iPhone application developer Ben Chatelain has become, like many others, fed up with app piracy, and has chosen to make an effort to fight back.
Shortly after the release, Ben was notified by a Google Alert that his app, Full Screen Web Browser was showing up on sites such as appulou.us as a cracked version.
So Ben began thinking and decided to create a server callback system that would alert him when someone was running a cracked version of his application. The callback gave Ben information which included the UDID (Unique Device Identifier) of the iPhone. From there the server could then determine if the app was paid for or pirated. For those that were determined as pirated, the server would then allow the app to run as a demo and present the user with a message after 10 uses.
The message is short, to the point and strikes with a little bit of guilt. The message reads;
“You are running a pirated copy of Full Screen Web Browser and have used it beyond the trial period.
Purchasing a legal copy helps support independent software development and will help me feed my 1-year old baby.”
Once the user is presented with the message, they can choose to either shut down the app, or pay for it. The real sad part here is that this app is selling for only $0.99. I am sorry, but pirating an app that costs less than a buck is just sad.
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March 11th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Spying other peoples iphones is sad, too.
March 11th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Seems to me the only devices which lose their privacy are those of the thieves. So Will- how would you address the theft? Turn a blind eye?
March 12th, 2009 at 3:21 am
You should consider as well that iPhone is being sold legally here in Egypt while AppStore doesn’t accept Egyptian Credit Cards, hence, I cannot buy any App even I want to.
What’s the solution to that? Free Apps aren’t enough and Apple isn’t helping me.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Lou, not sure what your solution is, but it’s not pirating apps.
My question is, he uses the unique identifier of the phone. You can have the app on up to 5 phones, I think. My wife and I have iPhones and my daughter has an iTouch. We use our iTunes account for all of them and legally put the apps on each. Using his system, it seems like it would break when one of the others use it.