Hacker News Reader

How did you lock a php based software with a license? Could not they just dig into code and remove the license restrictions, since you provided them with the code?

Zend Guard[1] was often used for licensing PHP code in mid-2000s.

[1] https://www.zend.com/products/zend-guard

And IonCube PHP Encoder [0] (not affiliated, had positive experience with them as a customer). These apps solve real-world problem - sometimes it makes sense from business perspective to make copying the software more difficult.

[0] https://www.ioncube.com/

As the other comment states there are ways, but given the comment I imagine it went more like "give me $x and I send you the files", just like DRM free music. Technical restrictions aren't required legally or socially, and whether they are useful depends on the context (e.g. full hackability due to source code access can drive a lot of sales and build a community, just like with open source)

You don't need to lock the software in practice. Your customers don't usually bother with redistributing what you're selling. With few exceptions, resellers (designers, web shops, etc.) don't do so either. Basically, if your customers or resellers screw you badly they don't get to piggyback on what you're building.

That's not to say piracy doesn't happen at all or can be ignored. You will find your software on file sharing websites eventually. But, quite frankly, it doesn't matter that much in practice, because free riders eventually come knocking at your door for support or an upgrade -- at which points you go "Mmm, I'm not seeing you in my customer list". And when they're students, they're really just learning how to use your software -- which you can view as free marketing.

Source: I lived off of selling licenses for OSS that I was developing for about a decade.

>Ended up finding his poor old grandmother who was his caretaker and barely spoke English. I tried to explain the situation to her and explain how unreasonable he was acting. She didn’t understand anything I said but I think the mere act of getting her involved scared him enough to undo everything he did.

reminds about the scene from Godfather II with Pentageli's brother at the hearing.

>once he had it, started to aggressively distribute it to every leak/piracy site

Did it have any measurable effect on your sales, in percents?

I can't say for certain. I could probably count it on two hands... so maybe a few hundred bucks lost at most.

Wow did you _have to_ get his mother involved?

To be honest, I found his phone number and just gave it a ring. I had no idea who was going to pick up on the other end.

You prefer that he should call the Police and then imagine the joy when the scammer's mother would have when she would be receiving the call from a police officer telling her "we placed your son under arrest for crimes A, B, C and money laundering and he's looking at 5-10y".. imho he did that kid a favour he didn't deserve. If you ask me he saved that kid's life.