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How I converted a software thief into a customer

blurity.com

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Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#41

Post by gosu »

shasta wrote: post #27
exDM69 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some indie game producers release on piratebay right from day zero. Usually with some kind of easter egg version, e.g. all in-game characters have a pirate hat, no other hats are available like in a legitimate version. This makes sure that no-one pirates a badly cracked buggy version and gets a bad experience and decides not to buy the game. Thankfully free demos are coming back so it is easier to test a game legally…

But then are pirates still in violation of copyright law?

Also: should the developers be in violation? I imagine it's a little like (sorry) kiddie porn, where, even if you're the kiddie, society doesn't want you supporting a community that it considers to be negative.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#42

Post by gradstudent »

nyellin wrote: post #37
gradstudent wrote: post #35

Interesting tidbit: > I couldn’t figure out where those numbers were coming from. The people trying the invalid numbers seemed to have nothing in common, and my Google-fu failed me. You seem to suggest here you track user information to such a degree that you can Google for the individuals in question. That's creepy as hell! I think you've scared me away from your software forever.

Actually, I assumed he tried Googling the invalid numbers. And logging browser + geographic information in error handlers is standard practice.

"Standard practice" for whom? The CIA? Gah! The very idea that some bit of desktop software needs to surreptitiously phone home in the event of an error really rubs me the wrong way. Not only is it wholly unnecessary but it's also a serious intrusion of privacy.

OP: does your software tell people up front (i.e. not hidden in some 10 page EULA) it's going to phone home? Do you allow them to opt out? If there is an option, what's the default?

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#43

Post by rodly »

gosu wrote: post #41
shasta wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then are pirates still in violation of copyright law?

Also: should the developers be in violation? I imagine it's a little like (sorry) kiddie porn, where, even if you're the kiddie, society doesn't want you supporting a community that it considers to be negative.

I believe he means the developers are releasing their software for torrent in a trial or easter egg form.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#44

Post by daeken »

bri3d wrote: post #29

I've seen quite a few instances of string resources like "I need this money to feed my family," or more humorous "so you think you're leet, do you?"-type phrases placed near easily-defeated serial validation code in binaries. A lot of the funnier strings convinced me to give money to the authors of software I'd never have purchased or used to start with (I used to download a lot of shareware just to explore its copy…

I'll never forget that near the store decryption code in iTunes, there was a 16-byte string that stood out like an AES key: DontMessWithThis. It was added a bit after I started releasing code to order from the iTunes Music Store and they started changing the crypto with each release. AFAIK, it's still there to this day, though I haven't checked in a couple years.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#45

Post by burntwater »

eridius wrote: post #32
joshmlewis wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it seems like these keys were shared on a site somewhere and when people Googled for free blurity key or whatever these came up.

If that were true the author would have been able to find the keys, but he said Google failed him.

It's possible the serial was posted on a dark net, such as Tor.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#46

Post by gph »

shasta wrote: post #27
exDM69 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some indie game producers release on piratebay right from day zero. Usually with some kind of easter egg version, e.g. all in-game characters have a pirate hat, no other hats are available like in a legitimate version. This makes sure that no-one pirates a badly cracked buggy version and gets a bad experience and decides not to buy the game. Thankfully free demos are coming back so it is easier to test a game legally…

But then are pirates still in violation of copyright law?

That's an interesting question. I don't have an expert opinion, but if I was to have some speculative fun I'd say that in the U.S. if you use the software without proper licensing then it would still be breaking civil copyright law. After all no one sells software, they sell EULAs that give a user license to use their copyrighted software.

I'm not sure if a developer is allowed to intentionally leak their software without proper licensing and then claim that the user must still purchase a license to use the software. And if they openly admitted in court to having uploaded their software for anyone to download, I'd assume a judge would laugh them out of court.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#47

Post by Karunamon »

DanBC wrote: post #40
bri3d wrote: post #29

I've seen quite a few instances of string resources like "I need this money to feed my family," or more humorous "so you think you're leet, do you?"-type phrases placed near easily-defeated serial validation code in binaries. A lot of the funnier strings convinced me to give money to the authors of software I'd never have purchased or used to start with (I used to download a lot of shareware just to explore its copy…

It's not as much fun if they do something that can trash data of innocent users. "The tree of evil bears bitter fruit" - ( http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eo4Otm_TcW8C&pg=PT509... ) If the software thought you were running it under a debugger it would try to trash the disk. Unfortunately several errors made the software think it was running under a debugger even if it wasn't, and a few people lost data.

I'd imagine doing something like this nowadays would result in litigation. There are stories of older apps doing all kinds of unsavory shenanigans: (http://www.geocities.ws/johnboy_tutorials/bt.html) (yes, that IS a geocities link)

Some as benign as popping a "gotcha" message like the author here, some as evil as nuking the registry or boot sector. The armchair lawyer in me wonders what would happen if someone who had their drive trashed by gotcha code like this initiated legal action.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#48

Post by Karunamon »

quesera wrote: post #31
belorn wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While sounding fine, its a form of error in reasoning - A fallacy of a kind. The logic does not scale. If I go to the supermarket and buy cheap imported goods, I deprive the local market of the possible purchase of their goods. It is very easy, almost impossible, not to deprive someone of payment if payment is based on who has worked hard and what could have happened. The logic also demand that there is a zero sum ga…

Just because something doesn't scale into the macro doesn't mean it can't be true and relevant in the micro. Also, you've extrapolated from "non-zero sum, not all equations balance" into "there is no math", which makes your argument more fallacious than that to which you were responding.

>Just because something doesn't scale into the macro doesn't mean it can't be true and relevant in the micro.

Call me extremist but, I don't agree with this. There's no deprivation happening. It's a crappy thing to do, no doubt, but I can't see any analogy to the 'lost sale' meme tossed around by the various *AA groups that doesn't break down immediately upon any kind of scrutiny.

On another note, I pretty much winced every time the author said "steal". Can we all agree to stop doing this? It's wrong, we know it's wrong, we chide the AA's for this every time they do it, and it's just the same when anyone else does either, going back to one simple fact: nothing has been stolen.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#49

Post by joshmlewis »

eridius wrote: post #32
joshmlewis wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it seems like these keys were shared on a site somewhere and when people Googled for free blurity key or whatever these came up.

If that were true the author would have been able to find the keys, but he said Google failed him.

Maybe they didn't search on Google then, but another forum or site that isn't indexed by Google.

Re: How I converted a software thief into a customer

#50

Post by aiham »

gradstudent wrote: post #42
nyellin wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I assumed he tried Googling the invalid numbers. And logging browser + geographic information in error handlers is standard practice.

"Standard practice" for whom? The CIA? Gah! The very idea that some bit of desktop software needs to surreptitiously phone home in the event of an error really rubs me the wrong way. Not only is it wholly unnecessary but it's also a serious intrusion of privacy. OP: does your software tell people up front (i.e. not hidden in some 10 page EULA) it's going to phone home? Do you allow them to opt out? If there is an opt…

It asks the user for a registration code. It obviously needs to communicate with a server to verify the code. When someone enters an invalid code, it will clearly be logged and the OP notified. It is not doing anything like "phone home" in secret (From what I can tell after reading the article).
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