software piracy (was "Interactive and me")

[Larry Campbell]

Just my two cents' worth:  we sell a package (a very fancy email gateway for
various proprietary mini-based email systems) that sells, on average, for
about $25,000.  When we first shipped it (three years ago) I never dreamed
that anyone would actually try to steal a copy:  installation and
administration were quite complex, and it wasn't exactly a pee-cee product.

Well, I was wrong.  We were selling it through a Major Computer Vendor (who
shall remain nameless), and in several cases, one of their sales reps just
"included" a copy of our software in a hardware sale.  At $25,000 a pop,
that really hurts.

Oddly, most of the problem was in Europe.  It was only after a trip to
Europe to meet with some sales reps and customers there that I became
convinced that we HAD to implement some form of authorization key, or we'd
be robbed blind.  We only had one (that I know of) case of outright piracy
in the U.S., but several in Europe, and the attitudes about software
property rights I encountered there were MUCH worse than in the U.S.

So we now require an authorization key, which is tied to various elements of
your hardware config (CPU serial number, ethernet address, etc.)  Yes, it's
a bit inconvenient, but most customers don't mind a five minute phone call
to activate a $25,000 piece of software.  Yes, once in a while a customer
has to replace a board in their CPU and the key turns into a pumpkin.  For
these cases we have a 24-hour beeper service so they can get a good key
again very quickly.

One nice side benefit is that our authorization keys can have an expiration
date encoded in them; this allows us to permit a limited time "try-and-buy"
evaluation.  Also, if someone calls for a key and their is some confusion
about whether they've actually purchased the product (which often happens in
OEM situations), we can give them a temporary key while we sort out the
administrative stuff.

I was somewhat saddened to have to implement the authorization key, since I
detest copy protection schemes as much as anyone.  However, knowing what I
know now, I wouldn't even consider removing the keys.  Not only does it
prevent piracy, it helps us keep in closer contact with our customers (while
we've got them on the phone for a key we can also find out what their
configuration is like, what versions of the operating system they've got,
etc. which is nice for the support staff to know).
-- 
Larry Campbell                          The Boston Software Works, Inc.
campbell at redsox.bsw.com                 120 Fulton Street
wjh12!redsox!campbell                   Boston, MA 02109