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How Can Software be Protected from Piracy ?

posted by janrinok on Saturday March 22 2014, @02:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the questions-without-answers dept.

AnonTechie writes:

"Echoing a question asked on programmers.stackexchange.com - How can software be protected from piracy ?

It just seems a little hard to believe that with all of our technological advances and the billions of dollars spent on engineering the most unbelievable and mind-blowing software, we still have no other means of protecting against piracy than a "serial number/activation key." I'm sure a ton of money, maybe even billions, went into creating Windows 7 or Office and even Snow Leopard, yet I can get it for free in less than 20 minutes. Same for all of Adobe's products, which are probably the easiest. Can there exist a fool-proof and hack-proof method of protecting your software against piracy? If not realistically, could it be theoretically possible? Or no matter what mechanisms these companies deploy, can hackers always find a way around it ?"

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 23 2014, @02:02AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 23 2014, @02:02AM (#19861)

    "In cryptography, a one-time pad (OTP) is an encryption technique that cannot be cracked if used correctly." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad [wikipedia.org]

    Apply this concept from execution right up to authentication and your friendly neighborhood pirate is gonna have an easier time rewriting an application clone than trying to steal your bread and butter straight outta the fridge.

  • (Score: 1) by einar on Sunday March 23 2014, @01:17PM

    by einar (494) on Sunday March 23 2014, @01:17PM (#19929)
    Yeah, semi knowledge is a dangerous thing.

    A one time pad is a shared secret between parties. Now, try to securely share secrets between you and your many customers who bought your software. If it helps you to have a realistic background to come up with a good application of your "technology", think about selling mobile ups via the android store. And keep in my mind that the procedure for exchanging a one time pad should be smooth enough to not cut into your 2 USD price per app you sell.