how to stop Software Piracy ?

[Dasiths]

Hi,
I am currently selling one of my software on a CD .....
I need to stop other people from making illigal copies of my CD ... how can I do that .....

I also need to stop copieng via the hard drive .....

[MartinLiss]

One way is to force them to register, and one way to do that is in the A program registration scheme in my signature. It then doesn't matter if they actually copy the CD.

[donW]

do a web search for activelock ocx. its free

[mehtarohit]

Downloaded the Activelock.ocx along with its source code. But didn't understant how to use it.

Can anyone of u could pls guide in using it.

[Dasiths]

I found a tutorial on how to use activelock
http://www.internetion.net/ActiveLock/activelock.asp

but I do not want to force the users to register since they have already bought the cd .....

even if I do that the user could register one copy and sell dozen illigal copies ........

[ForgottenBlah]

Most games utilize this feature, so i'll suggest it here.

Have your program connect to a main server when the user tests their register code, this way, the server stores the code and if someone else tries to register with that key the server can tell them otherwise.

The downside to this is you need to find a host to host your running server, and its a bit excessive for smaller programs (If your software is small, that is).

Thats really the only way I can think of verifying whether a reg-key has been used or not. Besides verifying it via a webpage... Such as building a webbrowser control, navigating to a link such as:

http://yourdomain.com/verify.asp?regcode=<insert code here>&verify=true

Which would then have the server check its databases for that registry code, if not found, return "ok" and if found, return a error.

Good luck.

[Dasiths]

What if the user uninstalled or formatted the disk and want to register it again ....... and the server thing would be too complicated.

I noticed in some games when you burn the cd the setup does not execute ..... or the main exe file says cd not ready ....

I want something like that ........

[MartinLiss]

Here's (http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_protections.shtml) a good article.

[Spajeoly]

Create an MD5 hash of their system configuration, Hard drive serial# & whatever else on their system, so it's unique as possible, then, base your serial on that. That way it only works on the one system.

[hothead]

Create an MD5 hash of their system configuration, Hard drive serial# & whatever else on their system, so it's unique as possible, then, base your serial on that. That way it only works on the one system.

That's a great idea. I hear Microsoft will be using that (or something similar) for Windows Longhorn.

As luck would have it, I also have the VB implementation of the MD5 and SHA hash algorithms, should you decide to go this way.

[hothead]

Anyways, here it is.

[Madboy]

Ive said this before, and ill say it again. There is no way of stopping piracy, it goes on all around us, and i bet 7/10 people here use piracy against things. From as little as cracking a $1 dollar shareware program, to full movies and audio. The fact is if proffessionals cant do, none of us stand a chance! However it doesnt mean to say give up, because you can make it harder to crack. But what you dont want is really annoying programs. As for your orginal question, i cant really answer that.

Many Regards,

[randem]

Dasiths,

You can not stop it.... Only postpone and delay it!

[Dasiths]

Most of the users who use my programme will not be able to connect to the internet and Register ....

a CD protection system is the best bet for me.

(I saw a tutorial on pscode.com on how the derive a serial number based on their system configuration) but that also requires the user to connect to the internet.

[Shawn N]

How do you plan on distributing your application?

[Dasiths]

Originally posted by hothead
Anyways, here it is.
This uses something like that too.

Software Registration key derived from PC hardware components
- Steve W

here is the url http://www.pscode.com/vb/default.asp?lngCId=48926&lngWId=1

I plan to distribute my software on CD's .... so when someone buys them I can't force them to register...

[hothead]

Well, if you're going to distribute your software on CD's, you can't really do much to stop piracy. CD's can be copied without too much trouble. There are a lot of file hackers out there that will easily be able to get around the most common protection algorithms, which at present are SafeDisc and SecurROM.

Having the main exe say CD not ready is the easiest kind of protection to get around. If one can get around a heavy copy protection, then they can most certainly get rid of a message box that says "CD not ready."

Which brings us back to what a couple people said in this thread: You can't fully stop piracy, but you can make it more difficult.

[Wokawidget]

I am afraid I agree with madboy on this one.
Who here has an illegal copy of Windows or Office, or any other software for that matter? If it was easy to stop then don't you think MS would have implemented an anti-piracy thing in their code? hmmmmmmmmmm

There are many ways to pause the copy process but people can always get round these...:(

Woka

[MartinLiss]

Originally posted by Dasiths
...I plan to distribute my software on CD's .... so when someone buys them I can't force them to register... Yes you can. See my original post.