Crackers should be shot. I never quite understood why someone supposedly so clever enough to be able to crack , just doesn't spend his energies writing his own brilliant software. Theft is cooler than graft I guess...
Just venting my spleen.. On 15/9/06 12:46, "Peter De Berdt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 15 Sep 2006, at 12:49, Mark O'Neill wrote: > >> My *personal* stance is to make a demo version available which has >> features >> completely omitted - no 30 trial, no features that can be "unlocked", >> because if that code is not even in the app, there's nothing to hack. >> Shareware is a good model, but it's just not safe these days. There >> are so >> many hacker groups trying to out-hack one another that they'll >> practically >> hack *anything*. >> >> Only send out a full version of your software (and protect it with >> a key >> code if you like) to people who have already purchased. >> >> That's the model I'll be using for my applications in future >> anyway, but >> each to their own... > > Sadly enough, this is about as safe as normal serial protection, > you'll see the full version of your app appear within days on > Bittorrent sites, forums, ... One way to have some way of tracking > who's distributing your app, would be to compile a marked version > (make sure you encrypt the registrant's data, so they can't just find > it in clear text and strip it) for each sale. > > Serial protection: they'll find out your algorithm (and realbasic > apps are apparently amongst the most easy to crack) > Calling home validation: they'll add a remark with the serial number > to block outgoing connection with Norton Internet Security or Little > Snitch > Complex protection: they'll patch your validation with a crack, which > just does something like: "if serialnumbervalid then continue else > continue end if", instead of "if serialnumbervalid then continue else > tell user serial is invalid end if", thus making all your protection > worth nothing > Only full version when license is paid: distribute it through warez > channels, just look at Saft for example, it's so easily available > through MSJ > > A good way to protect your software (for a while), is to post a > serial on these forums yourself, with one catch: after a few months, > it says: "Hey you, it seems you have been using my software illegally > and you've used it xx times, don't you think you can spend the modest > fee of $xx for my app?". It's very simple to implement, and once > there's a serial out there, you won't have hackers trying to find one > during the initial months after the release when the serial is seen > as "valid" and you'll probably have a few more registrations this > way. This is especially effective if your software has everyday use, > i.e. once it stops working, the illegal user is in serious trouble. > > All in all, any protection can be cracked or circumvented (even that > nifty QuarkXPress 4 dongle protection back in the days was cracked), > so don't spend months implementing the "ultimate" protection scheme. > Most hackers crack software because they see it as a challenge, they > clearly don't have much else to do ;-) > > Best regards > > Peter De Berdt > > _______________________________________________ > Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: > <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> > > Search the archives of this list here: > <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html> > _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives of this list here: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
