System for making it ineffective to tamper with a software application by nullifying or removing calls to a license manager because the application can be run without a call to the license manager

• US 20090007276A1
• Filed: 04/08/2008
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Jan Samzelius, Kjell Ake Olsson
• Original Assignee: Jan Samzelius, Kjell Ake Olsson
• Inventors: Olsson, Kjell Ake, Samzelius, Jan
• Application Number:
  US12/082,082
• Publication Number:
  US 20090007276A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/125 by manipulating the program code, e.g. source code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code

Abstract

Many software applications are protected from illegal or unauthorized use by the use of a License Manager. All installations of the application are required to obtain a license from the License Manager to run. Software pirates routinely circumvent this copy protection by disabling the call to the license manager or change the code of the application so it seems to have passed the license verification. The present invention makes such efforts ineffective. The installed application cannot run, unless the call to the License Manager is made, since important code and data has been extracted from the installation and must be delivered by the License Manager. Obviously, if the call to the License Manager is disabled or manipulated, the extracted code and data will not be delivered to the installed application and it will not run.

Claims

1. A method of preventing applications to run successfully if the calls to the License Manager system are removed or nullified, comprising

a. Extracting parts of the code and data of the application

b. Placing the extracted code and data on a server

c. Requiring the application to connect with the server to retrieve the extracted code and data

d. The server performing validation checks of the calling application and delivering the extracted code and data only if it determines that the application is legal, authorized and has permission.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracted code and data in the application is replaced with code, essentially random, but seems correct.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracted code and data is essential to the execution of the logic of the application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the parts of the code and data are extracted prior to assembly of the application and, thus, these parts are not delivered to the end user, prior to registration and activation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication between the local installation and server is protected with secure protocols.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple validation checks of the local installation are performed by the server, including, but not limited to:

Hardware IDs, such Hard Drive serial number, ID number of the software installation itself, ID number of the previously delivered extracted code and data (for revalidation).