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x-browser-copyright seems like an attempt at something similar to the Gameboy's nintendo-logo DRM (wherein cartridges are required to have the nintendo logo bitmap before they can boot, so any unlicensed carts would be trademark infringement)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Enterprises_Ltd._v._Accola... is the legal precedent that says trying to do that won't work, but then again maybe Google thinks it's invincible and can do whatever it wants after it ironically defeated Oracle in a case about interoperability and copyright.


Even if they can't defend it legally, it costs them ~nothing to add the header and it could still act as a deterrent.


Apple famously does this with this word soup in their SMC chips, and proceeded to bankrupt a company that sold Hackintoshes and shipped it in their EFI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psystar_Corporation

    Our hard work
    by these words guarded
    please don't steal

    (c) Apple Computer Inc
Though one could argue that they would have probably bankrupted them anyway even if they hadn't done that.


That was before the DMCA was passed. It's possible DMCA section 1201 could apply here.




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