Other Licensing addons

MOZ

Well-known member
I would like to know how other addon developers on XenForo tackle piracy, meaning the distribution of your addons on other websites besides XenForo. The purpose of Resource manager is not just to curb piracy of our addons but also to make sure people with legitimate copies of XenForo get our addons.

My only addon so far is free, however I want to tackle this issue before I release a paid addon.
 
We have our own licensing system and encryption practices in place. It's not 100% fool proof, nothing is, but it definitely helps slow things down for a time and you simply adapt with the "leakers". But I would advise getting a real billing system and licensing addon for it. While most developers here hate encrypted files, if you encrypt files that developers would never need to touch then that might help you. Best of luck!
 
I'll say what I've said before:

I don't want to put any barriers in the way of a customer buying my product.

In my mind, it isn't at all my problem if unlicensed customers are able to buy my add-ons. I do of course care deeply about XenForo and do not want it to be pirated, but I'm not about to start making buyers of my add-ons jump through hoops to buy them.

If someone is good enough to want to spend their hard earned money on something I've produced I want them to click a link, buy it, receive it and use it. No more, no less.

I'm not going to start making people register on special forums, or send me forum PMs, or post in a thread or tell me what colour underwear they're wearing - just buy it and use it.

If unlicensed customers are then buying it, and using it on a nulled version then I can't do anything to stop that.

As for people then pirating my add-on. I don't like the thought of that, but again, it doesn't matter how much time you dedicate to solving that problem, it will always be a problem.

Just look at how many millions of dollars massive companies like EA, Ubisoft and <insert publisher name here> spend on copy protection and DRM each year. It might (sometimes) slow them down, but it never stops it. Therefore, it simply is just never going to be a problem that we as add-on developers will ever be able to solve.
 
I agree, however every pirated software, game works in a manner where they can't go online and connect with the developer, as licenses are checked. Since we are discussing forum software here, there are going to be no situations of offline users (And if there are, they can use the nulled versions), thus when the addon is installed there should be a system to register to the domain it is being used on, and if ever the domain is shifted, the user can mail the developer. This way each "license key" would be registered to one domain only (Or depending on the license, multiple domains.).
 
I agree, however every pirated software, game works in a manner where they can't go online and connect with the developer, as licenses are checked. Since we are discussing forum software here, there are going to be no situations of offline users (And if there are, they can use the nulled versions), thus when the addon is installed there should be a system to register to the domain it is being used on, and if ever the domain is shifted, the user can mail the developer. This way each "license key" would be registered to one domain only (Or depending on the license, multiple domains.).

Game companies spend millions of dollars creating systems to enforce license keys, and still they get cracked within a matter of hours. How are we supposed to do any better with PHP? Which is not even compiled, so end-users have full access to the source. Sure you can encrypt it, but that takes away from the quality and usability of your product.

It's a sad state but unfortunately the best thing you can do is compete with the people who pirate your product by offering a better service and of course being the morally right choice. Also, it helps to fight the leakers themselves by sending takedown notices and adding traces to your code that help you identify who leaked your addon.
 
Game companies spend millions of dollars creating systems to enforce license keys, and still they get cracked within a matter of hours. How are we supposed to do any better with PHP? Which is not even compiled, so end-users have full access to the source. Sure you can encrypt it, but that takes away from the quality and usability of your product.

It's a sad state but unfortunately the best thing you can do is compete with the people who pirate your product by offering a better service and of course being the morally right choice. Also, it helps to fight the leakers themselves by sending takedown notices and adding traces to your code that help you identify who leaked your addon.
Agree. You cannot stop them from posting it to other boards (if they bought). If someone is really need it and want to your help, they have to buy it.
 
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