So, after 6 months of hard work finally released my application. Today I found the first web site where people download it cracked, and I was wondering if any of you fellow programmers know how to react to such stuff?
CRACK Steinberg V-STACK
Is there anything the software author can do to get the cracked version offline, or I'm just boned and shouldn't create anymore software, but just work on client's projects? What's your advice? Anybody with experience in that?
edit: programming is what I do- so no question about whether or not continuing, just is that clients pay per project in real money, and I still don't know if indie development would pay at least for the time invested, and now with the cracked download I'm trying to evaluate what to do, and if there's way to react
I agree with GSto... a lot of people aren't going to use a cracked version, I think really its a small minority of people who are willing to do such a thing since they are often wrought with viruses and it just isn't the type of thing that most people would go through the hassle of bothering with, the only way that it would be in jeapordy is if your app is some sort of hacking / black hat marketing app which is, itself, shady and therefore something sought after by the demographic who is most likely to use cracked software..
Don't waste your time trying to pursue the "websites" that have the cracked version as they are almost surely being traded through torrent websites and anyone should know that these are impossible to stop.. if Hollywood movie companies can't stop their films from being pirated the day after they are released to DVD (or often before), how are you going to fight the people trading your software online?
Trying to get cracked versions removed is a cat-and-mouse game of underwater boxing, dead-horse beating, swimming in quicksand. You might want to try using a tool like Crack Tracker, but it's still a pretty useless struggle, imho.
a good thing is to make your software not easy to crack, but this is only possible to a certain extend. a good thing is if clients are involved, you can let the clients only connect if the software id is correct or something.
In all cases: consult a lawyer. The primary issue here, as I see it, is that if you want to continue releasing software (and you're good enough that people want to steal it) you at least want to ensure you maintain your IPR so any updates you make can be sold, instead of one of those theives deciding an update you make infringes on their IPR (say, you make an official modification that does what one of their cracked mods does).
Also, keep an easy to find, low cost version of the software out there. Something people can use 5 times per month for 1 dollar. Bump the fee with increased usage. Make it cheaper and easier for people to find and install your free version than it is to find and install a cracked/hacked version.
You'll never make your application crack-proof, but some copy protection is better than others. For instance, whatever the copy protection on Cubase is, it's hell to get through. It was cracked eventually obviously, but after much much more effort. Might be worth a shot.
Tor has been praised for providing privacy and anonymity to vulnerable Internet users such as political activists fearing surveillance and arrest, ordinary web users seeking to circumvent censorship, and people who have been threatened with violence or abuse by stalkers.[188][189] The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) has called Tor "the king of high-secure, low-latency Internet anonymity",[27] and BusinessWeek magazine has described it as "perhaps the most effective means of defeating the online surveillance efforts of intelligence agencies around the world".[12] Other media have described Tor as "a sophisticated privacy tool",[190] "easy to use"[191] and "so secure that even the world's most sophisticated electronic spies haven't figured out how to crack it".[48]
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