Pay to opt out of server-side license check

[ecornbower]

Right now all of the Distriqt ANEs do a server-side license key check every time your application is launched (see https://plus.google.com/+Distriqt/posts/Tf2rf7PQmpX for more details).

I completely understand why it is necessary to validate licences and keep piracy to a minimum. You guys work hard on these ANEs and deserve to be paid for them. However many businesses rely on your ANEs every day for critical app functions such as in-app purchases. Even an hour or two of ANE downtime would cost us a lot of money and many angry users.

I don't believe you guys have any ill intentions regarding the license key checks, but we see them as a liability for two reasons:

1. Mistakes happen; servers malfunction, updates change behavior, and code gets pushed to production with bugs in it. If something goes wrong in the middle of the night, how long will it take to get it fixed? It's good to know that the check uses positive invalid logic, but even the most robust systems can sometimes fail.
2. If anything ever happens to the Distriqt company or domain or someone hacks your servers, they could easily change your licence check script to return a "failed" response, turning off all of the extensions for everyone.

For our company we'd be happy to pay a few hundred dollars extra to be able to opt-out of the server-side check for our purchased extensions. You could still do a licence check but make it local, no server-side calls (not sure the best way to do this though).

In the unlikely event that someone pirates a key and publicly shares it, you could blacklist the key in future updates. There are many free open-source extensions out there, but the value your extensions provide is the updates and bug fixes.

By allowing users to pay to opt-out of the licence key check, you can keep larger companies happy with your ANEs while still providing smaller developers affordable ANEs for their projects.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this.

[Haunschild]

+1 for yearly subscription, like trimedia explained. Because of the server check I actually bought a few anes from milkman games (with yearly payed support). If you change to a subrcibtion model (and remove the server check) I would be glad to pay you...

[tobbe558]

I like the model with updates/support for 1 year, like Milkman Games. But his renewal price is too high, 85% of original ANE price.

[grosssmutttr]

@tobbe558 I'm completely with you. One year support and after that you must purchase the ANEs again for 60% or so. This is how all big products make it. Unity, Adobe, Windows... If you want to use the newest version you must buy it...

[izzmeifter]

+1 for trimedia's suggestion as well. I'd rather keep everything simple and just pay the yearly subscription fee for the package & updates. I don't think dealing per app-id is viable for us.

Possibly you could charge independently for premium support & custom development. Larger more profitable apps would be all over that I'm sure.

[calebhaye]

I think that charging users for a product they already paid for is just plain wrong. If we need support, charge for that. If you want to charge for major new releases, charge for that. But don't cripple what we paid for and ask us to pay more, just because your business model is faltering.

[marchbold]

Hi @calebhaye,

That's exactly what we're proposing. The new system won't disable any current customer purchases nor will you be forced to upgrade, you will be free to continue using the current extensions.

We will just be releasing all new major updates under the new system. The subscription will be for access to support and further updates.

Does that make sense?

[calebhaye]

That makes good sense :)

A nominal discount for loyal, paying customers would go a long way.

On Mon, Nov 10, 2014 at 3:05 PM, Michael notifications@github.com wrote:

Hi @calebhaye, That's exactly what we're proposing. The new system won't disable any current customer purchases nor will you be forced to upgrade, you will be free to continue using the current extensions. We will just be releasing all new major updates under the new system. The subscription will be for access to support and further updates.

Does that make sense?

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/distriqt/airnativeextensions/issues/258#issuecomment-62472927

[minimedj]

Hi @marchbold,

We will just be releasing all new major updates under the new system.

I just want to clarify this statement. What happens if ANE doesn't need a major release? Does it mean that we will have different licensing check in different ANE until they all updated with major releases?

If so, it makes no sense for me. My main point was no server check for license. Only when no server check for license is introduced I agree to pay yearly.

Michael, please clarify this point.

[marchbold]

@minimedj Sorry if I was vague there. All the extensions will be available through the new system without the server check, we will be pulling them all across as quickly as we can.

I simply meant that people can continue using the existing ones as we aren't going to stop the old licensing system, i.e. if you are happy with the current versions then you won't have to migrate. However there won't be any major updates released through that system.

[minimedj]

@marchbold Then if all ANE will be available without server KEY validation it is great. As we discussed before I planned total ANE update to no-server-KEY-check in about 3 months (it is just estimate).

