Primarily local hardware vendors boosted piracy to just sell the computer and most users think that software (including OS) is a complement they are getting while buying a computer.

Thereby companies have to change their strategies as follows:
– Localize the package with the country specific customizations (stripping all unwanted features and adding few local features)
– Price the localized package properly so that it will be affordable (Eg: Rs.50 / $1) per month per PC
– Don’t sell, just help your customers crave for it and buy…Bring campaigns on values and strengths of the product, not on the product.
– Make it available everywhere – in every super market as a POS item (with one CD, which can be installed but need to be activated online / telephone by paying) within few days.

Yes definitely, it’s not only your advertising but also your affiliates. I think that many software companies have affiliates in the countries we are speaking about here because there is usually low risk to bringing on an affiliate, no matter the country. This is because there is no expense to bringing the affiliate on and if they drive sales then that is a good thing. But if these affiliates then promote your product for you in these countries then that will drive demand for your products and potentially encourage piracy.

What I am trying to say is that some companies might be promoting their products in these countries without deliberately trying to.

As for what to do with pirated users, I consider piracy a form of flattery that your software is well respected and desired but obviously it would be better if they were a paying customer. There are two things that I think work well for making them a paying customer:

1. Keep updating the software all the time. If you keep bringing out new versions with new features then people using cracked version may have a desire for the newer version. Usually a crack for new versions of the software takes some time to surface on the web. If a customer with a cracked version of the product really wants the new version they may get impatient and just buy it.

2. Give paying customer access to web content or some login area of your site with additional features that they can only get access to with a valid license key. This will be something pirated software users will not be able to get and may want if you make it valuable enough.

Here are two ways to help stop people cracking your software in the first place:

1. Make the software only work as a fully functioning version when it is code signed with your vendor certificate. The first thing someone trying to crack the software will do is edit the executable and break that code signing. If you make sure the product will not work if it is not code signed that will make it harder to crack.

2. Make the product have to communicate to the web to as a part of the functionality of the full version. If your the core functionality of the product does not need a web connection (ie the full functionality of the product works while offline) and a web connection is only made to check a license key then it is quite easy for someone to create a version of the software that does not make that license check call to the server and just remains in an active state without ever checking the web.

Mark

Hi Mark,

I think that you make a good point and agree that incenting bad behavior is usually not a good idea. I certainly would ensure that any online advertising done is treated in the same way as conversion rates: by country. Don’t focus good money on a low converting country without a bigger strategy of how to monetize those customers. That’s what this article tries to do in highlighting a way to monetize some of those low converting countries that are caused by low purchasing power.

Have you tried something like this idea for your customers, Mark? Anything that you could share for others reading this discussion?

cheers,

craig.