illega copies of kayako

[jnet]

I recently noticed there are a lot of illegal copies of kayako in internet
when I see it even sites who have installed those copies and supporting which I know they are all ilegal I wonder what does kayako do to stop them.

[Jamie Edwards]

Hi there,

Unfortunately it is impossible to make 100% sure that PHP code is secure from reverse engineering, 'cracking' and decoding. PHP is an interpreted language; it is not compiled into an intermediary format.

The best that can be done to protect licensing interests is to use an encoder, such as IonCube and Zend Optimizer. However, due to the huge popularity of these encoders, they are constantly under attack and it is not very long before they are 'cracked' and people able to reverse the encoding process.

Due to the popularity of our software, we are aware it is often one of the first to be decoded once these encoding packages have been 'cracked'.

With regards to what we do with pirate users (you can report them by e-mailing abuse@kayako.com), they are offered to either purchase a license or stop using the software (cease and desist request). If neither or the two occur, we issue a DMCA take-down notice to their internet service provider.

[craigbrass]

And even after these take down notices are issued, there is no guarantee they will actually get taken down. I know a few data centers who simply ignore these to keep their customers happy as most don't go any further.

Cracking any software is not impossible to circumvent licensing. As Jamie points out, as fast as new versions of the encoders are released, there are a few groups of people who work full time to crack them to be able to reverse engineer the code.

It is the same with any other programming language (C++ for example): They can be reverse engineered and either a crack or a key generator made. Point is, nothing is 100% water tight.

The best way I have found is to educate the users that they are using an the software without a licence and many will either not know they are doing so and purchase or know they are doing it and purchase anyway which is exactly what the music industry should be doing rather than trying to get ISPs to police the internet like we are starting to see in the UK. The ones who simply refuse to purchase even after being told are a small minority and not worth bothering about.

[Siora]

I think Kayako should offer something to people who report illegal copies of kayako. Not sure what but would be a good incentive to everyone to keep an eye out and protect the software that they paid to use.

[Digital Mayhem]

I don't remember who at Kayako told me this but I was told a while back that if you report a Pirated copy of Kayako Software and the person ends up buying a legit license you get like a referral fee.

Jamie can you confirm this?

[Jamie Edwards]

Originally Posted by Digital Mayham

I don't remember who at Kayako told me this but I was told a while back that if you report a Pirated copy of Kayako Software and the person ends up buying a legit license you get like a referral fee.

Jamie can you confirm this?

No, we are not operating such a reward scheme. I believe we did at some point a long time ago, but do so no longer

[jnet]

well actually I know so many sites and I was going to ask that myself

[supportskins]

As Jamie pointed out, there is no full proof solution to completely stop such instances.

[Siora]

Originally Posted by Jamie Edwards

No, we are not operating such a reward scheme. I believe we did at some point a long time ago, but do so no longer

Thats too bad cause offering some sort of incentive might encourage people to report these instances and keep the community tight.

[bionhosting]

indeed