Excellent points, indeed. I have said time and time again that good technological solutions to this type of issue should have but one purpose: to inform the ignorant of a potential violation.

I believe that most people want to stay on the legal side, but I also know that something that gets passed to a friend for evaluation (a good thing, IMO) needs to have a simple control that reminds an unlicensed user that they have an unlicensed copy. This could be as simple as a UUID in a database table that indicates a licensed copy. Yeah, it's easy to bypass, but people who really don't care about licensing will find a way to bypass any control.

By using a simple measure, you provide a gentle reminder that a user needs to license your software; however, you avoid placing an unfair onus on legitimate users of your software. But, if you don't place some kind of simple control like this, the chances are high that people who are willing to pay for the right number of licenses (etc.) will accidentally use many more than they've paid for.

As with most things, balance is the key.

<-radiant.matrix->
Larry Wall is Yoda: there is no try{} (ok, except in Perl6; way to ruin a joke, Larry! ;P)
The Code that can be seen is not the true Code
"In any sufficiently large group of people, most are idiots" - Kaa's Law

In reply to Re^2: Protecting our work by radiantmatrix
in thread Protecting our work by bradcathey

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