> I have some winforms apps and an httpmodule that are destined
> for sale once they are production ready. I'm looking for some
> anti-piracy resources now.
> I'd like to know how to make it difficult for people to
> install applications on multiple computers if they only paid
> to install it on 1 and how to disable an app that wasn't paid
> for after a 30 day trial. I can roll my own code for this but
> I'd like to know what's out there first.
If you really want to protect it, don't use one of the turn-key
solutions, as these have the downside of: once cracked, you
have them all. You see this too with the average PC game which is protected by
one of the few CD protection schemes, these are
cracked in no time.
Though, at the same time you've to ask yourself who you're dealing
with, who you want to block from cracking your
protection: the professional cracking group or the average IT worker in a
random office, or somewhere in between? The first: forget
it. The second: you might like to consider one of the turn-key solutions. The
3rd: you should roll your own.
trial protection: the weakest link is the information when the app was
installed/first ran: where to store it? If you
consider that the first thing a person who wants to crack a protection scheme
will do is run a registry monitor and a diskmonitor
tool when the app starts, you know it has to be hidden pretty good. Do it for a
chance, and you'll see where the solution might be.
Consider also that decompiling .NET is easy.
single-pc protection: this is very hard and annoying for the customer:
it most of the time requires a hardware hash which is
used to retrieve the actual key from a website. Though when the pc hardware
changes, it might look like it's a new pc the stuff is
installed on. If you then deny the customer a new license, the customer will
get annoyed and will likely abandone you, bad-mouth you
on sites/blogs etc.
Eric Sink wrote an article on his blog once about this, I can't find
the link right now, but it's a must read: it placed
everything in perspective: spending too much time on copy protection isn't
worth it.
FB
===================================
This list is hosted by DevelopMentor® http://www.develop.com
View archives and manage your subscription(s) at http://discuss.develop.com
