AW: AW: Software License Manager

[Tiemo Hollmann TB]

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: use-revolution-bounces at lists.runrev.com [mailto:use-revolution-
> bounces at lists.runrev.com] Im Auftrag von Malte Brill
> Gesendet: Montag, 8. September 2008 12:27
> An: use-revolution at 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_______________________________________________
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