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Ask Slashdot: What Is a Reasonable Way To Deter Piracy?

Posted by Soulskill on from the go-to-their-house-and-verify-them-personally dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I'm an indie developer about to release a small ($5 — $10 range) utility for graphic designers. I'd like to employ at least a basic deterrent to pirates, but with the recent SimCity disaster, I'm wondering: what is a reasonable way to deter piracy without ruining things for legitimate users? A simple serial number? Online activation? Encrypted binaries? Please share your thoughts."

5 of 687 comments (clear)

  1. Read This by rudy_wayne · · Score: 3, Informative

    Read this. Memorize it. It tells you everything you need to know as a developer:

    http://tommyrefenes.tumblr.com/post/45684087997/apathy-and-refunds-are-more-dangerous-than-piracy

  2. Re:life-long updates by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 3, Informative

    That reminds me of an early 1980s copy protection scheme I heard about- signing the (magnetic floppy) disk with a ball point pen before formatting, then using a special cataloging program to record and analyze bad sectors at bootup.

    Worked well until hard drives came into play, but a sector copy program that ignored bad sector warnings could accurately defeat it.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  3. Re:life-long updates by grantspassalan · · Score: 4, Informative

    There is also an app store for the Mac. Microsoft also has an app store for Windows now.

    --
    A sufficiently advanced simulation is indistinguishable from reality.
  4. Re:life-long updates by shvytejimas · · Score: 3, Informative

    That would be Chocolat, a text editor for Mac.
    Here's a screenshot of the warning

  5. Re:life-long updates by mcvos · · Score: 3, Informative

    But if it means you sell that many more, it's still a good idea.

    Or you sell at a higher price in that app store. Whatever works.