Richard, In my opinion, using the Hotsync user name is far and away the best way to go. I agree with others who have said before that it's not worth spending too much effort making your program ultimately secure (because someone can still crack it if they want). However, in my experience as a developer it doesn't take much to get most users to register - but you have to do something or the fact is that most people won't pay. Just use the HotSync ID and create your own cypher which will generate the code based on it. The way most people do it, use the first time the program is launched as an opportunity to record the system date in your preferences database, and then check it each time the program is started to see if the time you want to allot for free use has expired. When the time has expired, you can limit the features that are availble. I also use a "nag" screen (just the program / About form) at startup to remind unregistered users how much time they have left. It is true, this is easy enough to get around if the user simply deletes your program from the Palm and then re-installs it. But for most users, and for inexpensive apps, it's just too much of a hassle to do that.
As for the process of sending the codes, I prefer to send them myself and not leave it up to Handango/PalmGear/etc. For direct sales from my website, I route sales through eSellerate and they have been excellent to work with. For PalmGear and Handango, I just compile a different version that has their site mentioned in the program as the place to buy (if they get the sale, they deserve it). The extra work to compile slightly different versions is pretty small. For sending the codes themselves, I use RegDirector (disclaimer: I wrote it, so I am a bit biased) to import the CSV attachments from each seller and automatically generate a message back to the user for whichever program they have purchased. If you would like more information about that option, you can visit: www.regdirector.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Marty Rice www.fitnesslogs.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Coutts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Palm Developer Forum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 12:34 AM Subject: Re: adding registration keys > It's interesting to me to hear the two different approaches -- psychological > vs. registration keys. I have to say I lean towards the latter. As long as > the price is reasonable, I'm happy to register my software. But, I have to > admit, unless I'm coerced a bit, I tend to be a little lazy about it. E.g., > unless some of my features are turned off, it's always on my To Do list to > register. Being a coder and all, you'd think I'd be better about this, but > there it is. > > Has cracking Palm programs been a problem? E.g., have people cracked apps > and then put them on the net for other people to download? That's pretty > heinous, if its true. > > What I'd like to do is have my own website where people can download my > software and register it. At the same time, I'd like to post it on PalmGear > and Handango. In the "About" dialog it would have a blurb that says > "register at www.blahblah.com." When they go there, I'd direct them to my > yahoo store, or whereever. Of course if they downloaded it from Handango > and then went back there to register, they could and Handango would take > whatever percentage they wanted, which is okay, but hopefully after > downloading from Handango and then loving my program, they'd read the > "register at www.blahblah.com" and I could keep all of the proceeds. > > Will this formula work, or is my naivette showing? > > ~Rich > > > -- > For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/ > -- For information on using the Palm Developer Forums, or to unsubscribe, please see http://www.palmos.com/dev/support/forums/
