If you can agree that FTDI owns the driver IP, and you own the clone. Then FTDI can modify the driver to not function with the clone. They are not allowed to modify the clone to not work with the driver. Pretty simple no?
FTDI like HDCP does not own the device yet it modifies them and it is allowed to do so. FTDI driver is just revoking the number. Its a joke to put it back (unlike HDCP revoking) but both modify a user's device automatically.
It isn't a nice thing to do but it isn't illegal. The mfg of the fake chips is doing very illegal stuff however.
A legal clone would use its own VCP driver and have no brand relation at all to FTDI other than it functions the same with completely cloned everything that another company put work into making.
You're assuming they have legal ownership over the VID and PID, which I don't believe they do, for a number of reasons stated previously in this very long thread. Also can we remove all the HDCP discussion, its meant to prevent direct copies of video content, not to prevent you from watching CSI or a clone of the show because you should be watching NCIS. (I hate all the metaphors, its like comparing apples to oranges, so I'll refrain from using them.)
Also they didn't change the VID, only the PID, can you justify only modifying the one?
You've been posting non-stop which is pretty determined, so I wonder which machine shop at UBC you work at being former UBC engineering student.
I'm quite amazed that DigilentMinds.com and others have had the stamina to continue arguing with you.
Mechanical, Electrical, Engineering Physics are all shops I've used for prototyping and small production runs for course development work (teaching labs). I'm working with a bunch of different groups so it has perks. I've worked with students and class work at AMPEL (Brimacombe Building), KAIS, HEBB, MCLD, ICCS, ...
I'm sitting on a few terabytes of image data that are processing so I have time to spare as I have to wait a bit to check each record after it gets processed. Needs so much memory only my home computer has enough memory to do it.
To the non stop part I give you,
http://xkcd.com/386/(Technically speaking I'm working too, well the computer is working on it actually, I'm just waiting for it)
Modifying the VID would be very bad as it would be difficult to detect afterwards what the device might do a VID of 0000 and a PID of 0000 could be anything really. (It would be impossible to automatically detect it with certainty as certain error edge cases exist with VID 0000 and PID 0000 will get reported when a device is not working properly)
VID FTDI and PID 0000 Means unknown (probably changed by FTDI) device and automatic tools can use these facts reliably.
There is no legal ownership of PID/VID but there is also nothing that says FTDI can't change a PID of something that connects to it should it decide to. Most USB devices do not support this if a device connects to the wrong driver then bad things like the driver intentionally kicking the device out is certainty possible.
HDCP will permanently black list a number and people have no recourse and it doesn't even care if your caught in the cross fire. (Bad but not illegal)
Not true HDCP and its ilk can stop you from using analog outputs, connecting certain devices, control video quality, resolution, audio quality (Including disabling or restricting access to content as the flags dictate) and HDCP certainly is concerned with fake/clone devices that advertise HDCP compliance but are not. Which is exactly what FTDI did they revoked the PID number just as HDCP revokes a device (just that revocation is going to stick in most situations)
I'm talking about the hardware protection side of HDCP which is for anti-clone/unauthorized hardware.