Software and Media Copy Protection Backgrounder
Introduction
One of the most significant sources of lost income to companies that market software applications is the widespread use of unlicensed copies of their software. As the Internet based distribution of audio, video and multimedia content becomes more widespread, income loss through unlicensed copies will also be a significant issue for that growing market. In this document we will examine the most common sources of this income loss. Note that when using the word software, we will be referring both to software applications and software media content (audio, video and multi-media).
Abusive Copies
"Abusive" copies occur when a single legitimately acquired CD or downloaded version of a software program is used to install the software on multiple PC's. Typically the original copy of the software is licensed to be installed only on a single machine or to be used by no more than one person at a time. Most of today's software has no effective mechanism to prevent abusive copies.
A large percentage of abusive copies are made by users who would purchase licensed copies if did not have an option to make an abusive copy. Typically the decision to install an abusive copy is convenience and expediency rather than lack of motivation or resources to purchase. One of the most disturbing aspects of abusive copies is that if there is no protection mechanism, a single licensed copy can spawn a virtually unlimited number of abusive copies, particularly if the licensed copy is made available over the Internet (a phenomenon we call "exponential abuse"). Thus a mechanism that prevents abusive copies will reverse a significant loss of income for most software companies.
Pirated Copies
"Pirated" copies are unlicensed physical copies of an original program CD that are manufactured and sold by an illicit manufacturing and distribution operation. They are sometimes misrepresented to the end-user as legitimate versions of the program and sold at close to full price (counterfeiting) or sometimes are grouped with several other programs on a CD in a clearly pirated and typically steeply discounted bundle. Counterfeit pirated copies are a significant income loss for software companies since purchases at close to full retail price that would otherwise be routed through the legitimate distribution system are being lost. Bundled pirated copies are less of a source of income loss since the end-user may not have the motivation or resources to purchase a legitimate full price version of the product. Most of today's software products have no mechanism to prevent pirated copies.
Cracked Copies
Cracked copies are original versions of the software that are modified by "crackers" to circumvent any copy protection mechanisms that may have been implemented in the program. The modification is performed by painstakingly disassembling the executable program and searching for segments that implement the copy protection mechanism. Those segments are then directly modified to disable them. Cracked versions of programs are often distributed in an underground fashion on the Internet, or are sometimes offered on CD's in discounted bundles in a similar fashion to pirated copies.
For most applications, cracked copies are not a significant income loss since potential end-users with the motivation and resources to purchase a legitimate version of the program are hesitant to endanger their activities by using software that has been modified and could cause serious problems on their PC. Cracked copies can also be difficult to locate and obtain since they are by nature are an underground phenomena.
CD Key Numbers
Many applications today use a "CD Key" number. When the software is installed, the user must type in the CD Key number, and the software will not install unless the key number matches a pattern stored on the CD (or internally in the program in the case of software downloaded from the Internet). This key number is usually supplied with the CD as a label attached to the case or in the documentation for the program. Sometimes the CD Key number will be fully serialized with a different number for each user, and sometimes it will only be different for various production runs of the software.
Note that this key number is not an effective deterrent against unlicensed copies since it can be entered without limitation every time the software is installed on an additional unlicensed PC. It can also be easily transmitted along with the software on the Internet to allow installation on a remote machine. The only real advantage in the use of CD Key number is that during support calls that may occur, by requiring the customer to reference this key number and provide his contact information, the use of unlicensed copies can be detected.
Dongles
Some software applications use a copy protection mechanism most typically referred to by end-users as a "dongle". A dongle is a hardware device that connects to the printer port, serial port or USB port on a PC. When the protected application starts, it checks to see if the correct dongle is in place, and will not function if it is not detected. Dongles are still used by many specialized applications, typically with relatively higher pricing. Dongles have several disadvantages that have limited their usage. Users fairly universally strongly dislike dongles for a variety of reasons. Dongles can be troublesome to install and use since they often require a special hardware driver, and they can interfere with the use of peripherals such as printers and scanners. Since no standard exists for dongles, each protected program requires an additional dongle, which causes an unwieldy "stack" of connected dongles on the back of the PC.
Dongles are also not an option for many software companies, since they add an additional manufacturing expense of between $5 and $20 to each copy of the program. Dongles also do not facilitate Internet based distribution of software since a dongle must be shipped to each customer to allow operation of the software. In summary, dongles are not a realistic copy protection mechanism for most software applications.
