You may google for the places the copies are spread (links to the one click hosters) and send the hosters a DCMA request to take the file down.
Most of them will react on this, and the crack sites often do not upload again or check links, so it's a good thing if someone googeling for the crack gets dead links when trying to download.
Its some effort though. I know this problem very well. When I publish full working plugins just with a nagscreen at startup asking for a donation, even these are "cracked" by lame idiots, who think this is a great achievement.
My worst experience was to see sites selling "OEM" versions of my free plugins like Simprev....
The best way is to offer only function limited demos for free download and send the download link for the full version after purchase. Someone might use stolen credit card data or so to buy and spread, but the chance is lower and so the time is longer until you'll see a copy on the crack sites.

That's true. It's a multiband limiter, so there are more possibilities to experiment with the sound. I shouldn't let my subjective opinions on limiters cloud my judgement. Especially because I do use limiters, and distortion even more to get some "creative results".

Good point, Crackbaby.

I really wish you all the best and good luck, LVC-Audio. v1 I tested is nice, nicely programmed, and I really like the "clip shape" knob, and the start/end threshold which really puts you in control of the limiting, so to say that it isn't innovative is not quite right, indeed.

Cheers!

Cool plug. Bought it



I made a similar tool myself back in 2006 but it was based on EQ's and limiting/saturating the bands separately. Didn't have those dynamic features in it though. It's very cool. Thanks



edit: I'm sure audio demos or introduction videos on youtube could be helpful in getting peoples attention. Or dare i say: Marketing.

Sorry about being cracked! It happens to pretty much all of us developers. My advice is to concentrate on the people that will *buy* your product, as opposed to the people that will *steal* your product. The vast majority of the people that would steal your product won't buy anything.

I look at copy protection as being similar to locking the doors on my car when I park it on the street. A determined thief could break the windows with a brick, or could use a tow truck, and there isn't any way to stop them. Locking the doors helps keep your average person walking past my car honest, so they don't just open the doors and look for loose change. Plus, a car that has doors that lock is a simple-to-use theft protection for people that buy cars.

Sean Costello

This.

That's the only way to at least might get the traffic.
Also like said update your website. Especially the "plugin" part. It took my a while to figure out that I had to click on ClipShifter 2.0 (didn't know it was a link) to be taken to the purchase page. Especially since the page before features download links already.



THAT sucks mightily!

I once had the "pleasure" to have my free plug-ins being "distributed" for free.
At that time I gave up the idea of making more freeware to drive traffic to my site which I could than convert into purchases of payware. It simply won't work.



This.

YES! It happens ALL THE TIME!

also, (fwiw) I've found it generally good to get as much coverage as possible early-on with the release so the top few google results-pages are yours and not the bad-guys - the boring marketing stuff is good to both sell and protect yr product

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNVxHPJ0hM

The point about the website is a good one. I have run to the end of usefulness with my Wordpress theme. I guess that is something I never thought about when I started. I thought all I needed to know was C++. I didn't realize that there is the graphic design of the GUI and controls, DSP for the code, website design, local tax code interpretation, etc. For everyone that is doing this stuff, you have my admiration.

Thanks for all of the positive feedback. Between this forum, running on the treadmill while listening to Frank Black, and a round of Disc Golf, I am in a much better place.

Unfortunately those who crack Audio Software - mostly Japanese groups and some individuals - have no respect at all! It's indeed a very stupid game they play. They use couriers who distribute their (own made) packages to many Forums on the net. Of course people (with low moral levels) get tempted to grab every little package they spread all over the www, not thinking about the damage they cause to small or medium developer companies.

Some folks get even addicted to download cracks. So the crack-teams continue to bring on their releases, creating themselves a sort of demand. But that's just the dark side of the Internet business, as others stated, i wouldn't concentrate on the "bad" guys out there. There are always new ways and solutions to win new and serious customers, and exclude "rotten eggs".

Just thought I'd throw my 2c in regarding your low sales: get some audio samples up on your website!! I don't know about anybody else, but I'm unlikely to take the trouble to download and test out your plugin if I can't hear an audio sample that gives me an idea of its sound first. It's not difficult to do, and I imagine there are many people who think the way I do.

That said, I'm sorry to hear you were cracked, but as others have said, keep working on your plugin's sound, don't waste too much time on this copy protection arms race. If anything, you can stay ahead of the crackers by releasing new versions with better features regularly - it's rare that the crackers will have the time / patience to do every new version, and this way you can encourage those who download the cracked version to pay you for the latest version. All the best, and don't give up!

+1 on the audio samples.

There are so many plugin web pages that lack them.

the dumb folks who use cracked stuff dont buy the stuff anyway. the few that use the crack prior buying would buy it also without crack.
so dont waste your time thinking to much about that crap and as said: just place decent audiodemos on your site.

A lot of people like to say that, but it's untrue.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/piracy-discussions/606190-wha t-gives-people-admitting-they-use-cracked-software.html

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/printview.php?t=335223&start=0

http://www.wiretotheear.com/2011/12/06/caught-cracking/

http://forum.recordingreview.com/f8/do-you-use-cracked-pirat ed-plugins-40685/

And that was just from 15 seconds of googling. We have our own evidence as well, but can't share it in public.

Not everybody's going to admit to cracking software freely on the Internet.
We don't really know the stats on it.
The worst sense I get from net discussions on piracy is the old "stickin' it to the corporates! [shakes fist - yay]" attitude, which is naive at best.
Last edited by DaveHoskins on Sun Feb 17, 2013 12:58 pm; edited 1 time in total