Re: Remotely Disabling Documents

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Hi Jeff:

Wise words, as usual, and I wouldn't disagree with anything you have said.

However, as one who needs to get paid for what I do, and whose only book
recently turned up on Google Books without me getting a cent, I am really
rather "over" the Freetards out there.

I think Diane's issue is that she doesn't send them the key until after she
receives their credit-card payment. But at some point in the following 30
days, the bank will reverse the payment if the customer "disputes the
charge".

In places like China, some 82 per cent of software is stolen (as opposed to
only 27 per cent in the USA...). Now, Microsoft Corporation may be able to
survive on the 20 per cent that's left, but I can't, and I suspect Diane
can't either.

The Internet is now much worse than the lawless Wild West. The i-Generation
no longer sees any need to pay for anything they get on the Internet, and
they regard anyone who does pay as a fool.

On Windows, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Windows do constantly check to
see if their licence key remains valid. Sure, it's not "each use", but it's
at least once a month.

So I have no philosophical problem with Diane installing a mechanism that
periodically checks to see if the licence is still valid. If Apple can
issue an update that intentionally bricks the jail-broken iPhones, I see no
reason why any other vendor can't disable software if the customer cancels
their payment.

My objection in Diane's case is purely on cost and complexity grounds. The
cost of coding this up to make it reliable is quite substantial. Microsoft
took a shortcut with Windows 7. It took the hackers around 12 hours to
disable the protection.

Every beta copy Microsoft puts out is "time-bombed" to stop working if you
don't pay for it before the nominated date. Microsoft has always disclosed
that the time-bomb is there, but for Office 2010 they have even given us the
date on which it triggers.

I and a couple of other denizens of this list could tell you some funny
stories about the beta time-bombs. Well... They're funny in retrospect.
The new build of the software would be scheduled to be issued at 17:00 US
Pacific Time on a particular date. Previously, we never knew the date. But
here in Australia, the time-bomb would go off 18 hours earlier, at 17:00
local time. Not funny at the time. But nowhere near as not funny as when I
jumped on a jet plane for a three-weeks overseas trip, only to discover the
time-bomb had gone off and I would somehow have to find a way to download
350 MB of beta while on the road... Yeah, I know, never install a beta on a
production machine... But how am I going to test it if I don't expose it to
"production" workloads? :-)

Cheers

On 22/11/09 10:47 PM, in article C72F53DA.9F34%japchap@xxxxxxxxxxx, "Jeff
Chapman" <japchap@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello Diane and John,

On 2009.11.22 11:48 AM, in article C72EF1C0.4239%john@xxxxxxxxxxx, "John
McGhie" <john@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

The only way to truly fix this is to have your product ping your server with
their licence key on each use. If they withdraw their payment, you withdraw
their licence key, and the product stops working.

I think this involves running up a pretty slippery slope, to be honest.
If you require the user to be online whenever they use your
form (stored offline), this places a severe restriction on the user,
that they cannot even use the form without being online.

In the world of software, there are many software titles that
require one-time activation before use, which requires
access to a server online or places the burden on the user
to make a phone call. However, I have never seen any software
that constantly checks as to whether the user is (a) online
and (b) a "registered" product, EVERY TIME the user is online.

In fact, many users have complained about such software
protection schemes in the past, deeming them "malware" and
not without good reason.

I would rather think that you'd be better off if you allow the
user to activate the form only after they have completed
payment in the proper manner. In other words, pay first,
and then get your registration key. That's a pretty standard
way of doing things these days, and most users are accustomed
to it. It's a unnecessary restriction to require paying users to
constantly have to be online in order to use your electronic
product. Purchase once, get the key, unlock it online, and
then whatever happens after that is out of your control.
Yes, it may get copied, and yes, the license key may get hacked
and "unlocked" copies may get distributed. But you need to
look at where your income is coming from now, and how
much of your current income from these forms is coming
from honest, paying users or not. If you severely inconvenience
your 90% share of paying users due to the antics of your 10%
share of dishonest users, you are not running a customer-centric
business. On the other hand, if half of your customers cheat
you after purchasing the product, you need to review your
online transaction scheme so that they you are properly
paid and that the users can only use the software or forms
once the payment process is 100% completed.

If you really want full control over access of a form, the
best thing you can do is to make it available on a subscription
basis, and make the users know that they MUST be online
in order to use the form. As John mentioned, this is getting
into the realm of cloud computing. I would either let the
users download and unlock the forms on the client side
after valid purchase (and offer NO REFUNDS after unlocking),
or else move the entire thing online and require the users to
subscribe AND access the form via a web browser.

Not knowing more about the technology you're using for
these downloadable forms and what the expected result is,
it's difficult to say more; but generally, I'd think that you
need to go one way or another, and avoid hassling your
honest, paying customers in the process.

Jeff


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--

This email is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:john@xxxxxxxxxxx


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