Saturday, January 24, 2004
Product Activation And Similar Protection Schemes Robs Users Of Purchases
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THOUGHT" @ 05:00 PM
If everyone played by the rules and didn't "share" music with everyone that asked, didn't provide cracked software or make copies of software CDs, there would be no need for protection schemes like activation. However, some people don't play by the rules so companies are forced to come up with ways to protect their intellectual property rights.
Software makers have taken to some form of product activation which locks the software to either a particular piece of hardware, email address, name or some other unique identifier. You give the software maker your identifier and their server sends you back a key based on that identifier. If any of those items change, say you get a new PC or change ISPs and get a new email, you have to get a new key. Most companies are completely understanding about this and offer a new key with little or no fuss.
That is, as long as that company is still around. Chances of anything serious happening to Microsoft in the foreseeable future that would cause their activation servers to disappear are pretty small. Factoring in a long enough time period for this to occur would make any current software titles irrelevant anyway. You aren't going to try installing Office 2003 on any computing device you own in 2015 anyway.
But what about the smaller companies? IA Style is being absorbed into HTC and sent the following info to their customers.
So, after August of 2004, you will be unable to acquire a new registration code. :evil: This to me is completely unacceptable. Software for Pocket PCs should easily last 2-3 years and I don't think 4-5 years is out of the question, especially the price that is being asked for some packages. Companies with these types of activation schemes should have a plan that in the event of their demise, buyout or simple abandonment of a particular market should have a back door mechanism to allow their customers to access the products they purchased.
Software makers have taken to some form of product activation which locks the software to either a particular piece of hardware, email address, name or some other unique identifier. You give the software maker your identifier and their server sends you back a key based on that identifier. If any of those items change, say you get a new PC or change ISPs and get a new email, you have to get a new key. Most companies are completely understanding about this and offer a new key with little or no fuss.
That is, as long as that company is still around. Chances of anything serious happening to Microsoft in the foreseeable future that would cause their activation servers to disappear are pretty small. Factoring in a long enough time period for this to occur would make any current software titles irrelevant anyway. You aren't going to try installing Office 2003 on any computing device you own in 2015 anyway.
But what about the smaller companies? IA Style is being absorbed into HTC and sent the following info to their customers.
Quote: We will stop selling products online on January 30, 2004, including those for both Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms. We will continue to provide support, including responding to email questions, until the end of April of 2004. Our website at www.iastyle.com will continue to function for providing and changing registration codes until the end of August 2004. After August 2004, User Manuals and FAQs for IA Style products will still be available on our website.
So, after August of 2004, you will be unable to acquire a new registration code. :evil: This to me is completely unacceptable. Software for Pocket PCs should easily last 2-3 years and I don't think 4-5 years is out of the question, especially the price that is being asked for some packages. Companies with these types of activation schemes should have a plan that in the event of their demise, buyout or simple abandonment of a particular market should have a back door mechanism to allow their customers to access the products they purchased.
