it's an idea, however won't work.. when crackers get complaints about there crack it will then become a matter of pride and honer (as if such things could at exist but I guess they do too them) and your software will then become constantly invaided to check for such thing hence forth.
why does everyone thing that protecting software is the way, how about reduce the price, I am far more likely to buy something for $20nzd than buy something that cost $150nzd.
Protection of software
Well it depends how you distribute the program in the first place. It is
quiet feasible to arrange for every registered user to have a different copy
of the program. But the users have no way of detecting the identifiers in
their copy. When any user posts a copy of the program then you will know their identity.
Governments do this with official documents so that they can trace leaks.
Journalists get round this by rewriting the document, just using the information it contains.
However this approach would not be feasible for software because the cracker would
have to rewrite the whole program and re-organize every data file and
image resource to be sure of removing the identifiers.
quiet feasible to arrange for every registered user to have a different copy
of the program. But the users have no way of detecting the identifiers in
their copy. When any user posts a copy of the program then you will know their identity.
Governments do this with official documents so that they can trace leaks.
Journalists get round this by rewriting the document, just using the information it contains.
However this approach would not be feasible for software because the cracker would
have to rewrite the whole program and re-organize every data file and
image resource to be sure of removing the identifiers.
-
tinman
- PureBasic Expert
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Fake name and address, and even if they don't use one it could be difficult and/or expensive taking them to court. Might not be worthwhile for a £/$20 piece of software.geoff wrote:their copy. When any user posts a copy of the program then you will know their identity.
Besides, by that point it is too late anyway - there is a copy of your software out there somewhere.
Your only hope is that you programmed it so badly that people must update the software frequently for it to be of any use. Like Windows ;p
If you paint your butt blue and glue the hole shut you just themed your ass but lost the functionality.
(WinXPhSP3 PB5.20b14)
(WinXPhSP3 PB5.20b14)
SO! That's why m$ does that!?tinman wrote:Your only hope is that you programmed it so badly that people must update the software frequently for it to be of any use. Like Windows ;p
Joepeace
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[pI 166Mhz 32Mb w95]
[pII 350Mhz 256Mb atir3RagePro WinDoze '98 FE & 2k]
[Athlon 1.3Ghz 160Mb XPHome & RedHat9]
Suppose you want to create a small application that can run on any PC. You don't want the software to check the PC's serial numbers, registry entries or OS build choices. You don't want to limit the number of times the software may be used or the period of time over which it is valid. Ideally, you'd like the user to be able to copy the application to his laptop and it works just fine. You can't ask the user to access a web site periodically to re-validate his copy because that seems unreasonable. Oh, and you'd like the user to pay for his copy.
A lot of reasonable objectives here, apart from the last one.
Why not make the software free and maybe sell something else. Software may have a lifetime of many years but the data it processes is often more perishable. For example, there are plenty of free mapping programs but good quality map data is very expensive.
If you need to write software for limited use, for example for use within a single organisation, then you have many security options. Every user does not need an installation that works indefinitely on any hardware without ever connecting to the firm's network. Engineering design or customer database software will only be of interest to competing firms, so hidden signatures in every copy can be an effective security measure if users value their jobs and competing firms want to avoid a lawsuit which they will lose.
Even if you give away your code you may still be interested in security measures. For example, you may want to add code that checks for an attached trojan virus or spyware. Try convincing people that you are innocent after "your" program has created havoc.
A lot of reasonable objectives here, apart from the last one.
Why not make the software free and maybe sell something else. Software may have a lifetime of many years but the data it processes is often more perishable. For example, there are plenty of free mapping programs but good quality map data is very expensive.
If you need to write software for limited use, for example for use within a single organisation, then you have many security options. Every user does not need an installation that works indefinitely on any hardware without ever connecting to the firm's network. Engineering design or customer database software will only be of interest to competing firms, so hidden signatures in every copy can be an effective security measure if users value their jobs and competing firms want to avoid a lawsuit which they will lose.
Even if you give away your code you may still be interested in security measures. For example, you may want to add code that checks for an attached trojan virus or spyware. Try convincing people that you are innocent after "your" program has created havoc.