5 Blatant Truths About Piracy!
Piracy is a real concern and a source of worry for most software developers, and it carries real costs for companies of all sizes. After more than 30 years in this business, we have heard the same request countless times: "I have an amazing software product and I want to make sure it can't be hacked or copied, ever!"
We believe we owe our customers a candid answer. Here are five blatant truths about software licensing systems and piracy, along with practical perspective on what licensing can and cannot do for you.
1. All copy protection can eventually be circumvented
An explosion of tools and technology has made it easier than ever for people to cheat software licenses and bypass copy-protection mechanisms. The honest reality is that every copy-protection technique can be circumvented. It is simply a matter of how badly someone wants to do it and the resources they have available.
This applies to both software-based licensing systems and hardware-based licensing systems (for example, hardware keys or dongles) that execute code on customer-owned equipment. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.
2. Licensing keeps honest people honest
A licensing or copy-protection system helps you keep honest people honest. It does not build an impenetrable fortress around your software. Once you accept that, you will not be shell-shocked if you ever discover your product was hacked. The goal is a reasonable barrier, not perfection.
3. Determined hackers were rarely going to buy anyway
The people who go to great lengths to circumvent copy protection are generally not people who would have purchased the software in the first place. A determined hacker is unlikely to throw in the towel and buy your product. If they do purchase, they may use a stolen credit card, which limits your losses to the time and fees involved in processing a chargeback. In other words, the effort spent trying to stop a committed attacker rarely converts into a legitimate sale.
4. The most secure software is hidden from the user
The most secure way to protect software is to keep it out of the user's hands entirely. For example, you could:
- Build a Software as a Service (SaaS) version of your application that runs through a browser.
- Keep a proprietary algorithm (your "secret sauce") online and let your software call it over the Internet, so the core logic stays on your servers.
In these models, the code that drives your application is never exposed in an untrusted environment such as customer-owned equipment. The trade-off is that this approach is not practical for every product or business model.
5. A fully automated licensing system still adds real value
Despite the truths above, a fully automated licensing system still provides a valuable barrier of protection. The important thing is to set expectations correctly. Do not pay a premium for a system expecting bulletproof protection, because that expectation is its own kind of trap. The value comes from a sensible, automated barrier, not from a promise that piracy will be eliminated.
What we know about customer behavior
In an anonymous and admittedly unscientific poll we ran through our newsletter, over 50% of respondents admitted to "bending" software licenses. That suggests roughly half of any audience has done it at some point. What we know for certain is that a gentle reminder to customers often prompts a legitimate purchase, which increases revenue.
Think of it in terms of the right level of security for the job. You would not leave your software sitting on a table next to the candy bars with nothing but a padlocked "Pay Here" box. At the same time, a bank vault behind six feet of concrete and armed guards is overkill. A vending machine is the right model for most software.
Picture your software behind the glass of a vending machine. Someone could break the glass, shake the machine, or reach up through the chute if they were determined enough, but the barrier is enough to discourage casual temptation for most people. Applied to software, that level of protection keeps the interaction between you and your customers automated, safe, and unencumbered. As technology evolves, you can reinforce the "vending machine" (your code design) to further reduce the risk of tampering.
The goal is to find the solution that balances easy implementation with the right amount of licensing control, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness for your specific needs. SoftwareKey System customers get strong value because the automated licensing system does not require them to spend excessive time or resources to reach their goals. They get what they need, plus some peace of mind.
What about the big companies?
Surely the largest companies have this solved? Not exactly. If a human mind can engineer a copy-protection mechanism, another human mind can reverse-engineer it, given enough time and effort. The largest technology companies invest enormous sums in anti-piracy measures and still have not eliminated piracy. A simple search will turn up product key structures and unauthorized copies of even the biggest-name software.
Consider the long progression of protection on commercial DVDs and Blu-ray discs, a massive industry that remains vulnerable. Hackers quickly broke the encryption used to copy-protect DVDs. In response, the Blu-ray consortium brought in senior engineers to create a more sophisticated encryption standard. Even so, attackers only needed to compromise a single master key, and now there are dozens of tools available to break Blu-ray encryption. More sophistication did not make the system uncrackable.
The bottom line
A licensing system is not a guarantee against piracy, and no honest vendor will promise you one. What a well-designed, automated system does is create a practical barrier that discourages casual misuse, keeps honest customers honest, and gently nudges license-benders toward a legitimate purchase. Aim for the vending machine, not the bank vault, and choose the solution that fits your product, your customers, and your budget.