Is there any software that cannot be cracked?

CallTheFBI

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Jan 22, 2003
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After all the pirating I have seen, including applications worth thousands of dollars, I have to ask the question: does an application exist that cannot be cracked? Now I know that some applications are tougher to crack than others but what it really comes down to is the fundamental way applications are in their compiled form, they are unencrypted and vulnerable to alterations and removal of the parts of the application that keep it from being cracked. If anyone knows of an application that absolutely cannot be cracked please tell me which one it is, I would be surprised.
 

CallTheFBI

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Jan 22, 2003
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Originally posted by: notfred
there is not and never will be such a thing.

Why do I see ads in software developer magazines for programming language plugins that make the developer's apps uncrackable then? Are they are phony?
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: CallTheFBI
Originally posted by: notfred
there is not and never will be such a thing.

Why do I see ads in software developer magazines for programming language plugins that make the developer's apps uncrackable then? Are they are phony?

Maybe very difficult to crack, but it's impossible to make something impossible to crack.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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Hardware keys / dongles just make it harder to crack a program. They are mainly aimed at stopping casual copying at companies.
 

CallTheFBI

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Jan 22, 2003
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Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Hardware keys / dongles just make it harder to crack a program. They are mainly aimed at stopping casual copying at companies.

Casual copying at companies? If they have access to the Internet they can get on kazaa and download a whole buttload of apps and copy as much as they want.
 

Antisocial Virge

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Dec 13, 1999
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I don't think I ever saw a cracked version of the bleemcast disk. The bleem guys were really good at making it difficult for people to crack the stuff they made since they were basically crackers themselves. The original bleem program was only like 2 meg but the disk was filled up with stuff to stuff to make it uncrackable. It took several days even though it was highly hammered on which is fairly impressive.
 

CallTheFBI

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Jan 22, 2003
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Originally posted by: Antisocial-Virge
I don't think I ever saw a cracked version of the bleemcast disk. The bleem guys were really good at making it difficult for people to crack the stuff they made since they were basically crackers themselves. The original bleem program was only like 2 meg but the disk was filled up with stuff to stuff to make it uncrackable. It took several days even though it was highly hammered on which is fairly impressive.

But it was eventually cracked right?
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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But it was eventually cracked right?

If the demand was there, the only software that isn't cracked is the software noone wants or uses.

The problem is that once I have a copy of the software I can manipulate it however I want, so no matter what precautions are in the files I can undo them given enough time and knowledge.
 

Antisocial Virge

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Dec 13, 1999
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Originally posted by: CallTheFBI
Originally posted by: Antisocial-Virge
I don't think I ever saw a cracked version of the bleemcast disk. The bleem guys were really good at making it difficult for people to crack the stuff they made since they were basically crackers themselves. The original bleem program was only like 2 meg but the disk was filled up with stuff to stuff to make it uncrackable. It took several days even though it was highly hammered on which is fairly impressive.

But it was eventually cracked right?

Bleemcast to the best of my knowledge was never cracked.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: CallTheFBI
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Hardware keys / dongles just make it harder to crack a program. They are mainly aimed at stopping casual copying at companies.

Casual copying at companies? If they have access to the Internet they can get on kazaa and download a whole buttload of apps and copy as much as they want.
No, causal copying of the application that the dongle shipped with, like a high-end CAD system or some expensive niche product for a specific industry. If the program has a dongle-check while it's running the business is forced to buy the number of copies they're using instead of buying one copy then running it on several machines.
 

magomago

Lifer
Sep 28, 2002
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I am pretty heavily into the dreamcast homebrew software scene and nope, bleemcast was never cracked...I remembered a topic that went on for pages upon pages (alteast 13) with 20 guys trying different tactics using differenent burners and whatnot - and they were not able to do it.
 

CallTheFBI

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Jan 22, 2003
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Why is a $7,000 app called Maya Unlimited 4.5 available on Kazaa if it is possible to keep an app from being cracked like Bleemcast? That doesn't make sense.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: CallTheFBI
Why is a $7,000 app called Maya Unlimited 4.5 available on Kazaa if it is possible to keep an app from being cracked like Bleemcast? That doesn't make sense.
Because different companies put different amounts of effort into making their software copy-proof. The point to software copy protection is to keep your real customers from using illegal copies. As long as your real customers are buying it doesn't matter if other people who would never buy it can get it for free.

"But can't those customers find the crack on google?"

Sure, but business software copy protection is there more as a deterrent to copying rather than a way to prevent it completely. It makes the employee really think about what they are doing, and makes their boss more worried about a Business Software Alliance audit ("copyright infringement carries up to a $150K penalty per infringed title . . . ").
 

mrzed

Senior member
Jan 29, 2001
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Effort and reward.

Maya is a high end 3D rendering tool used by companies that can afford it. The people that copy it almost certainly would not be buying it (I know that's a common warez excuse, but in this case I think it's true). The people who really need it can afford it.

Bleemcast on the other hand is an inexpensive piece of software targeted towards exactly the type of user most likely to be using warez, and how many of those people would be be buying it if they could just download?

In the first case there is little incentive to put huge effort into piracy protection because it won't affect the bottom line to any great degree. The second is the opposite.
 

Shalmanese

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Sep 29, 2000
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I think there is some sort of Windows debugging tool which actually runs itself in the kernal which has not yet been cracked. Actually, its been cracked a couple of times but each time it has, they put out a new version with radically different copyprotection.
 

Antisocial Virge

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 1999
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Bleemcast was made by basically crackers who knew what to watch for. Who do you hire to check the security of your network? retired hackers. The original bleem had like 600 meg of copy protection built into the CD. When you inserted it into a computer it would actually search for a install of softice and disable the keyboard if it found it. It was still cracked but it took days which is still a moderate "success".