Re: SW license key management

This is what my company uses.

Works fairly but certainly requires quite a bit of work on your part.  

Basically with a system like this you most often talking about one of the following

1. something that locks on to the unique hardware characteristics of a particular machine OR
2. Something that uses an external device like a USB key.


The problem with the former depends on what characteristics you choose to decide if a machine is unique.  With Flex in particular, if you choose the MAC address and the user starts plugging in and out of networks, you can easily see licenses stop working.

The problem with the latter is that it requires the user to plug in something to their machine.  If you don't mind this, it can actually be quite simple.  They have a Hasp Envelope option that makes licensing your software a snap.  You just drop the finished executable into the "Envelope" -- a wrapper application that does the licensing -- and send it along with the USB key to your customers.

Either way, I'm glad I'm not paying for this...

-Joe

-----Original Message-----
>From: Herb Warren <[email protected]>
>Sent: Oct 2, 2009 3:48 PM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [OT] SW license key management
>
>On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 3:22 PM, lorddavezo <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Can anyone point me to a comparison of SW vendors that offer license key management solutions?  I am interested in implementing the ability to turn sw features on/off through the use of a keying system and am looking for a quick education on what I should be looking for in a solution.
>
>Pain, suffering, and unhappy users. Oh. That's what you'll get, not
>what you're looking for, sorry. :D
>
>Probably in the "holy crap, that's too expensive" category, but worth it.
>http://www.acresso.com/products.htm
>
>Herb.
>
>
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