FeedDemon Crack

Dave Winer and Evan Williams commented that the people who shout the loudest are often the ones who have no basis for their anger. I'm reminded of this fact by an email I received this morning. Here's a quote:

"Fix your piece of s--- program! I upgraded to FeedDemon 1.10 and it crashes with 'Win32 device error.' Did you even test this s---?"

I've actually received a number of emails (and one forum post) about this bug, but I have no plans to fix it. Why? Because the error message only appears if you upgrade a cracked version of FeedDemon 1.0. This is a deliberate error message that FeedDemon 1.10 displays when it detects that you upgraded from a specific cracked version of FeedDemon 1.0.

That's right, people who use a pirated version of FeedDemon are emailing me for support. It never ceases to amaze me when people not only steal from me, but also expect me to spend my time answering their questions. And more often than not, the email I've received about this problem reads like something a drunk teenager would write.

I've written about piracy before and I'm not planning to start another lengthy rant. But I do have a request for those who have justified their use of cracked versions of my work: don't ask for support. I support my family with sales of my software, and my life is affected - dramatically - by the existence of cracks. Please, if you're using a pirated version of my software, don't expect me to help you.

Comments

[nop]

Why don't you ask for an address to mail the newest version of FeedDemon and then send the police? I think that a couple of them might fall for this... :)

[Ed]

As this is a *deliberate* error message, how about the error message saying something like - "Pirated software cannot be upgraded."

[Steve]

Good for you! Considering how many free/light newsreaders there are out there (Sauce, Awasu, Abilon) there's no excuse to use a cracked version of FD. I tested a few of those out and while not too bad, they were not as nice as FD by any means. If you really wanted to have some fun - charge them $30 for "support" and then send them a FD registration key!

Sigh, $30 isn't that much to save if you really want something. I realize not everyone has large disposable incomes, but even most folks could save that within a month or so. Do with less of something to save! Heck, with the advent of eBay, it's even easier to scrape up a few bucks. The funniest part is I was just thinking about this as a subject for my blog. Guess it's time to fire it up.

[Josh Evitt]

Incredible! I work for a software company, and it's amazing to see how many people think that they're entitled to free software.

[Paul Speranza]

I am amazed at how cheap some people are. I agree with Ed about the specific message. It will at least let them know that you are on to them, but they probably wouldn't care.

$30 for FeedDemon is a bargain, even with all of the free readers out there it still worth the money for the quality.

[Nick Bradbury]

Ed, letting crackers know I'm on to them helps them more than me - they'll simply look for another crack. By displaying a cryptic error message instead, I get to waste their time for a change :)

[David Sims]

All your software is worth its weight in gold - oops, sorry, there's no weight to bits, right? :)

A thief is a thief, no matter how much they're stealing or from whom they are stealing. I'd like you to combine the first two comments and give a deliberate error message notifying them that their identify is being forwarded to law enforcement authorities (be good for these lazy loafers to get a strong heart workout!)

Or...you could pop up a fake moving status bar that tells them that their hard drive is now in the process of being reformatted :) - maybe that's an even better heart workout!!

I read in one of your earlier posts http://nick.typepad.com/blog/2004/01/on_piracy_part_.html that a common argument is that software isn't a physical product, so it has no real value...well, if it hasn't got any value, why would anyone make such a fuss over it not working or take the time to request your time in technical support?

Thanks for the great software - I feed my family with my work too, and I pay for what I use.

[Don]

What I don't understand is people who spend hours cracking software when there's probably an open source solution out there they could get legally (and for the same price).

[Richard]

It's amazing to say the least, I did a similar thing in a tool I rewrote for another company, if the crack is detected it generates a seemingly standard error (read seemingly, the error as popped up does not exist), once that version was out 80% of all support questions where about that particular error, we responded with a standard message saying we are sorry bla bla, send us you address information and we will send you a free copy, I don't know if the collected information has ever been used to pursuit legal actions, but a large chunk of the people responded to it by sending their address info, which kinda shows how dumb the average crack/serial user is..

[Vincent Parrett]

Nick, I'm with you 100% on this. It never ceases to amaze me how people who used pirated software expect to be treated like paying customers. As for making the message more obvious, all that does is make it easier for crackers to remove the error in their next crack. Another option might be to not show the message at all, just start a timer and and kill the app dead, ie Halt(0) after a few minutes use :)

[Dave Seidel]

Good for you, Nick, stand your ground!

[Niall Kennedy]

I am interested to hear the process for your discovery of a crack, your estimation of legit versus non-legit FeedDemon versions installed on machines, and considerations you had to make when choosing a vendor for trial version to full software.

I like the terms of the license allowing me to install FeedDemon on multiple machines. My work computer and home computer can share the license and I can spend less.

[John Dowdell]

Understood. If you search at groups.google.com with term "1714 group:macromedia.dreamweaver" you'll see a similar situation, where upgrade attempts on a purloined beta resulted in angry initial messages.

But one thing I learned is that not everyone realizes they're working with illegitimate software... I saw some Customer Service interactions where the person with the symptom had been fed a bad copy by their coworkers or IT staff. Usually these days I respond with something like "Hmm, the only time I've seen that symptom has been when it was a bad copy of the program. Could you tell me where you received this version so we could rule out that potential cause, please?" It's rare for a well-meaning person to see such a symptom, but there are definitely cases where it can occur.

Regards,
John Dowdell
Macromedia Support

[Alex Barnett]

Funny post!

[Richardz.com]

I just had to comment... That is awesome that you put that intentional error code in there. Truly entertaining! Keep 'em coming.

[Nick Bradbury]

Don, if the problem was limited to people who spend hours cracking software just to get it for free, I wouldn't be too bothered. The problem, though, is that the cracked versions are then posted on various warez sites where thousands of people download for free.