Media Limited Installations
Some software applications use a copy protection mechanism that limits the number of times a program can be installed from the media that contains it. This mechanism, which we refer to as the "Media Limited" method, requires that the program or a component of the program be installed from a re-writable media such as a floppy disc. When each install is performed, the installation program writes to an install counter on the re-writable media, and when a specified installation count is exceeded, no additional installations are allowed. For this protection mechanism to be robust, the file containing the installation count must be encrypted and hard to locate and modify. In addition, this mechanism requires that the floppy disc be manufactured in a manner that make the disc impossible to copy by normally accessible disk copying methods.
While still in use by some software manufacturers, this protection method is typically disliked by end-users since the mechanisms used to make the disk hard to copy can cause problems with the completion of a licensed installation of the software. The method also requires that a specific disk type, for example floppy drive, be present on the user's PC. The method also does not facilitate Internet based distribution of software since a special media must be shipped to each customer to allow installation of the software.
Protected Media
Some software applications use a copy protection mechanism that requires that the installation disc, typically a CD-ROM, be present in the PC to allow operation of the software. A variation of this method is to only check for the presence of the CD every certain number of times the program is started, sometimes with a random factor. The method requires that the installation media be manufactured in a special way that makes it hard to copy the media using readily available means.
For many users, the requirement to always or occasionally place the original program disc in the PC to allow program operation is unacceptable. In addition, the methods used to cause the media to be hard to copy can cause the media to read incorrectly in some PC's. There are also readily available CD-R based copy programs that will make abusable copies of these specially manufactured CD's. The method also does not facilitate Internet based distribution of software since the special media must be shipped to each customer to allow operation of the software.
Hidden Serial Numbers
Some software applications use a copy protection mechanism that upon installation synthesizes a pseudo-random serial number and hides the number on the PC. The serial number is typically hidden in either an encrypted file or in a special system file location such as the registry. To allow full operation of the program, the user must perform a registration process. During the registration the customer communicates the serial number to the application vendor, who verifies that this customer has purchased the product and is a legitimate user. The application vendor then supplies the customer with the correct password for that particular serial number. When the application starts, it reads the value of the serial number and checks to see that the password entered by the user is correct for that serial number.
The primary disadvantage of this method is that the hidden serial number is stored in the file system on the PC. If the operating system on the PC is upgraded, the primary disc driver is replaced or if some system utility tools are evoked, the hidden serial number file will often no longer be present, causing the application to not operate. If the user then attempts to reinstall the software, a new and different pseudo-random serial number will be generated. Since the previously obtained password will no longer be correct for this new serial number, the software will not operate, and a new registration process will be required. Note that since the serial number is generated in a random manner, when the customer re-registers, the vendor has no mechanism to trace this registration request to a prior registration.
The high rate of unintentional deletion of the hidden serial number file makes this protection method fairly troublesome for end-users and hard to support for application vendors. In addition, readily available utility tools can be used to detect the location of all files created during the installation and operation of software products. This allows users to make abusive copies of software protected with this mechanism.
IP-Safe Overview
In this section we will briefly overview the IP-Safe copy protection mechanism that has been developed by Power Technology. For more information about IP-Safe, please refer to the additional fully detailed IP-Safe descriptive materials that are available.
IP-Safe is a highly developed set of software libraries and tools that can be licensed by application developers and content providers to provide copy protection for their products. Power Technology has a full range of services available to assist licensees in the implementation and deployment of IP-Safe, and can work directly with licensees to customize IP-Safe for particular product and marketing needs.
IP-Safe has several advantages compared to the other protection methods described in this document. These advantages are:
In addition, the highly developed and sophisticated back-end tool components of IP-Safe provide the following additional advantages to its users:
IP-Safe functions by using proprietary technology to internally generate a unique Machine ID number for each PC using an IP-Safe application. This Machine ID number is based on physical properties of the CPU and motherboard, and is unaffected by operating system upgrades and installs, disc replacements and system utilities. This feature makes IP-Safe extremely reliable and support free compared to the other available copy protection mechanisms.
Since IP-Safe does not require the distribution of a module or special media, it is uniquely well suited for Internet based software sales and promotional activities. The IP-Safe tool set includes support for the automatic generation of a sophisticated lead database generated by the use of demo versions of a customer's application. In addition, a lead database to promote the purchase of future upgrades can be automatically generated based on the use of the current version of a customer's product.
For more information on how IP-Safe can increase your company's income from software sales, please contact us.
Power Technology
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Brisbane, CA 94005
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