BlackBerry® World™ Development

[sreid55]

No,  there's no license control in the app.  AFAIK, they probably just purchased it at mobihand and re-posted.

[homebrew]

Hello,

Can you give more detail on how to send a DMCA takedown notice please.

Thanks,

Bob

[sreid55]

Gladly -

First, find the ISP of the site that's hosting the infringing content.

Easiest way I know of - get the ip address of their web server (ping www.the-site-name.com - will display IP address)

Take that IP address to arin.net and do a search.  The support contact for the ISP should come up.

Send an email like this one to them (I just found this from a google search):

Re: Copyright Claim

To: (ISP)

I am the copyright owner of the software "Your Product Here" being infringed at:

http://some link

http://some other link

This letter is official notification under the provisions of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”)
to effect removal of the above-reported infringements. I request that you immediately issue a cancellation message as specified
in RFC 1036 for the specified postings and prevent the infringer, who is identified by its Web address, from posting
the infringing software to your servers in the future. Please be advised that law requires you, as a service provider,
to “expeditiously remove or disable access to” the infringing software upon receiving this notice. Noncompliance may result
in a loss of immunity for liability under the DMCA.

I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of here is not authorized by me,
the copyright holder, or the law. The information provided here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I swear
under penalty of perjury that I am the copyright holder.

Please send me at the address noted below a prompt response indicating the actions you have taken to resolve this matter.

Sincerely,

...

Good luck. As I mentioned above, I think the real leverage here isn't getting your software removed (it will inevitably reappear elsewhere), but sending the message to the ISP that they have a customer engaged in this activity.

[eaoliver]

Thanks for the insight adwiv.  Do they switch to a real device if the app doesn't run in a simulator?

If not, then this really opens the door to the types of apps that can be posted without review.

Earl

[adwiv]

We used to throw an Exception saying "This app is not designed to run on a simulator".

But the apps still passed the review, so I guess they must be using a real device. But as I said, it took a painfully long time to get the app approved (about a month or so).

BTW RIM has really done the needful in speeding up the approval process. I was pleasently surprised when my last app was approved within 24 hours :-)

[cdiaz]

Hi RLord321,

I was wondering if illegal/pirated copies of an app would be much of an issue if it's only distributed in BlackBerry App World.  My app implements static licensing and is currently only distributed in App World.  Can someone buy my app from App World and somehow re-post it illegally?

I do plan on selling my app in Handango and Mobihand.  As you mentioned, they just provide direct links to the app, so I will have to program some kind of dynamic license checking like your app does.  In the mean time, I do not want to have to worry about illegal copies of my app via App World.

Thanks,

[DSR]

Yes, it can be done very easily.  If you are worried, at a minimum implement dynamic licensing.

[cdiaz]

Thanks, DSR.

[eaoliver]

I haven't purchases any applications that use dynamic licensing.  Does the app world client expose the license key string to the user, which would allow them to enter the key manually?

Earl

[Marc_Paradise]

The best implementation I've seen came from ShapeServices:
1. Device connects at startup, sends PIN

2. If PIN is authenticated (associated with a paid account) you have unrestricted access to the product (IM client is what I had)

3. If PIN is not authenticated, product is either disabled or has limited features.

What made this the best implementation I've seen was simple: A web tool which allowed you to change your registered device, so that there was no hassle if you upgraded/replaced your phone.