validating "per use" licensing

[Dr. Hawkins]

On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 1:17 PM, Richard Gaskin
<ambassador at fourthworld.com> wrote:
> If the software is targeted at people who've filed bankruptcy that may work,
> except that if they've filed for bankruptcy they're probably not in a
> position to pay for software. ;)

I'm selling to attorneys.  (and, yes, years ago, I didn't take
bankruptcy in law school for the simple reason that I didn't see how
get paid by people who were out of money . . .)

> A lot of services use last four of social as a key factor in authenticating
> over the phone.  In many cases that's the only element not easily found in
> public records.   Respectfully, any software vendor requiring that from me
> would lose a sale.

It's not my customer, the attorney, providing his social, but the
debtor in each case, who must provide this to the court.  Last name +
last 4 is unlikely to repeat for any given lawyer (and in the rare
case it does, he gets a freebee)

> What is so unusual about the market you're addressing that you need such
> severe restrictions on license protection?
>
> All software will always be stolen.  Big game companies spend literally
> millions on software security R&D, all with the hope of merely extending the
> time-to-crack by as much as 60 days.

Lawyers.

They're a level above in justifying software theft to themselves.

It's been suggested by several sources that I'll make significantly
more in the "by the case" market than the flat annual fee market.

> Unless there's something very unusual about your market, chances are you'll
> make more money with a simpler system that appeals to the
> fundamentally-honest majority, just as nearly every successful software
> publisher has done.

That's what I'm doing for the flat fee pay system.  The attorney name
and bar number are hard-coded into script, and that will be plenty
(actually using hacker tools, aside from being beyond the tech level
of most lawyers, also wouldn't fit in with the ways in which they
justify the copies).



> Keep your eye on serving the paying customer, and risks from the relative
> few who steal will take care of themselves.

I'm not to worried about the flat-out thieves; just the metering of
the per-case crowd.

"Remember to send me a check at the end of the month" just won't cut it :)

-- 
The Hawkins Law Firm
Richard E. Hawkins, Esq.
(702) 508-8462
HawkinsLawFirm at gmail.com
3025 S. Maryland Parkway
Suite A
Las Vegas, NV  89109