Ask HN: To fight or not to fight piracy?

Re:Ask HN: To fight or not to fight piracy? by gommm on Sunday December 19, 2010 @01:05PM (#2022127)

I think you should display a message like Panic did before with Transmit when people entered pirated serials.. Don't reprimand but be polite asking them not to pirate your stuff.. The effect you're looking for is for the pirate to feel a bit guilty...

You can then either limit the functionality to a free lite version of the app, or put a time limit for them to try or just disable the app...

If you plan on putting a time limit, it might make better sense the show that message after maybe 2 or 3 use of the application so that the user has already tested it and likes it.

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Re:Ask HN: To fight or not to fight piracy? by albertogh on Sunday December 19, 2010 @01:19PM (#2022156)

I'm thinking of something like:

Dear user,

I cannot let you use <app_name> for free anymore blah blah blah. If you truly cannot afford it, drop me an email and we'll work something out. Sincerely, <my name>.

Adding a couple of buttons at the bottom, one for sending me an email and another one for buying the app.

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Re:Ask HN: To fight or not to fight piracy? by gommm on Sunday December 19, 2010 @02:10PM (#2022258)

Not bad, but be sure to try and check the message from Transmit from Panic... I remember that when reading it I felt guilty (way back in my college days when I didn't have money and did in fact pirate a bit). This message is nice and simple but does not elicit any kind of emotions from the pirate.

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Re:Ask HN: To fight or not to fight piracy? by albertogh on Sunday December 19, 2010 @02:20PM (#2022286)

Found the message, it's exactly how you described it:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4558666583_fe0d50604e.jp...

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