>Ambrosia's approach is to have the software phone home to perform validation >of the reg code.
I've heard this approach discussed. Many believe it's a serious privacy intrusion, unless you're upfront in letting people know the software does this. I like any idea that helps reduce piracy. People just don't realize they're messing with someone's bread and butter. Even people who sneak out of a restaurant or nightclub not paying, assume that some big company will absorb the cost. But the truth is, the waiter or bartender will pay out of pocket. If they don't, they risk losing their job. >In my experience the majority of theft is done by means outside of your >control, with the thief making a legitmate purchase with stolen credit card >info. There are ways to prevent this. I highly recommend that all shareware authors read the shareware author newsgroups, and devour all info they can from newsgroups, articles by other authors, etc. There are even articles on crack sites, that will help you PREVENT cracks. >I've seen no evidence thus far that anyone has found it worth their while to >truly crack my reg scheme, and as long as credit card info remains easy for >criminals to purchase there is little reason for them to go to that much >trouble for smaller apps (major game releases are another story). I'm tightening mine now, as after the current project, I will update some software, and the next big project is an RPG. Very high profile. Happily I can do things with Metacard that will allow for a first class RPG :-) But tightening the registration system is a key factor to success. I've dissected and resected the code about three times in Metacard now. Today, I think I will have it done :-) Shari C -- --Shareware Games for the Mac-- http://www.gypsyware.com _______________________________________________ metacard mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/metacard