Feedback Request on a new Java DRM Solution Under Development

[exsoft]

Hello fellow Java developers! I've been working on a licensing framework, DRM solution in 100% Pure Java and wanted to get some feedback.
I would really appreciate anyone who would 1) download my trial version and let me know what they think or 2) If you don't have time to download, please watch the demo video and let me know what you think.

I'm interested in the following feedback:
1) Would you be interested in using a product like this?
2) How much, if anything, would you be willing to pay for a product like this?
3) Do you sell Java software/games or do you plan to Java sell software/games in the future?
4) If you would not be interested in this product, do you know of others who might?  (I'm not wanting details, just yes or no please)

I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Screenshot:


Link: http://www.rampartlicensing.com/
Demo: Demo - 2MB
Video Demonstration: http://rampartlicensing.com/?page_id=31

Thanks,
Joe

[princec]

Sorry for slightly negative feedback, but:
1) No, I'm afraid not - we've already got the coolest DRM ever
2) N/A
3) Yes, we sell games already
4) Not very many developers in the world use Java for games :/

Cas

[exsoft]

Cas,

Thanks very much for the slightly negative feedback.  I just finished reading about your coolest DRM ever, and I love it.  It may very well be the coolest ever.
That said, I became interested in this DRM project simply because I couldn't find a pure Java solution (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg).  I thought it would be cool to provide one.  Not just for game devs, but for all Java devs making all sorts of downloadable apps.  Options are good, in my opinion.  Given the popularity of DRM providers for Windows software, I wondered if there was interest in a Java solution that actually provides some deterrents to the decompile->remove licensing code->recompile->run full version forever problem.

And yes, I know there are not many of us that use Java for games.  Out of curiosity, are you the only one you know of selling Java games?  Or do you know of others, but they all seem to share your stance on DRM?

Much thanks again for the feedback.  I hope others will provide some more (good, bad, or ugly - it's all appreciated)

Thanks!

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[princec]

There are several other developers of Java games but pretty much all of the commercial ones sell client/server games which of course don't need any DRM. In fact I can't think of anyone else selling standalone Java games like we do. Someone is bound to come along and correct me, but this might possibly be indicative of the size of the Java Games DRM market

Cas

[gouessej]

Hi!

1) Would you be interested in using a product like this?
2) How much, if anything, would you be willing to pay for a product like this?
3) Do you sell Java software/games or do you plan to Java sell software/games in the future?
4) If you would not be interested in this product, do you know of others who might?  (I'm not wanting details, just yes or no please)

1) No, I wouldn't as I hate DRM.
2) If I was using such a product in a commercial project, I would pay about 100 euros per year but only if it is fully open source.
3) I don't sell games but I accept financial support of my own projects, I sometimes contribute to commercial projects for free and I'm an engineer/researcher in computer science, we use a licence manager at work.
4) If your product can compete with FLEXlm, many software editers could be interested in your solution.

[exsoft]

Cas,

I understand the Java DRM market is small, but I don't think it's nonexistent.

I was thinking about your approach to DRM some more.  I am actually quite impressed with the way you wrote that up.  I came away feeling like you were against evil DRM methods.  Upon thinking more about it, I realized that you fully implement DRM.  The key difference being that an e-mail address is your license key.  But your games still "call home" and licenses are activated.  They implement a form of hardware locking.  Yet, your writeup left me feeling like the only thing going on was trusting your users.  It's really well written.  The emotional language had me completely ignoring your DRM scheme and thinking it was on a road so much higher than the low road all the others take with their DRM.   In actuality, it's not much different, except there's no license key number to worry about.  I came to realize that your policy on customer service is what I was truly admiring.  It seems to me your concept of customer service is at a level of greatness that is unfortunately rare and should be a model for software developers everywhere.

However, I really liked the way you wrote about trust.  It's got me thinking about my DRM solution and how I might be able to market it.  A good DRM system shouldn't be about mistrust.  It should be about convenience, both for developers and users.  DRM should make it convenient for developers to build and release trial versions of their software with minimal effort.  It should be convenient for the user to easily convert their trial version to a full version (without downloading anything else, or reinstalling).  I'm thinking I need to work on my main headline on my site, that currently says "Protect your Java Application"  The word "protect" focuses on the bad guys.  Maybe I need to emphasize the numerous benefits of a good DRM system that have nothing to do with mistrust and everything to do with making life easier for developers and users alike.

If I decide to actually market this product, I think that these concepts will implement both my feature set as well as my marketing copy.  So, thank you so much for your input.

[exsoft]

gouessej,

Thanks for your reply.  As far as FLEXlm, is there a version of that still in use, or are people using the new FlexNet Publisher (formerly FLEXlm)?

Thanks!

[gouessej]

gouessej,

Thanks for your reply.  As far as FLEXlm, is there a version of that still in use, or are people using the new FlexNet Publisher (formerly FLEXlm)?

Thanks!

I was speaking about FlexNet, sorry, I was accustomed with calling it FLEXlm as we have a flag in our source code to enable/disable it for development purposes.

[Captain Awesome]

Sorry for slightly negative feedback, but:
1) No, I'm afraid not - we've already got the coolest DRM ever
2) N/A
3) Yes, we sell games already
4) Not very many developers in the world use Java for games :/

Cas

That is a pretty cool drm system, any chance you'd share some of the source so other people can implement it as well?