Jon Steinmetz wrote: > It looks like it happened last year but I have not noticed until now. I am > not surprised as I new I had traded security for license key size so I have > no one to blame but myself. The question is, should I do anything about it? > As I see it I have two choices: > > I can do nothing. A binary crack is pretty much unavoidable so I am not > worried too much about that. The keygen is potentially the worst that can > happen but given the nature of my product, Ringer > http://pixelresearchlabs.com/ringer, most of the customers are normal > consumers and not necessarily super computer savvy (of course, savvy enough > to buy shareware). I had to jump through enough hoops from these warez sites > to download and run it that I would think it is not that much of a dent in my > meager sales, of course I have no way to track it. > > I can change my license scheme to AquaticPrime. I think with enough work I > can make it fairly seamless to transition legitimate customers and eventually > cut off older pirate copies. I am thinking I could just have the app upgrade > an older license automatically in the BG or maybe ask. New licenses would be > the new scheme. At some point in the future a new major version would require > the new license and direct customers to upgrade their licenses. But this is > work that could be spent on more productive things. > > Who else has had to deal with this issue and what did you decide? I am > curious about who else uses AP and does anyone know of any really well known > indie products that use it? If I had to change my license scheme to a > stronger key I am thinking that just moving to AP would be the easiest and > most secure (given the well precautions). > > Thanks. And please email me if you would like a complimentary license to > Ringer, assuming you do not want a cracked one. :) > I believe I've recently had the same problem. I haven't seen a keygen in the wild, but there is a license code on warez sites that I cannot find any record of generating. Like you, I traded security for license key size, so this isn't a huge surprise.
I'm still not sure what to do. I don't plan to do anything about it until I have a paid upgrade that requires new licenses. When the time comes, I really don't want to switch to Aquatic Prime or any other file-based system for the same reasons that I decided not to go that route in the first place (which have been discussed on this list in the past). So, I'm putting off the decision for now. Lots of other people do use AP in different ways, some of which are hidden that from the user. Kevin Hoctor was talking about how he does this in MoneyWell at NSConference, so perhaps he'll pipe up to talk about what he does. Regardless, I think your attitude of not worrying too much right now is the right one. As long as the crack doesn't creep up in the Google rankings to rival your own site, most regular users won't notice it. Thanks, Chad Sellers Chad Sellers Useful Fruit Software http://www.usefulfruit.com/
