following skills at ( Rating );

Computer
Cybercombat
Data Search
Hacking

So since breaking copy protection requires an extended ( Software + Logic ) test in theory an Agent could still try to default at ( Rating -1 ), which quite frankly aren't good odds at all. So I was wondering whether people allowed various "Skill Autosofts" to be used by Agents, and if so, do people consider an Agent to be capable of trying to break copy protection on other programs, or even itself? (Personally I'd rule that you couldn't break copy protection on an active program, but I'm not sure if that has any basis in reality.)

Also as an aside, even if you allow the usage of "Skill Autosofts" are they common enough to be bought and sold or are they something which a Decker would ahve to code himself?

I would have to rule against agents getting software skillsoft simply on the grounds that it potentially allows them to replicate endlessly.

Sounds like a nightmare AI scenario to me.

Ddays, Ravor, I like to follow the school of thought that replications are impossible due to the new architecture of the very core of the new hardware; IE, self-replication is impossible.

So, you can crack and copy software all you want (provided you can make the test to crack it), but active things - Agents, or anything else that can run other programs - can't be copied. Any copies are simply dismissed, evaporated into electronic nothingness.

Edit: Deleted: Going to post a more thought out answer.

You could say that IC is a hardware/firmware "network appliance" that can't be copied (or rather it can be copied as easily as you can "copy" a motorcycle). However, since agents run on the host systems and are free roaming, they can be copied just like any other program.

But you could always go the Star Trek route and say that an agent's neural matrices are actually made of magical pixie dust instead of code and become unstable and disintegrate if copied.

ShadowDragon8685 if it were the case then Emergence and it's fears of another Mega-Virus simply doesn't make any sense.

fears and reality are two different things

what people fear have often little or no root in reality.

more people fear being in a plane crash then in a car crash, but more people die each year in car crashes then they do in plane crashes...

Hobgoblin has it.

Fear is not always founded. And after two crashes due to self-replicators, I'm pretty sure they've engineered all their new computer drek to have constantly running protection protocols against self-replicators.

Neither Technomancers nor A.I. can change the fundamental rules of the system, nor can they break them. And (extremely) agressive protection against self-replication is (IMO) the bedrock upon which the Matrix 2.0 is built.


But that dosen't stop people from panicing about it.

Yeah, but part of what I'm asking is that am I missing where this is actually spelled out somewhere via Canon, or is this your theory on why copy protection works the way that it does?

Because my non RAW theory is that the Matrix 2.0 is largely the result of hype and that at it's core it is nothing more than the Marix 1.0 with some wireless access points bolted on. However I fully expect to be "proven wrong" when Unwired comes up so I'm just hoping against hope that they are able to provide a Canon explaination that works better then what they've given us so far.

raw dont go either way. i think its lack of specifics are by design...

there was emp strikes done towards key junctions iirc.

still, most of the cables would be fiber optics. so if they could get the junctions back in shape fast, the cables would still be there, ready for use.

still, there is the psychological side, where you can go: "look, no wires. and when using AR with that there is no risk of being trapped online".

Sure, but you also have to take into account that the "wireless Matrix" was already in the works before Crash 2.0 so it would have to be compatable with the existing Matrix in order to make any sense. (At least to me.)