CryptoLicensing cracked - still usable or better options for a similar price?
I want to sell software developed in c# to end-users and want to use licensing with a yearly fee for this.
I have never used licensing, so I'm completely clueless about this and don't want to reinvent everything myself, but rather spend some money and use a commercial licensing solution.
After comparing a lot of different options I thought of giving CryptoLicensing a try, but due to the following post I'm kind of cautious:
Good or Bad experiences with CryptoLicensing?
While I haven't tried cracking it myself, I'm afraid that it's a little too easy to crack. I'm completely aware that no solution is 100% safe but this almost sounds like a general crack for anything that uses cryptolicensing. I thought that I still have to integrate a commercial licensing solution into my software and can make it harder or easier to crack depending on my way of integration.
- Is the last statement correct in general?
- Is it still true for crypto even though this crack exists or does it make each crypto-protected piece of software equally easy to crack?
- Is this crack a problem at all or can I use CryptoLicensing and be very well protected?
- Any specific license solution suggestions (should be in the same price-range) or experiences for my use-case are welcome.
(Please no discussion if I should use licensing at all or if the yearly fee-option is a good idea thx ;-) )
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this.
Answer
OK... I'll chime in.
I sold downloadable software on-line for over 10 years. Every title is still out there
... on the Warez, Crackz and Serialz sites!
Yep, each title magically turned itself into freeware without my permission. There was nothing I could do to stop it (and I tried EVERYTHING).
If you have software of value, it WILL get cracked.
Worse, when a potential user does a Google search for the EXACT TITLE of your software, and your Google listing in on page 2 of the results, and page 1 is filled with ways to get the software pirated for free, and all of your SEO efforts are no match for the hacker sites, your revenue stream is basically over.
Sorry for the grim picture, but I've been there.
No matter how smart you are, the crackers are right there with you... and it's more profitable for them to crack your warez than it is for you to develop, market and support it. Sad but true.
If Adobe and Microsoft and their multi-million-dollar efforts can't solve this one, there is little chance for the rest of us.
Is there ANY possible way for you to take your software and turn it into a software-as-a-service offering? Can you put some (or all) of the functionality "in the cloud"? Basically, if you can avoid putting the software actually ON a hacker's machine, right next to their Black Ice, you will be doing yourself a HUGE favor in the long run.
The best solution I've found to software piracy is to run the software on a well-secured server, and sell access to it. As soon as you allow the software onto even just one other computer, it's the beginning of the end.
My $0.02.