Ask Slashdot: Copy Protection Advice For ~$10k Software?

An anonymous reader writes I'm part owner of a relatively small video editing software company. We're not yet profitable, and our stuff turned up on thePirateBay recently. Some of our potential paying customers are using it without paying, and some non-potential customers are using it without paying. Our copy protection isn't that tough to crack, and I'd rather see the developers working on the product than the DRM (I'm convinced any sufficiently desirable digital widget will get copied without authorization). Would it be insane to release a 'not for commercial use' copy that does some spying and reporting on you, along with a spy-free version for ~$10,000? I feel like that would reduce the incentive to crack the paid version, and legit businesses (In the US anyway but we're trying to sell everywhere) would generally pay and maybe we could identify some of the people using it to make money without paying us (and then sue the one with the biggest pockets). What would you do?"

Comments

Re:What is your software called

[Tr3vin]

Don't worry. I doubt you would ever use it. It is made by a basically failing company that thinks it would be ok to charge 10k to make up for their lack of sales. I doubt it is anywhere near as good as the much less expensive (or even free) programs out there.

Re:Don't waste money.

[L4t3r4lu5]

No, you paid for software which does these very reasonable online checks in a very stupid way. Once every 30 days is plenty for an app like this, with no online functionality. Offer an offline authentication too, a challenge-response like Windows Activation.

Your issues with this one piece of software do not reflect my own anecdotal experiences. Then again, I don't buy software with shitty DRM schemes; They get left by the wayside and forgotten while my money goes to a competitor.

Re:dongle

[Anonymous Coward]

Now, I'm not an expert

I can tell. You don't put in a "dongle check." You put in thousands of dongle checks. I worked on a codebase where there were over 35,000 dongle checks throughout the code. Have fun patching those.

You are asking the wrong people

[DaveV1.0]

Most slashdotters don't give a damn if you make money or are profitable. As far as they are concerned, you should be giving your software away. Most of the answer you will get, whether they say it or not, will be from people who don't think you deserve anything and that you would never have sold to those who are now using your software without authorization because it is too expensive (read: not free).