Software evaluation licensing for Web Services

Question

Hi all, We have developed a web application. (Eclipse - Dynamic Web Project). We are deploying it as .war file. We want to implement evaluation period license check on this .war file. (Most of the functionalities are Java SOAP Web services and Web UI is in Flex) I have written a Java code for generating the license file and thread for checking the remaining days. (Checking is continuous as the application is supposed to run for days)

What is the best way to implement this functionality on the web application using the generated license file?

Answer 1

Have the web application call the mothership every X hours for a fresh lease to run for Y hours (where Y >> X). The lease must include a class to run - some bytecode - which is needed for your code to be usable.

The important part here is whether you expect a lot of piracy or not. Frequently the "this is only supported with a valid license" (which is required to run) is enough to make companies buy the needed licenses. Not much fun in your business depending on unsupported software.