Modular Software Protection

• US 20100325734A1
• Filed: 05/20/2010
• Published: 12/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Atreus Labs LLC
• Original Assignee: Uniloc Luxembourg S.à r.l. (f/k/a Uniloc Luxembourg S.A.) (Uniloc Corporation Pty. Limited)
• Inventors: Etchegoyen, Craig S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,633,183 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1011 to devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/121 Restricting unauthorised execution of programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/73 by creating or determining hardware identification, e.g. serial numbers

Abstract

A method for modular software protection includes steps for receiving, at a server, a license key registered for a software executable installed on a client device and machine fingerprint data generated at the client device, accessing, using the server, stored usage rights data indicated by the license key, the usage rights data specifying a number of client devices on which the software executable is licensed to operate and which features of the software executable are enabled, determining, using the machine fingerprint data received by the server, whether operation of the software executable on the client device would cause the number of client devices on which the software executable is licensed to operate to be exceeded, and creating, in response to the determining step, an encrypted license file for transmission to the client device that defines separate features of the software executable to be enabled on the client device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a server, a license key registered for a software executable installed on a client device and machine fingerprint data generated at the client device;

accessing stored usage rights data indicated by the license key, using the server, wherein the usage rights data specifies a number of client devices on which the software executable is licensed to operate and which features of the software executable are enabled;

determining, using the machine fingerprint data received by the server, whether operation of the software executable on the client device would cause the number of client devices on which the software executable is licensed to operate to be exceeded; and

creating, in response to the determining step, an encrypted license file for transmission to the client device that defines separate features of the software executable to be enabled on the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating the encrypted license file only if the server first determines that the license key is a valid key.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating the encrypted license file using an asymmetrical public-private encryption method using a private key for encryption and a public key for decryption.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising transmitting the public key from the server to the client device with a Public Key Infrastructure certificate.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising selecting the public key consisting of the machine fingerprint data received from the client device.

6. A method, comprising:

generating machine fingerprint data at a client device by reading configuration data indicating non-user-configurable settings for different hardware components of the client device, and aggregating the configuration data to create a defined data series;

transmitting the machine fingerprint data and a license key for a software executable to a server;

receiving, in response to the machine fingerprint data and the license key, an encrypted license file from the server;

reading the license file using the software executable to determine what restrictions apply to operation of the software executable on the client device; and

operating the software executable on the client device in accordance with the restrictions defined by the license file.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising decrypting the license file using a public key received from the server.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising decrypting the license file using a PKI-certified public key received from the server.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising decrypting the license file using a private key consisting of the machine fingerprint data.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising selecting data from the defined data series according to selection criteria received from the server to generate the machine fingerprint data.

11. A method, comprising:

reading component data at a client device indicating non-user-configurable settings for different hardware components of the client device;

generating a data matrix comprised of the component data arranged in a defined order, by aggregating the component data at the client device; and

generating machine fingerprint data capable of identifying the client device by selecting data from the defined data series according to selection criteria received from a server.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein reading the component data further comprises reading data indicating user-configurable settings for different hardware components of the client device.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the client device requesting the selection criteria from the server after generating the data matrix.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising storing the machine fingerprint data in a buffer of the client device, transmitting the machine fingerprint data to the server, and then deleting the machine fingerprint data from the client device.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising initiating the generating of the machine fingerprint data in response to a signal from the server received at the client device.

16. A method, comprising:

maintaining a data selection mask at a server, the data selection mask designed to identify a static portion of data in different fields of a gross data set comprised of defined data fields;

transmitting the data selection mask to a client device;

receiving, in response to transmitting the data selection mask, a selected data file from the client device, selected at the client device in accordance with the data selection mask from a gross data set larger than the selected data file; and

using the selected data file to identify the client device.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising instructing the client device to generate the gross data set by reading component data at the client device indicating non-user-configurable settings for different hardware components of the client device.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving the gross data set from the client device.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising storing the gross data set in a memory accessible to the server.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising generating a second data selection mask identifying a different static portion of gross data than is identified by the data selection mask.