Now, let me see here...thousands of people download executable code from sites run by people who brag about being criminals, warez sites earn money from installing spyware on your system, zombie systems launch large-scale DDoS attacks. Anyone wonder about the connection?

[pb]

Dave would have been praised if he had taken the route you did and indicated far in advance that he was considering shuttering his free service, what did his constituents think, etc. Instad, what he did was the equivalent of you not only removing the free TopStyle download but somehow triggering every installed copy to stop working with no notice. And if that de-installation of TopStyle Lite caused authors to not be able to serve or retrieve their web sites.

Dave did none of the above and still hasn't even indicated a shred of contrition.

[Valics Lehel]

Hi all,
I will start to say that yes, I have used cracked software. Time have changed, now I buy all softwares and I can say that priority have softwares what I have used cracked.

This was be a short introduction. NOW, several years ago (in my young computer experience) I have tried all, is like when you are 16-20 years, you try drink, smoke all bad stuff. When you grow up you can decide if you want to continue in that way or not.
Also in my youngest days I talked with a lot of guys who cracked softwares. They do for fun and to learn. Not earn money. What was important to me to LEARN is what one of those guys said.
"If a software is not cracked, it means that is not worth to crack it."

Now I'm grooved up, after 10 years in this business and as a software developer I remember that words.
I look always if our softwares are cracked. I'm happy if yes.

Also in a way I encourage to crack it, not trying to protect fully. WHY? Simple, people will come for support.
I always ask for username and key (in my case domain) and I respond very nice, sorry I cannot help you, cause I did not find you in our database. Probably you have get our software from a reseller, contact them or another solution if someone installed for you and then I cannot help you, until you not become our client." 30% run away, will be back when they will grow up, 70% will ask how much cost the software.
I present software price and benefits to be client and I offer 20% OFF to become our customer. Guess what, half pay for software.
As a guy said here, is not always people try to steal money, they can be fooled by someone. Also if they become "dependent" from software what they use, will come time when will buy it. Cost too much to look always for a new cracked version.

Is my humble opinion, I say be happy that your software is cracked. Is a privilege for you.
Thank you.

[Aaron Epstein]

Nick, I completely understand where you are coming from. I've built a similar method into my most recent releases to display a cryptic error message whenever it detects tampering. This works great for the casual cracker.

However, ever since moving to my own merchant account I have a new viewpoint on cracks for my software in relation to credit card fraud. First let me preface this by saying:
As a fulltime software developer and single business owner (like yourself), cracks without a doubt cost us time and money and I absolutely do not condone it.

However, every time there is an instance of fraud on my merchant account I not only have to refund the purchase price, but I am also charged a hefty fee. If chargebacks total something like 2% of my sales I will immediately become blacklisted among the credit card companies, lose my merchant account, and not be able to create one again under my current business entity. For this reason I would much rather have a potential fraudster use a crack of my software than potentially put me out of business.

It feels wrong to say it, but everytime a chargeback comes in the mail I find myself wishing the crook had just found a crack (after all, they're everywhere) instead of defrauding me. The crook was absolutely not going to pay anyways, and it sure would've saved me a ton of time, money and frustration.

[Nick Bradbury]

Aaron, I definitely know what you mean about chargebacks - I also have to eat the cost of credit card fraud. Perhaps the thing that angers me the most is when someone uses a stolen credit card to purchase my software, then posts the purchased software on some warez site. So I basically pay a fee to have my software stolen by pretty much anyone who wants it.

[Morgan Pugh]

I admit I have used illegal software. However since starting full time work I have tried to buy the software I use a lot (by a lot I mean software I use daily or I really am impressed by). Nick knows this as I purchased FeedDemon. I did think about cracking it, however I didn't because I felt bad. It is weird as I don't know Nick or his family and he doesn't know me but I still felt bad about illegally using his software. I guess I just appreciated the time and effort he had put into it. To be honest I don't know why I decided to buy it instead of pirating it.

Saying that there is still some software I need to buy however I can't afford it at the moment. I know it isn't an excuse but it is either I use it for a while illegally or find a [free] alternative!

[Bryan Peters]

Take this as the biggest compliment possible: FeedDemon is the first software I have purchased for personal use. Ever.

I've always had legit copies of any software for work, but at home I've always taken the free route, mainly because I don't consider my home software to get used enough to justify spending the $$. But FeedDemon "got me". I think I bought it a few days after I first installed it. That's how much I liked it. Well done.

[Nick Bradbury]

Morgan, my hope is that by posting about warez here, more people like yourself will reconsider piracy. It's easy to steal from some faceless entity, but it's harder to justify when you can put a specific person's face or name behind the product.

[Nick Bradbury]

Bryan, thank you - I do take that as a compliment. And a belated happy birthday to you, as well :)

[Alex Ezell]

I am in pretty much the same boat as Bryan. The software I use at the office is legit, but I do have some things at home that I use maybe once a month that are not.

As far as Nick's software goes, I know that it his personal attention to support and the way he listens to his users that made me feel he "deserved" to be paid for his work. I'm not saying that other developers don't deserve it, but the way I see it Nick goes above and beyond. That's why I have owned TopStyle 3 since the day it was released I think.

Just to clear the conscience, I did come across a cracked version of FD 1.10 and had it installed for 3 days. Honestly, it worked so well and I liked it so much that I uninstalled it until I can buy it. It's just that good and I felt guilty for enjoying it without giving Nick his due.

So, a very thought-provoking post and one that really hits right at the heart of some of the issues of software development today. I'd like to know how some of the larger projects on SourceForge do on the donation system they have in place now.