IcEWoLF

Customer
1 month of hard work and a ripper already stole my design: vBteam . info.
It's annoying.

I am surprised with all the ripping they do that they still in business.

I have a question for you guys, will it be possible to use a an encrypted file to lock the template so people will have to unlock the design via a key to use the design?
I know PHPNuke had a similar option and I would love to add something like that.
 
Really annoying Ice..I just don't know how they get away with it..You could add security to it via a loader such as Ioncube and apply licences individually..Basically if they dont have the licence file uploaded it won't work..Very surprised DBT dont have that added to their pro versions..
 
The problem with using an encoder is you need a decoder on the client side, which means the client has to install additional software. That can be a pain if they don't own/lease the server, like if they're on shared hosting. It's also very hard to encode it without locking the user into using only what you supply, meaning they can't make changes or tweaks to fit their need. Those are the reasons I've never used one. It comes down to, is the loss of business worth the time and limitations. I bet a lot of the people who use nulled versions wouldn't buy a real copy regardless.
 
It's a shame man, ever since web browsers added the option to inspect element you can no longer hide anything unless you just htaccess lock your website.

Thanks for the suggestion I will look into that and see if I can work something out.
This is my second custom work being ripped, at times it feels like that this is not worth doing because eventually someone will steal your work and redistribute it for $$$ or free.
Dylan
Thanks bud, I am not conducting this as a business, this my personal site (my baby) and I hate all the hard work I put into to just being stolen by a ripper.

I guess this is life.
 
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It's a shame man, ever since web browsers added the option to inspect element you can no longer hide anything unless you just htaccess lock your website.

Thanks for the suggestion I will look into that and see if I can work something out.
This is my second custom work being ripped, at times it feels like that this is not worth doing because eventually someone will steal your work and redistribute it for $$$ or free.
@Dylan
Thanks bud, I am not conducting this as a business, this my personal site (my baby) and I hate all the hard work I put into to just being stolen by a ripper.

I guess this is life.

I know the feeling. My first major mod for vB took me about 9 months to come out with a decent version. I was selling it, fairly cheap mostly to justify the time spent to the ball and chain :), but it was my baby. It took maybe 3 months to see it on that site as well.
I was pissed but there's not much you can do. I looked into encoders, like ioncube and zend and some free ones, but it's like I said, requires a client and limiting :(
 
That sucks, and they don't even provide a demo, they use your site as the demo for the skin, what a shame. :(
 
it's a shame, and I see they even hotlink to our images here on the site, damn I hate pirates.
 
If he's using your skin you can probably DMCA his host. vBTeam have offshore hosting so it's useless going after them, but that guy prolly has US hosting ;)
 
Yeah I see rippin on here all the time, prob downloading lite versions to distribute.
 
The problem with using an encoder is you need a decoder on the client side, which means the client has to install additional software. That can be a pain if they don't own/lease the server, like if they're on shared hosting. It's also very hard to encode it without locking the user into using only what you supply, meaning they can't make changes or tweaks to fit their need. Those are the reasons I've never used one. It comes down to, is the loss of business worth the time and limitations. I bet a lot of the people who use nulled versions wouldn't buy a real copy regardless.

I think most hosting these days carries the option to install an encoder even on shared hosting,so it's down to the coder which files/folders are encrypted as in tweaking settings..Surely if you dont give the possibilty of others to create a nulled version, you would never see one..
 
That guy is a stalker :(
I just IP banned him from my site, this way he can't keep coming to my site.

It's amazing that he was the one that came to me telling me that my green template was ripped.
Somehow he is always the first to know and then PM'ing and telling me about it.

He is even copying how I make my front page announcements too!
 
I think most hosting these days carries the option to install an encoder even on shared hosting,so it's down to the coder which files/folders are encrypted as in tweaking settings..Surely if you dont give the possibilty of others to create a nulled version, you would never see one..

Even ioncube encoded mods etc get cracked in time. Our policy on piracy is basically if it'll make it easier to be a pirate than to be a paying customer, we won't do it. Encoding means customers are the ones who can't make tweaks and changes etc, while pirates can. It's something I fundamentally disagree with.

It probably costs us a little money, there's no real way of telling, but it means our customers get a better deal so it's worth it IMO.
 
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