[2005]Question regarding publishing and legal issues

Hello All,

I downloaded Visual Basic Studio 2005 Express, and created a program. I didn't have any experience with coding, and just kind of figured it out as I went. Now that the program is complete, I'd like to publish and distribute it. I'm probably going to distribute using CDs, and the built in publisher lets me package an installer for that purpose, so on a technical standpoint all is well.

I have two questions:
1. I'm confused about the "digital signing" aspect. Do I need to buy a key, or can this be distributed with the "Unknown Publisher" stamp? The temporary key is labeled after the user account on my development computer. Is this information sent to the finished program? I can't find it, but I don't want someone else seeing this information if possible. It doesn't want to let me change this information. Do I need to buy a key to customize this?

2. Is there any legal information I should know? This program (written entirely by me) is likely going to be sold. Are there any license restrictions as far as distribution?

Thank you very much for your time and help!

May I just ask, do you have an MSDN subscription or an MSDN Academic alliance account or something of the sort?

Edit: Ah you changed from standard to express just as i posted, disregard my question then;)

In what country is this going to happen? There are places where no copyright laws exist. Microsoft allows commercial application development with Express and is not asking for any money.

The digital signing is only useful(imao) when you really need to be sure the app is from the publisher it claims to be from. It can still be anything (a virus and so on).

A nice disclaimer can be found on almost every big site but it should be considered if it applies to the local laws. I wonder if disclaimers are copyrighted.

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Originally Posted by Half

In what country is this going to happen? There are places where no copyright laws exist. Microsoft allows commercial application development with Express and is not asking for any money.

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It's going to be US distribution. It's nice to know there aren't any restrictions.

I wonder though, if it's not necessary to digitally sign the app, then why do those options always reactivate in the program - even after I deselect them before publishing? It always seems to use the temporary key, which has my username in the details. So, if I don't buy a key, then the info form the temporary key won't show up in the final product, correct?

Moved to General Developer