Serial numbers - last 5 unique? [SOLVED]

On 10/03/2015 at 13:15, xxxxxxxx wrote:

User Information:
Cinema 4D Version:   13+ 
Platform:   Windows  ;   
Language(s) :     C++  ;   PYTHON  ;

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In the licensing guide here: https://developers.maxon.net/?p=641
it states:

"We only use the last 5 digits of the serial number. That way, we get around having to send out a new license if a user purchased your plugin with his temporary serials and then gets the final serial numbers from MAXON."

Could someone explain that.
Are the last 5 digits always unique compared with all the issued C4D serial numbers?

Thanks

On 11/03/2015 at 09:16, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Hi terrachild,

I'd like to help you with your question, but I have to know why you're asking, so that I can determine how and even if I can answer.  Please consider licensing is a delicate subject in this context because at a certain level, how it works on our side has to remain secret.

Joey Gaspe
SDK Support Engineer

On 11/03/2015 at 10:15, xxxxxxxx wrote:

In the licensing guide at the link above, it seems to be saying, that as a plugin developer, we can prevent the problem where a customer buys a plugin, activates it, which locks it to that particular C4D serial number, and then later gets final serial numbers from Maxon, which makes the plugin not work.  This requires the plugin developer to issue another license while not be sure the first plugin license is really not being used.
Why does he state:

We only use the last 5 digits of the serial number

?
That seems to imply that the last 5 digits of the serial number don't change between the temporary and final serial numbers.

Could you explain this please?

Thanks.

On 12/03/2015 at 00:56, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

Please consider licensing is a delicate subject in this context because at a certain level, how it works on our side has to remain secret.

Had a chuckle at this. Secret? Yes, except to every hacker on the planet. A cracked R16 with keygen was available within a few days of release.

You might suggest to Maxon that they think about more secure licensing in future. You could tell us everything there is to tell about the current licensing and you wouldn't be revealing anything they don't already know and have known for years.

Steve

On 13/03/2015 at 06:27, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Howdy,

Originally posted by xxxxxxxx

...That seems to imply that the last 5 digits of the serial number don't change between the temporary and final serial numbers...

Yes, but it would be safer to simply not support temporary numbers. Since most of the serial number information is confidential, there is no way of knowing whether or not a serial number given by a customer has changed between temporary and permanent. In the past, I've had customers who have submitted different serial numbers with different last 5 digits, claiming the difference between temporary and permanent numbers. Naturally, I suspect they were getting an additional free license for someone else, but I couldn't accuse them of being a liar since there is no way to verify their claim. After so many of those kind of attempts, I simply stopped supporting temporary numbers.

Adios,
Cactus Dan

On 13/03/2015 at 13:10, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Hi terrachild,

I read the article and can only conclude that the last 5 digits in fact won't change between temporary and final serial numbers, otherwise it would invalidate the plugin's license.  Therefore, you simply have to follow that rule, and you should be all set.

Joey Gaspe
SDK Support Engineer

On 20/03/2015 at 16:23, xxxxxxxx wrote:

I'm assuming this topic is done and will set it solved.

Joey Gaspe
SDK Support Engineer

On 20/03/2015 at 18:22, xxxxxxxx wrote:

That's fine.

I'll add a final note though.
I contacted Rick at Maxon, and he said the last 5 should be unique to that particular C4D release: Ex. R15, R16, etc.
It might be unique between different releases, but that can't be guaranteed into the future.

On 23/03/2015 at 08:58, xxxxxxxx wrote:

Thanks for posting that note, it's definitely important to know if the values might vary across releases or not, and there's no guarantee either way.

Joey Gaspe
SDK Support Engineer