Hi Malte, thank you, very nice to let us take part on your corporate thinking about licensing models. I agree that the licensing process should be max easy and smooth for the user and with minimum effort for me. And it must not be the ultimate solution. That's why I used to use hardware copy protection, but it's very inflexible if you start thinking about network licences, etc. Going on researching :) Tiemo
> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:use-revolution- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Im Auftrag von Malte Brill > Gesendet: Montag, 8. September 2008 12:27 > An: use-revolution@lists.runrev.com > Betreff: Re: AW: Software License Manager > > Hi Tiemo, > > I guess everyone has a different take on this and there are quite a > few options. I will for sure not claim completeness in this email, > nor will I claim to be right in any point I make. :) > > I think it is important not to be paranoid about piracy. There will > always be the cheapstakes that will try to get everything for free. > Those will never be your customers. They just won't. If they can not > get it for free, they will search for something different. I don´t > think these people is what I need to care about. If I use something > sophisticated to "protect" my work, I only risk to challenge someone > to get around my protection scheme. And if they try, they will get > around it. Using 3rd party technology like wrappers around your > application only increases the likelyhood that a cracker has it > easier to get around the protection. If the protection technology is > cracked for any other application, it will be fairly easy to get > around it for MY app. too if it is protected using the same > technology. I would only considder a wrapper option, if I used a > payment processor with an affiliate system, that stores data in the > wrapper to pay out my affiliates (custom builts) > > IMHO it is important to make it easy enough for a person that is > willing to open the wallet to do so. And leave them with a "Yes, it > was worth to pay for it" feeling. This is not only about the > techology you use to protect your work, but also about the experience > in buying it. Depending on the kind of application you develop and > the way you deliver to your users, you have different options, which > can leave your users with a positive feeling about your software or > mildly to terribly annoyed. > > If you deliver on a disc, you might require the disc to remain in the > drive, which I would not like to use. I would prefer all the stuff > installed on my HD or if I need to save space, have the option to run > of the Disc. > If you deliver download versions you might go the timeout or the > crippleware approach. A timeout can be based on a date xyz days after > install, a given time of actual use or a number of launches, while a > crippled version would become only fully functional after the app has > been purchased. Both approaches require the user to enter an unlock > code that he has to purchase from you. For different types of > programs, different approaches might be the best fit. These methods > require that you store some information in a sensible place on the > users machine. So you would need to take care that the file is not > too easy to find if you go with a timed copy. If you store the key > for a crippled application, that would be less important, as it would > not make sense to delete the unlock code and thus reverting the > programm to demo mode. You have the option to call home, to check if > the key they are trying to use has been stolen, but I do prefer not > to. I do not trust apps that call home, why should anyone else? > > It is important to make the entering of the key as easy as possible > (I learned that the hard way). Give an option to paste from clipboard > and strip all whitespace before and after. Prompt the user if the > stuff pasted is wrong (multiple lines for example) Nothing is more > frustrating when you try to enter your user data and it is too > complicated. If this works in your app, it is important to make it as > easy as possible for your customer to pay you. If you have to click > more than twice on your homepage to buy your product they might have > lost interest already. If you use an online payment processor make > sure to send out the registration immediately. Here is how I do it in > my games: > > Game times out after an hour playtime. It has an unlock code checker > and links to the order now page on my website. Payment is handled by > PAYPAL (I know, i know) Once purchase is done PAYPAL sends a so > called instant payment notification to my server. A PHP script > receives the IPN and extracts the relevant purchase data from the > IPN. The script then generates an unlock code that the checker in the > game will parse. This code is sent by email and displays the unlock > code to the user. The whole process is (hopefully) convenient for the > buyer, but also saves me a heap of work, as I do no longer need to > generate unlock codes by hand. > > 2 euro cents. > > Malte_______________________________________________ > use-revolution mailing list > use-revolution@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your > subscription preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list use-revolution@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution