Thoughts on software-defined silicon

As long as we're speaking in analogies, it's more like *buying* (not renting) the building but the seller only gives you the key to the first two stories. You are, after all, *buying* the entire CPU, even if parts of it are disabled by software keys.

The difference being that it's not a crime to pick or drill out some locks in your own building to access the upper floors. If you were actually renting the building (CPU) that would be a different matter. (And, of course, that the software locks in question are considerably more difficult to either pick or disable than, say, the lock on your average bank vault, much less a normal high-rise.)