Licensing Overview

Welcome to the Software Copy Protection, Licensing and Activation "Viewpoint" site.

On this page we aim to help you understand the Anti Piracy business in an impartial and factual way - without marketing hype - just 25 years of experience and feedback from Software Developers using this technology on the ground.

Copy protection is vital for any software development company that wants to preserve its investment. With industry statistics stating that 36% of all software in use is pirated, the stakes are high, and companies that fail to mitigate these losses risk losing valuable R&D funds that could hinder their chances to compete in the future.

Yet copy protection tools are not all created equal.

Finding a tool that balances ease of deployment, ease of customer use and adequate security can be difficult. Issues such as reliability and support also loom large. Any company not considering these factors when purchasing copy protection for their products risks more than ineffective copy protection.

This could result in disgruntled customers, high support overheads and irrevocable damage to their corporate image.

Surprisingly, when considering the ROI on any copy protection tool, purchase cost is therefore not the only figure that should be included in the calculation. These other issues must also be weighed up. Tangible costs such as post deployment support can be mitigated by choosing the right tools, but there are other, imponderable costs.

Using inadequate tools that degrade the customer experience by erasing licenses unnecessarily can damage a company's image and generate bad feeling with end users. Unfortunately, the effect of inadequate copy protection tools on ongoing sales can only be estimated in broad terms.

The Purpose of this site

We have created this portal to educate and inform developers of the needs & requirements, dangers & pitfalls and various different options available to software developers in the market place at this current time.

• Finding the Balance
• Too many copy protection and volume licensing systems have failed to find the right balance between ease of use and security.
• Here we examine why and what makes up a good balance.

• Software Copy Protection
• Software or Digital Copy Protection Technologies use licenses usually stored on a Users PC or Server rather than an external device like a dongle.
• Here we examine the different kinds available.

• Hardware Copy Protection
• Hardware copy protection is a method of controlling applications that stores the End User license on a piece of external hardware plugged into a PC.
• Here we examine how the cost structure differs with a hardware solution than with that of a software solution.

• PRO-Tector Flash™ - an alternative hardware solution to Dongles
• A new solution - standard USB flash drive copy-protects your software - at 30% less cost than a dongle.
• Here we examine this new alternative solution and see that it has the traditional benefits of a hardware solution, but with a reduced total cost of ownership.

• Software Piracy
• Did you know that more than one in four of every software package in use in the United States is illegal? This costs the industry over 400 million dollars annually.
• Here we also examine a brief history of software piracy.

• New to Copy Protection
• Many first time buyers consider the functionality and features along with price first without taking the time to consider the impact on their customers.
• Here we discuss why you must look at the bigger picture and make sure you 'see' all the 'invisible' costs of copy protection, such as engineering, support to customer service and marketing.

• Trial Software
• Trialware is the term used when software is offered for a trial period. It is any time-limited or feature-limited software that allows users to try out the software before they buy it.
• Here we examine just how important this is to the software developer as a means of gaining market presence.

• Business Solutions
• Here you will see how Software Copy Protection can help different business leaders such as CEO's, CTO's, CMO's, CFO's, and COO's.
• Here we examine the specific benefits to each role and how they are affected by software piracy and how they can be helped through the use of software copy protection.

• Developer Solutions
• Anyone developing Software nowadays will be well aware of the need to protect their Intellectual Property (even those selling under GNU licenses) along with offering flexible ways for End users to buy your products.
• This is where Software Licensing and Anti-piracy solutions come into their own - offering you the ability to control and deliver your products in a user friendly but safe way.

• Activation Software
• Activation is an integral and important part of the software developer's arsenal. Manually issuing licenses via the phone or email is time consuming and very expensive compared to issuing them automatically via the Internet.
• Here they can not only reduce operational costs, but they are also provided with a convenient service for their end users - 24x7x365.

• 10 Questions to ask your vendor
• Not all copy protection tools are created equal - and neither are copy protection vendors. These are the questions you need to ask when you are looking to provide a copy protection solution for your intellectual property.
• You need to dig deep into the answers given to understand the real ramifications to you of the exact solution they are offering.