Software Licensing
Issue
Increasing rates of piracy, threats to intellectual property loss and strenuous global competition are faced by software vendors at large. Licensing of software can be difficult to make sure its proper enforcement and often are unclear whether they are put into practice in the manner software publishers intend. Vendors run the risk of unauthorised duplication and distribution of their software, and a significant dollar loss in software profits has been a direct result of software licensing schemes being disregarded or circumvented, having a detrimental effect on the software market.
Software piracy affects all economics worldwide. The Eighth Annual BSA and IDC Global Software Piracy Study released by the Business Software Alliance in 2011 reports that losses in the commercial value of PC software piracy rose to $59 billion in 2010, an unprecedented record high. Such losses represent a measure of potentially high user dissatisfaction from lowered quality of and increased security risk from illegal software, and are damaging not only economically, but also to the innovation of software development as a whole.
The success of software publishers heavily depend on the safekeeping of their code from crackers and competitors alike. In a highly competitive market, the security of proprietary code can determine the success or collapse of vendors, especially in highly sensitive intellectual property. Conventional licensing solutions unmistakably are not sufficient in today’s market, and illegal obtainment of software and code are becoming increasing common. Factors such as the nature, capability and convenience of software licensing solutions have been a disincentive for strong intellectual property protection by software companies.
Benefits
Secutech gives you control in who uses your software and how your software is used, where UniKey:
- Limits the ability of unauthorised distribution of software significantly by means of hardware-based software protection, as users need to be in physical possession of the UniKey device to run protected software.
- Enforces licensing schemes on UniKey protected software, where technologies employed on both hardware and software ends considerably increases the difficulty of circumvention and ensures observance of licenses.
- Ensures that propriety software and invaluable intellectual property remains safeguarded, and permits software use to users bound to licensing constraints.
UniKey’s capabilities extend from software protection to assistance in license management, allowing control of multiple license instances, and provide data security and integrity, through encryption and write-protection of software and data on UniKey devices.
Solution
Secutech’s comprehensive UniKey range offers sophisticated hardware-based software and data protection solutions apt to the protection needs of software companies. UniKey enables the assurance of compliant software licensing, and furthermore provides the flexibility of versatile licensing schemes and assists in the management and distribution of software, saving invaluable software publisher’s time, intellectual property abuse and revenue loss.
Methods of Protecting Software
Secutech’s UniKey software protection solution offers two separate methods of protecting software, differing in the degree of software protection control desired by publishers. Protected software is bound to specific UniKey hardware, and can only be executed in physical possession of the correct UniKey device; any interruption between the connected UniKey device and protected programs will stop running until the key is connected to the host computer. UniKey supports a diverse range of licensing models appropriate to business needsm, including feature-based, rental, subscription, floating and/or time-based, perpetual, try-before-you-buy, pay-per-use, volume licensing, and custom licensing schemes.
Enveloper Protection
UniKey’s Enveloper enables quick and uncomplicated safeguarding of software by binding software to a specific UniKey device. Use of the enveloper is minimal and effortless, whereby countless applications are possible as the enveloper directly protects the software itself and provides direct configuration of protection measures. Publishers’ can utilise the enveloper tool for immediate protection of software, without requiring any source code, to ensure that software protected by UniKey can only execute on the correct UniKey device and conform to the restrictions as set by developers.
API Protection
Greater degrees of control are possible through the use of UniKey’s Application Programming Interface (API). In conjunction with source code, developers’ are offered software protection measures on a comprehensive scale, where all aspects of software functionality can be constrained to stringent specifications. APIs grant publishers’ greater customisation and variation in software functionality control through multiple protection schemes, all with ease drawing from a large library of APIs in various programming languages.
Compliant Software Licensing
Provides a variety of software licensing schemes for the protection of software bound to a hardware-based USB device, with numerous hardware and software measures designed to ensure software integrated in UniKey cannot be circumvented and adhere to the restrictions as set on the device. As well as assisting in the distribution, management and updating of software, offers seamless compatibility with numerous programming languages and operating systems.
Corporate Software Management
Designed for corporate multi-user use of software, added networking functionality allows multiple concurrent users to use UniKey integrated software over the network, providing greater control in the management of multi-user licenses in a corporation with a single UniKey device.
Periodical Software Control
Enables licensing of software which require strict time-based software restrictions. Employing an in-built secured clock, software developers can reference an accurate and tamper-proof time and date, offering assured observance of real-time based features and limitations of software.
Data Storage Assurance
In addition to secure hardware-bound protection of software, allows storage of data on-board the device owing to secure mass storage. Mass storage is separated into four distinct categories; normal, read-only, encrypted, and hidden storage of data, warranting the security and integrity of data as stored on the device.