Directory service distributed product activation

Abstract

In some embodiments, an activation object used to activate a software product is stored in a directory service. The activation object may, for example, comprise a proof of purchase token and/or information about the directory service, and may be communicated from the directory service to a client computer after the directory service authenticates a request from a client computer for access to the activation object. In some embodiments, a directory service is interrogated for an activation object used to activate software on a client computer. A client computer may, for example, receive an activation object from the interrogated directory service, and use the received activation to object to activate a software product on the client computer. In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable medium has instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to interrogate a directory service for an activation object used to activate software on the computer. The computer may, for example, receive the activation object from the directory service, and use the received activation object to activate a software product.

Description

Background technique [0001] Software product activation can serve as proof of purchase, typically as part of the software publisher's anti-piracy strategy. The enforement mechanism can be linked to product activation, so that the software runs or displays differently based on the existence or lack of proof of purchase. Many software activation solutions exist today, and these solutions are used by various software publishers. These solutions typically associate (ie, combine) the software with a separate computer on which the software runs. [0002] For organizations that want to use software that requires product activation, these enforcement measures incur the cost of maintaining, protecting, delivering, and managing proof of purchase across individual computers. Various strategies and designs have been created to reduce this additional cost of ownership, while still protecting the intellectual property rights of software publishers. However, these solutions suffer from variou...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Such a solution is not suitable for many organizations due to its complexity

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