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Selling Software - Shareware, Piracy, and Profit?

Posted by Cliff on from the this-part-of-the-industry-is-not-for-the-faint-of-heart dept.

qjereq asks: "A few months after being laid off from a large corporation early last year, I decided to create some image browsing software to sell on the web and, perhaps later, in stores. Unfortunately, besides competing with hundreds of other similar shareware and freeware products, I have found that the bulk of my product's downloads come from pirate web sites. I have tried unsuccessfully to make my software hack-proof. I have also looked into selling the product in-stores, but I have only heard bad things about this including the possibility of having to eat the cost of returned merchandise. I am running low on cash and am on the brink of giving up, but I know that the product is good. Do any Slashdot readers have any success stories about how they were able to make money by selling software? My product is currently sold as Shareware. Should I consider a combination of Freeware and a Full Version? Is it worth the hassle of trying to get onto store shelves? Help."

1 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Copy protection not the answer by Krellan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's possibly one of the best sites on the net about the philosophy of designing shareware. Note that copy protection is not the answer!

    http://semicolon.com/ShareSuccess/Shareware1.html

    Basically, the author does triage. There are 3 types of people: those who will always pay, those who will never pay (pirates), and those who might pay. He focuses on trying to convince the latter group, and doesn't waste time with copy protection schemes that will just annoy the honest users and not stop the pirates.

    What's wrong with copy protection:

    http://www.toad.com/gnu/whatswrong.html

    Some typical attack methods:

    http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/3030/co pyfail.htm
    http://fravia.anticrack.de/advanced.htm

    You might want to read all of these before deciding if your efforts on copy protection are really worth it in the long run.

    http://semicolon.com/ShareSuccess/SharewareLinks.h tml

    The author of the first link has a page of more links that are also very good.

    --

    Dr. Demento On The 'Net!