Technique for distributing software

• US 20030037242A1
• Filed: 04/30/2002
• Published: 02/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kurzweil Cyberart Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Kurzweil Cyberart Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: Keklak, John A., Kurzweil, Raymond C., Yasuna, Jules A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,389,424 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/179
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1063 Personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/629 to features or functions of an application

Abstract

A computer program product and method for installing downloaded software on a client system over a network is described. The product and method include generating an access key by receiving an installation key produced using a random number generated from a seed that is the value of a client specific physical feature of the machine existing when a software installation program was run on the client system.

Claims

1. A method of installing software comprises:

generating an installation key by using a random number generated from a seed that is derived from a value of a property of a user'"'"'s computer that results from operation of the computer at the moment at which the software installation program is run on the user'"'"'s computer; and

producing an access code by combining the installation key and user name; and

performing a modulo operation on the result.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein generating an installation key uses computer specific information is that information which exists in the computer, as a result of operation of a hard drive of the computer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein generating an installation key uses the exact number of bytes of data stored in on the hard drive of the computer at the moment the installation is run.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein generating an installation key uses the number of bytes being reported as free space on the hard drive.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein generating an installation key comprises:

running a modulo checksum on a predetermined number of and a predetermined starting location of bytes that exist on the hard drive.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein producing the access code comprises:

adding the installation key to the user name on a digit by digit basis.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the modulo operation is a “

modulo 48”

operation based on an Ascii code.

8. A computer program installation product residing on a computer readable medium for installing downloaded software on a client system, the installation product comprises instructions to cause a computer to:

generate an installation key by using a random number generated from a seed that is derived from a value of a property of a user'"'"'s computer that results from operation of the computer at the moment at which the software installation program is run on the user'"'"'s computer; and

produce an access code by combining the installation key and user name; and

produce an access key by performing a modulo operation on the result to provide the access key to install the program.

9. The computer program installation product of claim 8 wherein the downloaded software is an upgrade to a previous installed version, the computer program product further comprising instructions to:

send the installation key and the user name to a server;

generate the access key and sends the access key back to the user which is applied to install the program; and

upon execution of the downloaded software,

retrieve the name of the registered owner and the generated installation code, which are stored on the client system, and produce the access key, which is compared to the access key entered by the user during the upgrade process.

10. The computer program installation product of claim 8 wherein the computer program installation product further comprises instructions to:

determine if the access codes are the same, to allow the software to execute.

11. The computer program installation product of claim 10 wherein if the codes are not the same, the computer program installation product further comprises instructions to:

cause the software to execute only in basic mode without premium features that would result from a upgrade of the software.

12. The computer program installation product of claim 8 wherein the customized installation key locks the downloaded software to a particular computer.