Making a software Trial Version

[needs_upgrade]

Hello guys!

 

One of my clients suggested that I should be making trial versions of my work to attract more clients. An my concern is how to LIMIT piracy. Would you guys be kind to give me some insights?

 

These are what i have in mind:

 

1. A function that will delete some php codes (add / del / edit / etc) upon expiration of the software. (But what if someone deleted the function before it expires?)

2. A function that will delete the tables in the MySQL DB (Again, someone might delete the function)

3. Is there a way to limit access from a database after expiration?

 

I know that there is no way to stop piracy, but is there a way to limit it? Most of my clients are medical doctors (most of them are not into programming). I am hoping for some insights/suggestions.

 

Thanks and more power to you guys.

[5kyy8lu3]

Hello guys!

 

One of my clients suggested that I should be making trial versions of my work to attract more clients. An my concern is how to LIMIT piracy. Would you guys be kind to give me some insights?

 

These are what i have in mind:

 

1. A function that will delete some php codes (add / del / edit / etc) upon expiration of the software. (But what if someone deleted the function before it expires?)

2. A function that will delete the tables in the MySQL DB (Again, someone might delete the function)

3. Is there a way to limit access from a database after expiration?

 

I know that there is no way to stop piracy, but is there a way to limit it? Most of my clients are medical doctors (most of them are not into programming). I am hoping for some insights/suggestions.

 

Thanks and more power to you guys.

are you talking about a web application? or some client-side software in some other language? i'm not sure what you're asking

[needs_upgrade]

Yes, I am talking about a web application. Specifically, I'm using PHP and MySQL.

[zeeli]

Sell licenses not software. Very few of registered/legal companies actually has guts to use pirated software as it is highly illegal(or so it is here in Finland).

 

 

Regards,

zEeLi

[ngreenwood6]

As far as I am aware there is no such trial. The only thing I could tell you is allow them to view a demo on your own site. Another option is to encode your php scripts using ioncube or some other.

[needs_upgrade]

thanks a lot ngreenwood6. that's what i really need.

[ngreenwood6]

no problem. if you are referring to the ioncube solution there are some others out there so you may want to google them and see which one fits best for your situation.

[Liquid Fire]

The issue I have with IonCube or Nu-Coder or any other php script encoder is that, from what i know, the end user must install that software on there server.  Personally I would not hire any coder that would require me to install one of these encoder programmer or use any software that require one of these.  It would be nice if PHP would by default install an encoder/decoder becusae then i would actually use one.

[corbin]

The issue I have with IonCube or Nu-Coder or any other php script encoder is that, from what i know, the end user must install that software on there server.  Personally I would not hire any coder that would require me to install one of these encoder programmer or use any software that require one of these.  It would be nice if PHP would by default install an encoder/decoder becusae then i would actually use one.

 

 

But, that's pretty much required.  Because those encoders are compiled, it's much more difficult to reverse either of them than a method which would be entirely uncompiled.  How would you safely (or more safely might be a better term, since it seems like it just takes time for the encryptors to get cracked) encrypt a PHP file without a PHP extension?  Anything the PHP file would do to its self could easily be undone and the original source gotten at.  So, either the PHP file or an extension needs to be compiled, unless you can think of some other way ;p.

 

 

Edit:  Hrmmmm seems you had no issues with why you had to install one, and I read your post entirely wrong.  You just don't want to, you understand why it's necessary.

 

 

If PHP had one by default, it would get cracked in about 5 minutes everytime it was updated.  I almost think the encoder/decoder would need to be closed source with the executable encrypted for it to work well enough x.x.

[opalelement]

Put the web application up on your server, and make it so that every hour or so it will reset the database to the defaults. Do this by making an additional field, `last_reset`, in the database, and a function in the application that checks if it was been over an hour since its last reset. Then, when a user loads the page, it will reset it if it has been too long.

[Liquid Fire]

If PHP had one by default, it would get cracked in about 5 minutes everytime it was updated.  I almost think the encoder/decoder would need to be closed source with the executable encrypted for it to work well enough x.x.

 

And that is why i will probably never ever use one(or at least personally, i would use one if i was told i had to for work).  I think the best option for showing a demo of your application is to host it yourself.

[DarkSuperHero]

if you dont want to do encoding, or do a demo, you could "give away" a stripped down version of your software....and possibly sell the upgrade, or sell the add-ons... maybe having a product key that stored on your server, and checked against whats stored on the server where the software is installed, although this would work best only for people who arn't too PHP savvy... :-P

[Daniel0]

Why don't you ask Microsoft, Adobe, or perhaps the entire game industry how to battle piracy? Oh wait, even with their billions of dollars they still haven't figured it out...

 

If PHP had one by default, it would get cracked in about 5 minutes everytime it was updated.  I almost think the encoder/decoder would need to be closed source with the executable encrypted for it to work well enough x.x.

 

AES is open. Now go crack it for me.

[WhIteSidE]

Like Daniel0 said, the best encryption solutions are based on an open standard and are still uncrackable. Why open? Security through obscurity only works as long as no one figures out your method. As soon as someone figures it out, you're boned. And someone always figures it out.

 

The other alternative is to use a simple solution in clear php code to authenticate a license key. True, php experts may be able to hack around it, although I never have. Most organizations will pay for a license.

 

~ Christopher

[corbin]

Why don't you ask Microsoft, Adobe, or perhaps the entire game industry how to battle piracy? Oh wait, even with their billions of dollars they still haven't figured it out...

 

If PHP had one by default, it would get cracked in about 5 minutes everytime it was updated.  I almost think the encoder/decoder would need to be closed source with the executable encrypted for it to work well enough x.x.

 

AES is open. Now go crack it for me.

 

 

AES is open.  Go code an extension and encrypt PHP scripts with it.

 

 

No, but seriously....  The key would have to be either in the PHP file (obviously a bad idea) or in the PHP extension compiled in.  So, unless you did a custom install or a key was auto generated the first time the extension was loaded or something.....

 

What I'm pretty much saying is, how do you stop someone from getting at the key?  Then, once he/she has the key, decrypting the file would be simple.

 

Also, the key would have to match on separate PHP installations, meaning it would need to be portable with scripts.  No idea how that's going to work....

 

Maybe you were just using AES as an example of a secure open method algorithm.  (I sure as hell couldn't singlehandedly crack something with a decent AES key.  Not while I'm alive anyway ;p.)

 

Or is there something I'm missing?

[Daniel0]

Maybe you were just using AES as an example of a secure open method algorithm.

 

Yes.