Software copy protection
The Nalpeiron Licensing Service™ (NLS) helps developers to secure their software while eliminating re-licensing problems.
NLS™ uses a patent pending technology that finds the right balance, protecting both your intellectual property and the end-user experience. Throughout the sales cycle of your software we seek to cut down losses through piracy, increase sales and profits along with reducing operational costs.
Choosing the best software copy protection solution.
Wise software publishers will realise that no one thing
makes the perfect copy protection product.
- Buy on the
basis of cost alone, and you will find yourself
incurring heavy overheads when you try to solve future
problems.
- Focus on ease of use, and you run the risk of inadequate copy
protection from a generic product that suffers
from widely-distributed exploits and software patches.
- Fail to check for reliability, and you may find your
software erasing customer licenses, irrevocably
damaging your image.
The problem with dongles
The dongle sounds like an
ideal solution, but it suffers from some underlying
problems that affect the end user and the software
developer alike. These can
be collected together into a few categories:
Using physical media causes physical problems
Physical devices can be lost more easily, especially
small form factor devices
such as a dongle. A customer who loses the dongle will
not be able to use the
software until it is replaced. Supplying and replacing dongles is a problem for the vendor. One of the advantages of working in the software business is that inventory is less relevant because your product can be replicated and doesn't take up any space.
Conversely, dongles must be managed as physical stock,
placing additional
demands on your business. Replacing your customers’ lost
dongles is yet
another problem. Because dongles have not traditionally
offered any "value-add" for
the customer, replacing a lost dongle is simply an
inconvenience for the
customer, especially if they have to pay for it.
Dongles are also expensive to manufacture, meaning that suppliers must increase the price of their software to accommodate the extra up-front cost. Buying 1,000 traditional dongles at $30 each will result in a $30,000 inventory, which has to be held in stock until it is used, tying up badly needed capital that could be used elsewhere.
Higher development costs
Dongles are traditionally
hard to upgrade, requiring you to send out a new device
or new drivers. Users have to wait until these upgrades
are issued before their
software will work properly. Software protection that uses dongles is not as easy
to develop for as non physical
technology. Apart from the universally accepted physical
interfaces
(serial port/parallel port/USB) there are no standards
for dongles, meaning that
each dongle solution works differently, using different
ASICs and software
drivers.
They create support headaches
Dongles can cause incompatibilities
with hardware and software. A dongle that
works perfectly well may suddenly experience problems
following a major
operating system upgrade or driver patch. Should
a dongle suddenly begin locking
up because of changes to its operating environment,
the supplier will have to
resolve the problem, often with considerable time
delays waiting for new drivers. The costs could be
significant.
The problem with "Wrapper" software
Evolving from the loader based mechanisms found in some software protection systems, software wrappers are considered by many developers to be among the easiest products
to use, because they are often designed to be easily integrated into any product. However, that ease of use comes at a price. Once cracked, a software wrapper can be countered with an un-wrapper that is easy to distribute and run.
SDK's are stronger and harder to hack than wrappers and much cheaper and more flexible than dongles. They also tend to have more features and integrate with applications much more tightly, allowing for features such as custom screens, for example.
Adopting long-term thinking
The solution is to
think holistically. Think in the long term about the
ongoing support issues that you will face as your product
succeeds.
Consider the importance of the customer experience
and the everyday tasks that your end users will be
carrying out, and ask yourself whether your copy protection
software will be able to survive the realities of your
customer environment.
The PC is a battlefield—and
unless your software comes well-protected, your revenue
and your corporate image could be a casualty.
 The Nalpeiron Licensing Service™
is a full API based SDK client security system that is far more secure than
"wrapper" style solutions.
Unlike most software copy protection products the Nalpeiron Licensing Service™ incorporates new patent pending technology we call Protect-n-Forget (PnF)™ technology. PnF™ technology doesn't store easily alterable files on the user's computer. This adds a layer of security (and usability) well beyond our competitors solutions.
Review the Technical Advantages of NLS™:
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