I've been examining the different sources posted, and one thing stands out in my mind as a red flag:
You CANNOT leave the sniffer active during the entire session.
/tell <gm> I'm sniffing the encryption key. Wanna watch?
Think about it. How short is the code to take the snapshot? You've got MANY examples to choose from... 50 lines (including comments and processing.) That's not very much. How hard do you think it would be for them to send that snapshot back to SOE and allow them to compare notes?
<ENTER SOE NAZI control room>
test.exe here... here... here... here... here... here.... here.... and here.... etc.
sniff.exe here... here... here... here... here... here... here... here... here... here... here... etc.
key.exe here... here... here... here... here... here... and here... etc.
All roughly the same size... All starting at about this date...
Conclusion: They're up to something suspicious. Ban them all, just because we can.
<EXIT control room>
Remember that poll they had a while ago?? I don't remember the exact wording, but I'll paraphrase it for you:
... Would you mind if we scanned your system for running applications that might violate the EULA? ....
I'll admit it, at the time, I said "Sure, have at it. I have nothing to hide." Granted I didn't have SEQ running then,
but even if I did, it's a PASSIVE thing, they can't tell it's there unless they're ACTIVELY monitoring my every move, or I flat out tell them I do.
Yeah, Sure, they *SAY* they're not scanning systems, but it's a corporation. They LIE. We should expect it. It's the American Way!
How difficult do you think it would be for them to send this snapshot code TO YOU while you're playing, execute it every so often, and discard it when you exit? Nothing says they have to put ALL of the code that gets run in the files on your machine. It is after all a NETWORK application that you've given permission to execute on your system. What's to keep it from pulling in some additional code and executing it without you ever knowing about it?
Anyway, enough of that. If this is going to work properly, (and safely,) then the sniffer must do it's business in one pass and terminate completely. It wouldn't be difficult to establish a means by which to tuck the sniffer away in a dark little corner of your computer, and call it every time you zoned to get the new key.
Personally, I've already established *MY* method to get the key whenever I need it, I just need to get the sniffing code worked out so that I can get the key whenever I need it without having to leave a HUGE red flag flying. I enjoy playing EQ, but not enough to have to start completely over again.
We've got the decryption routines, we've got the data stream, we just need to obtain the keys to the locks without drawing any attention to ourselves. Think like a Rouge. "How can we do this without getting caught?" ... If you can't play without SEQ, then you shouldn't be playing at all.
Just something to think about...