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Can't a user generate a fake license? Is there another layer of integrity checking, or can users simply patch in a fake checkLicense (which is apparently referred back to in four other spots in the code).



Well, you sure can patch it if you want :^) I think there isn't really a reason to add more than a simple license check though, as enterprise users are generally scared of using pirated software.


Also keep in mind pirated software doesn't cost the author anything if the user wasn't going to buy it anyway. If a company is willing to risk all that effort and liability to crack and maintaining the patches across changes to avoid paying for your software, they were not likely to pay for it in the first place. Nothing lost.


This. Any licensing schema that protects locally running software can be circumvented by a reasonably crafty individual – but there is simply no overlap in the Venn diagram of Paying Customers /\ These Crafty Individuals.


Yeah, or more specifically a company might have the competence but will not waste their engineers time, because the reason they’re using the service in the first place is to not have to focus on their core business. Not random accessories.

A lot of time, circumventing a license check would be more work than - say - implementing sending email on their own. Depending on what the service is.

Developers think they’re selling fancy tech. Most often, what we’re selling/providing is convenience - something boring that just works.


It would probably be even easier to patch the license check function. That's presumably against the software license, so due to copyright you would no longer be legally entitled to run the software.




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