A gentle request to users of our products....
A gentle request to users of our products....
It is a problem that every time we make a release of kbmMemTable, then
between 1 and 3 weeks after, it has been leaked on Chinese websites,
shortly after followed by others.
Since its happening constantly and every time we make a release, its
obvious that its not by accident, but rather that its being deliberately
done by a registered user.
It is utterly and completely unacceptable that this is continuing to go
on, and it makes me question what actions should be taken.
Due to the leak issues previously we moved all our software downloads to
the portal, trusting that paying users probably would be less inclined
to leak the software, than non paying hackers.
The move to the portal has obviously made life a little bit more
complicated for people purchasing, since they have to go through the
request license procedure.
Unless legitimate users stop leaking our software, then a next step will
most likely make it even more cumbersome to obtain our software, which
is not going to benefit our users.
Ultimately we could decide to completely stop selling kbmMemTable
Standard Edition completely, and only bundle it with kbmMW Professional
or kbmMW Enterprise Edition.
Hence I urge our customers to stop leaking our software. Its hurting our
business and will ultimately hurt yours.
best regards
Kim Madsen
Components4Developers
It is a problem that every time we make a release of kbmMemTable, then
between 1 and 3 weeks after, it has been leaked on Chinese websites,
shortly after followed by others.
Since its happening constantly and every time we make a release, its
obvious that its not by accident, but rather that its being deliberately
done by a registered user.
It is utterly and completely unacceptable that this is continuing to go
on, and it makes me question what actions should be taken.
Due to the leak issues previously we moved all our software downloads to
the portal, trusting that paying users probably would be less inclined
to leak the software, than non paying hackers.
The move to the portal has obviously made life a little bit more
complicated for people purchasing, since they have to go through the
request license procedure.
Unless legitimate users stop leaking our software, then a next step will
most likely make it even more cumbersome to obtain our software, which
is not going to benefit our users.
Ultimately we could decide to completely stop selling kbmMemTable
Standard Edition completely, and only bundle it with kbmMW Professional
or kbmMW Enterprise Edition.
Hence I urge our customers to stop leaking our software. Its hurting our
business and will ultimately hurt yours.
best regards
Kim Madsen
Components4Developers
Usually you still have some "binary" stuff like graphics or res files that can be used for embedding some individual data per download. Of course this can be modified as well but you'll have to know if this extra information exists and where. Just take care that the time stamp of the modified file doesn't change while embedding the extra information. If this extra information is for instance your internal customer number, it will be even harder to identify the place of the watermark.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a lot of installers that "phone home" with registration information (and perhaps to retrieve a key file for the installer to finish the job). This would prevent wholesale theft, but wouldn't stop someone from creating their own installer from a purchased copy. This type of installer requires an Internet connection, so some of your customers will whine about that. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear that Kim. Being a subscriber myself i am very much interested in the continuation of that specific edition.
ReplyDeleteIf a paying customer is doing this to you, perhaps some time-frame analysis could help? Noting the release date of each release and the time it takes for it to get posted and correlate that with the download times for multiple releases might narrow down the list of possible culprits to look into deeper. Just a thought and it might not work at all - as i have no idea of the size and distribution of your customer base.