Android Market Licensing

[eddy2099]

I was actually looking for a way to program for the android and was introduced to Basic4Android which I got a change to try out and put one of the small tutorial on my Android phone and it worked. I am impressed.

Incidentally, I am considering developing apps to sell on the Android Marketplace in time to come. My biggest fear is my apps being "stolen" or "shared" and did read that the Android Marketplace does provide for a way to accomplish License checking as listed on the Android Developer website under "Licensing Your Application" .

I was wondering if this is possible to be implemented with Basic4Android.

 

[jndaniels1]

Licensing.

Hi Eddy2099,


Well, I too am new with Basic4Android; albeit I am familiar with VB6, .Net and PHP. Sadly to say there is a chance it will happen, but there are many ways to lessen the impact.

some Ideas.
1) use the http routines to contact a request server a valid license.
(but you would need a server on the end to do authentications)

2) Algorithms .. Mathematical formula .. based on hardware information.

3) a form of digital signatures.

4) Compile a version very specific for that users hardware.

LOTS of possibilities.

Cheers
JEFF

I was actually looking for a way to program for the android and was introduced to Basic4Android which I got a change to try out and put one of the small tutorial on my Android phone and it worked. I am impressed.

Incidentally, I am considering developing apps to sell on the Android Marketplace in time to come. My biggest fear is my apps being "stolen" or "shared" and did read that the Android Marketplace does provide for a way to accomplish License checking as listed on the Android Developer website under "Licensing Your Application" .

I was wondering if this is possible to be implemented with Basic4Android.

 

[susu]

One said news: "Android License" is easy to break. Crackers just add a little .java file to the package and our app cannot access internet for checking license.
Check it here: SmaliHook.java found on my hacked application. - Android Developers | Google Groups

 

[eddy2099]

Thanks. I guess that is probably the case.

I develop Windows applications myself and have my share of cracks. I guess the good thing is that there are probably more honest people around so that makes up for it. Those who strives on cracks probably may not pay for it no matter what you do.

I am not familiar with how the Android market does the licensing. I know for the iOS, Apple would tag a certificate to the downloaded bundle which I could use to validate the purchase.

What does Android do when someone buys the app from the Android Marketplace ? You were saying about authenticating with my own server, does that mean that as a developer, you would know who actually buys your apps ? Cos like in the Apple App Store, you only know the number but you have no clue who buys.

 

[nfordbscndrd]

I was in personal computing software marketing from about 1980 to 2000.

The bad news is that you can go back over that time and find that copy protection was never effective.

The good news is that probably no more than 1% of Android users have the ability and inclination to hack a program which can be quickly and easily bought for a buck or five, so don't make yourself crazy over that 1%.

 

[eddy2099]

I realized that. I know my world turned upside down when I first saw my windows program being available on some hacked site but after a while, got to realized that is part and parcel of the business. I did spend quite a considerable time doing a lot of copy protection and that did make a number of legitimate users very upset because it got harder to use. In the end, I thought to myself, if a super huge company like Microsoft which would be very proactive in protecting their intellectual properties would still get hacked, I supposed a small fry like me have nothing really to worry about.

 

[jndaniels1]

I was in personal computing software marketing from about 1980 to 2000.

The bad news is that you can go back over that time and find that copy protection was never effective.

The good news is that probably no more than 1% of Android users have the ability and inclination to hack a program which can be quickly and easily bought for a buck or five, so don't make yourself crazy over that 1%.

Very GOOD point.

 

[jndaniels1]

I realized that. I know my world turned upside down when I first saw my windows program being available on some hacked site but after a while, got to realized that is part and parcel of the business. I did spend quite a considerable time doing a lot of copy protection and that did make a number of legitimate users very upset because it got harder to use. In the end, I thought to myself, if a super huge company like Microsoft which would be very proactive in protecting their intellectual properties would still get hacked, I supposed a small fry like me have nothing really to worry about.

keep in mind 1976 or 1978 there was a "small fry" named Bill Gates.

Its simple enough to put your source code on CD or Paper and send $20 bucks to the copyright office in Washington DC and you get a certificate back (more like a number) - if you create an awesome million dollar app you have A LOT better chance at legal recourse in the event of intellectual property being abused. Yes its a pisser when you find your copy on a wares site.

You can drive yourself crazy over trying to control copies. Even MP3 tracks and the DRM used has basically disappeared - its annoying.

Move that energy into creating that million dollar app, then revisit the copy protection.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers
~J

 

[nfordbscndrd]

keep in mind 1976 or 1978 there was a "small fry" named Bill Gates.

Bill Gates fell into it. He acquired DOS from the guy who wrote it. Then Gates took it to IBM, who thought that the PC was a toy (hence the cassette recorder storage interface on the first PC), so IBM wasn't too worried about who owned the rights to the operating system, nor did they do anything to protect their design of the IBM-PC, thus making the PC the standard (since everyone could clone it) and at the same time, making PC-DOS/MS-DOS the standard/monopoly and Bill Gates a "genius" -- all based on buying someone else's software for peanuts and having IBM turn it into a monopoly for him. Real genius...

 

[jndaniels1]

Bill Gates fell into it. He acquired DOS from the guy who wrote it. Then Gates took it to IBM, who thought that the PC was a toy (hence the cassette recorder storage interface on the first PC), so IBM wasn't too worried about who owned the rights to the operating system, nor did they do anything to protect their design of the IBM-PC, thus making the PC the standard (since everyone could clone it) and at the same time, making PC-DOS/MS-DOS the standard/monopoly and Bill Gates a "genius" -- all based on buying someone else's software for peanuts and having IBM turn it into a monopoly for him. Real genius...

Either way, falling or jumping or having it thrown at him - granted Micro$oft is known for DOS, but wasn't CPM was the forerunner of DOS? If memory serves, m$ really got going with the BIOS coding. Yes, I had one of those cassette storage devices along with a 110 baud acoustic modem (war games anybody? ). Oh memory lane. Well, we just got way off topic here ( apology to Erel).

Back to the subject of licensing or copy protection - I wounder if b4a could connect to a radius or ldap? I do remember in the vb6 world was plenty of modules for "registration".

CHeers
~J
:sign0089:

 

[nfordbscndrd]

...granted Micro$oft is known for DOS, but wasn't CPM was the forerunner of DOS?

Uh, yes, CP/M came before PC/MS-DOS, but that has nothing to do with the discussion. If IBM had simply purchased or developed their own OS, it's likely nobody would have ever heard of Gates... and IBM would have added billions to their profit over the years.