Thread: Product Activation

I am developing software for packaging machinery. Most of my contribution has been to reduce the complexity of the circuitry so all logic and control is handled by a computer, and a pci card on the computer connects to all the pieces of the machine. Before creating this pc-based version of this machine, I made a few plc based versions where the circuitry was so complicated that it was almost impossible to reproduce. The point of the computer version was to make it much easier and faster to build one of these machines so the software handles all the heaving lifting and the hardware is easy to assemble. I am close to finishing the software, but there is another problem.

I am worried because someone else could copy the circuitry, install the pci card on a computer, copy my code, a .exe and a few text files, and they would basically have copied my whole design.

I want to put something in the software which will prevent someone else from putting it on another computer. I will be installing all the software myself so if I could create like a master file that allows installation of the software, but once the software is on one computer it would not work on another. This is a fairly large operation, and I could set up a server for product activation if need be, but like I said I should be installing the software myself in person.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe most software installation/activation works by hiding pieces of the code in hard to find places like system directories, etc. If you actually found and copied all the pieces you could replicate the code on another machine.

This seems like a problem that someone has already come up with a much better solution than I could think of myself, so I'd like to hear what you guys have to say.

a pci card on the computer connects to all the pieces of the machine.

Does this pci card have a serial number that is software readable?

Jim

Grumpy,

I have been thinking quite a bit about what you said, and I know that whatever I add will make the code more difficult to maintain. Hard coding the serial numbers into the code would require recompilation for each system it is added to. It would also make supplying updates almost impossible which I was planning to do via email. I was thinking about doing something like the following. I would hard-code a cipher into both the software and a special activation software. The activation software would read the serial number, encrypt it with the cipher and add it to the end of the text file. Then I would delete the activation software off the computer so only the main software remains. The main software would decrypt the serial number with the cipher and compare it to the measured serial number. This way I would only have to compile the software once and could still provide updates. Of course like you said if anyone ever needs to change that computer then the activation would fail, and if I sent them the activation software to fix the problem it would ruin the whole point in the first place.

But I digress, maybe I should explain a little more why I think it is so necessary that this software be protected. The machines I am working on, put labels onto plastic bottles. The label needs to come out at a certain time and move at certain speeds to match the profile of the bottle. Many other machines are out that which try to solve this problem by moving the label and a constant speed and correcting for the inaccuracy with complex systems of brushes to smooth out the label. Most of my work has been to retrofit old broken systems with this new set of logic. All of these machines have the same basic setup, a conveyor with a motor and drive, two labellers with motors and drives, two heads which wind up the paper the label came on and 7 detectors. I have gotten the circuitry down to 12 logical wires, everything else is either power or the connection between a drive and motor. So the only difference between what I have and what is already out there is the computer, pci card, software, and the 12 wires. What I am worried about is that almost anyone I sell this to, either themselves or someone they know has a machine this could be attached to. If they realize that doing this is easy, then they have no reason to buy anything from me. I can't protect the circuitry, or stop someone from buying a computer or the pci card. The software is really the only line of defence and putting some form of protection on it is vital for me to remain competitive.

I know I am asking a lot. I want an easy solution to a complex problem, but don't we all. The protection doesn't have to be foolproof, it just needs to be able to frustrate someone trying to copy it. If it takes me an hour longer to set up each system because I have to navigate through my own mine field that's better to me than risking losing customers because they like the software, but realize they can have it for free. But of course asking customers to navigate through the mine field is an easy way to lose them too.

O_o

If this is something that important to protect, it is important enough to protect properly.

Buy a license to a facility that already does these things and does them well.

Soma

Originally Posted by Elysia

Tonezone, I know how it is to want to protect your creations, and by all means, you should have the right to. I'm not questioning that.
But what you are doing sounds to me like the following scenario:

You have a PC. You have a printer.
To interface the printer with the PC, you need a cable.
As such, you design a cable, protect it with some draconian DRM and sell it.
The printer can, of course, be connected to the PC with a simple USB cable. But your cable is better and you don't want anyone to know it can be connected to the PC via a USB cable because you'd lose sales, so you use DRM to protect your cable.

OK, so this is a simple example because obviously you've made a product that you think it better in some way and you want to make money from your product. But it illustrates my concerns over what you are trying to do.
I could be wrong, and I sincerely hope I am. But perhaps you could alleviate my fears?

I guess what I am doing is a little similar to what you are saying, but to complete the analogy there are a few key differences. The usb cable would not be transferring a printing file for the printer to process, the cable would be used to take direct control of the printers motors, inkjets, etc. So all the logic circuitry would be stripped from the printer and the computer would control everything directly over the usb interface, i. e. no processor of any kind would remain in the printer itself. The software would then need to handle everything the printer did before, convert the printing file into a raster scan, move motors to move the paper through the machine and apply charge to for ink to stick, and whatever else a printer does. I guess you could say the cable is part of what I am selling, but not the whole thing. The cable is simply a means to give the software full control of the machine. In this case I guess the cable would consist of the 12 logic wires I mentioned, the pci card and the computer itself. It's not the cable that I am trying to protect its the software itself. Anyone else could make and sell the same cable, I just want make sure they would have to make their own software.