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Thread: Software Licensing

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    18

    Cool Software Licensing

    Hi everyone

    I need some information on Software Licensing.
    Basically I want to know that how software license works. For example, a CD Key, or a demo version of an application which will run only for a month...you know something like this.

    Thanks
    Stay Tuned.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    175
    I think most of the members here will ask you to eleborate your query.

    Trial/Demo version/Shareware is the category given to the software that a company releases but with either some features disabled or with a time limit. You can imagine, they ask you to have a taste of their product. For full functioning of the software you need to buy a licence which costs you $$$. I hope you got the idea.




    - :S:
    \"And life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be.\"

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
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    Well, I'll pu it in more details. I want to create an application, which will not run unless you key in a secret key or combination of secrete keys. It would be kind of CD key only, but it would work after an application is installed. I hope you got my idea.


    Stay Tuned.

  4. #4
    There are several comercial products and services that make this sort of thing easyer such as ASProtect from http://www.aspack.com/ though these are often broken. Now if you are looking to make your own system for learning purposes I can tell you this

    usualy a key or serial number is generated based on information provided during registration, sometimes this includes hardware ids that are unique to the particular machine but become a nusance when the user upgrades his/her machine. Other information that might be used in the key generatorion include number of users and name.

    Now lets say you find a neat way to generate keys to send to your paying customers. Now you need to find a way to verify the key when entered. The application might use a generator built into the program that generates the key and compares it to the user input. Or your application might "phone home" that is to connect to a service on the internet where it sends the key entered and it is checked against a database.

    There are also things called dongles, hardware devices that the user conects to the computer. These can validate the user. Also be sure to read about Microsofts WPA and MPA http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;302806

    There are many methods of protecting a product against piracy, also see the following

    http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php
    http://www.power-t.com/copy_protect.html
    http://www.activatesoft.net/technology.asp

    Search for products simular to Asprotect and look for ways these protections are broken.
    \"I think Adid just had a heart attack, I tryed to revive him but it was too late!\" - Delta Force Black Hawk Down

  5. #5
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    18
    Hi smu1ck,

    Thank you for so lot of information.
    Are there any specific algorithms for generation and comparision for secret keys? Where I could get them?

    Thanks
    Stay Tuned.

  6. #6
    In And Above Man Black Cluster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    912
    this might help:
    http://www.aaxnet.com/topics/slicense.html

    Example:
    http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/2...tware-20021231

    GNU my favorite:
    http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html


    As for the rest of your question, like prodcut key and Demo version .. this is completely up to the programmer or the mother company of the program .... they can either make demos for demonstration and testing or not .... As for the product key ... each product MUST have a key for registration .... today many companies shift to online product registration .....
    \"The only truly secure system is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed in a lead-lined room with armed guards - and even then I have my doubts\".....Spaf
    Everytime I learn a new thing, I discover how ignorant I am.- ... Black Cluster

  7. #7
    Originally posted here by chaitanya
    Hi smu1ck,

    Thank you for so lot of information.
    Are there any specific algorithms for generation and comparision for secret keys? Where I could get them?

    Thanks
    Stay Tuned.
    Unfortunately I do not know of any spasific algorithms, however I can sugest you create your own. I have never done this sort of thing but I can sugest you start by determining what information will be encoded into the key or serial. Here is an idea

    You may have one product right now but maybe two or three in the future, develop a Product ID for each product.

    The serial might encode the folowing,

    product id
    name of registrant
    date of registration
    exireation date (if any)
    number of users (eg. licence for 3 machines)
    hardware id (um maybe...ideas below)

    Ensure each serial that gets generated is unique. No two serials should be the same. As for hardware id, this can make it dificult for people who upgrade like me. I might sugest the registrant creates a username and password at time of registration, and the system log the mac address of the users network card perhaps. Then each time the user buys a new network card he can go to the site, login and his/her new mac address will be recorded perhaps.

    Now as for the actual algorithm, since I havent done this before I would imagine you could just invent your own, perhaps something like this:

    Get user input from registration forum
    Convert name to upercase
    Convert date in format mm/dd/yyyy to letercode (eg 03/07/2005 becomes ADAHCAAF)
    Convert Expire Date into letercode
    Convert number of users into lettercode starting from back of alphabet (eg 3 users becomes X)
    Combine everything together.

    PROD ID - USER - REG DATE - EXPIRE DATE - NUM USERS - HARDWARE ID

    Well that was problably a very weak serial but it was just something to think about. Whatever languague you use, maybe C++, this should be simple, but you should store the serial into a database. If you build the generator into the program, someone with assembly skils might find it, perhaps use the phone home I mentioned earlyer.

    Like I said though this is just a guess on how you might aproach this problem, but if your product is actualy worth money, and something you want to sell, you might want to consider one of the already avaible comercial solutions.
    \"I think Adid just had a heart attack, I tryed to revive him but it was too late!\" - Delta Force Black Hawk Down

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