Extending #2 below, what many people don't realize (potential clients please
note :^), is that an iAppli that can do anything interesting is more than a
client-side java program. iApplis nowadays are so small that there's usually
no room for anything other than GUI code. Even then there may not be enough
resources on the client, and the client app would consult the server to
generate, for example, a stock chart. A typical _system_ would include server
side code, which is generally designed exlusively for the mini-client.
Although better architected solutions will work with other clients such as
fat-client GUI, SOAP, Web clients, etc. The system is as secure as the
platform it's built on and the dudes who administer it. So, while someone may
be able to download and decompile the client-side java code, they may only be
getting a small part of the information they need to copy your service. You
would need to worry about someone decompiling the code to learn the server-side
API and then creating a copycat program of your original client. At this
moment I can't think of anything you could do to prevent that.
#1 below, obfuscators are really only useful for reducing code size.
Obfuscated code is just an annoying speed bump for someone who really wants to
copy your code.
--jason
--- Bill Volk <bvolk@teknikcorp.com> wrote:
>
> I think there are two main steps you can take to prevent this.
>
> 1. Use code obsufcators and compressors to make the code harder to
> de-compile.
>
> 2. Have the software access assets from a server via. HTTP and use some
> sort of authentication scheme to verify that the software is a
> legitimate purchase.
>
> Bill Volk
> Teknik
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Received on Mon Sep 1 22:32:48 2003