License / Registration key enabled software

[James Stroud]

T wrote:
> We all know that there are many softwares that require some license key
> or registration key to enable them.  How does one implement something
> like this in python?
> 

Here's a thought: AES encrypt the bytecode dynamically for each user, 
using as a key an sha hash of their personal and corporate information, 
ethernet hardware address, and some hardware specific information, such 
as the serial number of the diskdrive on which the software will be 
installed. Along with this dynamically encrypted version of the 
software, require them to save the personal and corporate information in 
the system registry or equivalent on their computer. Then write a C or 
Fortran extension that assembles this information on the client side, 
produces the hashed key and uses it to decrypt the bytecode real-time, 
when the program launches. This bytecode can be fed to a running python 
process via a pipe and executed through skilled use of the marshal module.

Once you have implemented this system, license it to software vendors 
such as Microsoft (or better yet, scientific software companies). Please 
remember to pay me royalties in the sum of 20% gross profits for 
devising this system for you.

James

-- 
James Stroud
UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics
Box 951570
Los Angeles, CA 90095

http://www.jamesstroud.com/