
Balsamiq's thoughts on software piracy - pchristensen
http://www.balsamiq.com/blog/?p=382
======
sfamiliar
the win on this article is the comments: he posted the article, someone
cracked the license generator, posted the source. there was a brief, friendly
discussion about this.

if it were one of my previous employers, they would've immediately sic'd
lawyers, the fbi, homeland security, and anyone within shouting distance on
the commenter. (the head of the legal department once got up at a quarterly
meeting and ecstatically announced how many people had been prosecuted that
quarter. there was an uncomfortable silence that followed, as everyone began
expecting security cameras installed in every room. they started appearing
shortly thereafter.)

the authors sense of humor about this and pragmatic outlook is appreciated,
and in my mind, correct. do what you can, make it easy to buy, make it
uninteresting to break, have free versions available for people who need them.

~~~
Sujan
The comments really show how Peldi thinks:

In the article he stated why he sees no point in making it hard to crack the
code open, then someone posts this code and mentions that he is no pro hacker,
but just was able to use his newbie-skills in flash because there was
absolutely no obfuscation or something - and now Peldo is researching and
asking for ways how he could do better.

Well that's fast learning. Im really impressed.

~~~
balsamiq
Hi there, this is Peldi. A little update: I will be trying out SecureSWF
tonight, after a twitter friend recommended it:
<http://www.kindisoft.com/secureSWF/> \- we'll see. :)

~~~
axod
From the article: "I don’t do anything to protect against decompiling, and I’m
not worried about it."

So I assume you've changed your mind a little, and you're now at least a
little worried about it ;)

~~~
balsamiq
Yes, a little. The guy made a good point that making life harder to beginner-
level hackers is a good idea, so that's what I think I'll do. I'll update the
post after the dust settles a bit. :)

~~~
Herring

                    x          .-~~~~-. |\\_
         .-. _______|       @_/        /  Oo\_
         |=|/     /  \        |    \   \   _(")
         | |_____|_""_|        \   W-| ||'--'
         |_|_[ ]_|____|         \_\  \_\\
    
              ^                   ^
              |		      |
        open barn door	    horses

~~~
Herring
er.. conversion error

~~~
izaidi
You can put ASCII on a pig...

------
tdavis
Well, at least the "bad guys" are "hackers" ;)

I must be in some other group; I buy software based on the value of the
software to me. If it's valuable, I will pay for it; if it's something I
already know I'm going to use once and never touch again, it's highly unlikely
that I'll pay for that privilege. I think providing a fully-functional
limited-time demo would deter a lot of cracking and redistribution that goes
on.

I think the fact that I paid for Adobe Web Premium CS3 or whatever the hell it
was called shows that I'm pretty open to paying for software I'm going to use
a lot.

------
pchristensen
"The fact that the key has a name in it is a big psychological deterrent to
sharing it. If I found a key on a cracked site, I’d be able to immediately
trace it back to the owner."

This is awesome and going in my toolbox.

~~~
nihilocrat
It's a good idea, but like any scheme, can be worked around. If it's a
standalone application (i.e. not perpetually online), a keygen could be
written, and thus the names that are used to create the keys are garbage names
/ gibberish. In either case, people could buy valid copies of your software
with fraudulent or stolen credit card information and share those keys. Only
the crackers (red zone) have the emotional burden of performing credit card
fraud, while the more moderate pirates still benefit.

------
axod
Or, just run it as a webapp which people do not download.

With desktop software, they download it, and you usually have no means to shut
off access etc unless you build in some callbacks etc.

Webapps on the other hand, you have complete control always.

~~~
maxklein
I'm not going to make an application that is a good desktop app a web app
because I am afraid of it being pirated. Make a good product, don't let fear
of 'what if' make decisions for you.

~~~
wheels
Don't let "details" like "making money" distract you from building a
"product".

Meanwhile, back here in reality, monetization models do play into deployment
strategies. :-)