Guys please take your time! Thank you very much for clarification.

[calebhaye]

I have to admit, when I saw the subject of the email... i thought you were just shutting it down, which would be understandable given the market position of the Flash Platform. Kudos to you for figuring out a way to keep it going, and for involving your customers in the decision.

[mola2alex]

I saw the email, I don't think an app id key is really needed, it just complicates it. What if I want to send a beta to someone to test that has a different app ID so it doesn't screw up data in the current version? I would need to go and register that test app id? I sometimes like to install old and new to quickly flip back and forth when looking at UI changes and to do that requires unique app id's. Not a fan of that, just remove the server check and have a fee to buy and a low yearly maintenance & support fee. If you stop paying the monthly maintenance subscription and risk that it won't break, you need to repurchase at full pop. This gives dev's an incentive to pay support because the risk of having to repurchase is equal to 2-3 years support so might as well pay it. Lets keep it simple and see if just a M&S subscription is enough to make this viable.

[marchbold]

Just for everyone's reference here's the update email with the rollout schedule for the new ane's and support model:

http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8e04adc4b86e5676778568505&id=2b70f525a1&e=ea674beb33

As always, feel free to ask any questions or give any feedback!

Also if anyone does have any applications they'd like us to showcase please let me know!

Cheers

[grosssmutttr]

Hi Michael and congratulations to the breakthrough :+1:

I'm a little bit skeptical about the solution because of the app keys. If you compare your extension offers to other ane producers yours will become the most expensive.

Don't you think it is enough to pay yearly for one extension and support? As I understood you now pay for every single extension per app for one year?

[philvessey]

I wondered the same from the email. Will we now be paying per extension per app per year? Or will we be paying per extension per year? Or will we be paying for all the extensions per year?

Also no prices in the email?

[minimedj]

@marchbold I will try my best to be the first guy who buys via your new distribution system. My shopping list:

• com.distriqt.ApplicationRater.ane
• com.distriqt.FacebookAPI.ane
• com.distriqt.InAppBilling.ane
• com.distriqt.Message.ane
• com.distriqt.Notifications.ane
• com.distriqt.PushNotifications.ane

[gtawebb]

Please don't say that you will be charging per app per extension as that's contrary to what everyone requested when you canvassed them. As already stated, I have many permutations of the same app and they all have different app IDs, being charged per app id would not be affordable or practical. This would be really disappointing after being a loyal customer for years and a supporter of your crowdfunding.

On 27 November 2014 at 08:37, Max notifications@github.com wrote:

@marchbold https://github.com/marchbold I will try my best to be the first guy who buys via your new distribution system. My shopping list:

• com.distriqt.ApplicationRater.ane
• com.distriqt.FacebookAPI.ane
• com.distriqt.InAppBilling.ane
• com.distriqt.Message.ane
• com.distriqt.Notifications.ane
• com.distriqt.PushNotifications.ane

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/distriqt/airnativeextensions/issues/258#issuecomment-64755319 .

[mola2alex]

Pay per app ID is non starter. Even having to register each app ID complicates things since I typically may want multiple test versions on a device using unique ID's to compare. Registering each and paying for each makes it tough. If you want people to subscribe to a recurring revenue model, it needs to be frictionless.

[philvessey]

I'm hoping that when Michael clarifies it will be per extension per developer. Hopefully no limit on the app ids

[gtawebb]

It's also a shame that you're splitting up the repository into several repositories as the present setup is very convenient.

You speak of a discount after the first year. Will present customers be eligible for the discount straight away as they have already paid for the product?

I take it that this arrangement is entirely separate to the licences paid for the crowd funded gaming ane?

Regards, George

On 27 November 2014 at 14:18, Phil Vessey notifications@github.com wrote:

I'm hoping that when Michael clarifies it will be per extension per developer. Hopefully no limit on the app ids

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/distriqt/airnativeextensions/issues/258#issuecomment-64789320 .

[spinapse]

Yep, pay per app ID would nix it for us.

On Nov 27, 2014, at 5:16 AM, mola2alex notifications@github.com wrote:

Pay per app ID is non starter. Even having to register each app ID complicates things since I typically may want multiple test versions on a device using unique ID's to compare. Registering each and paying for each makes it tough. If you want people to subscribe to a recurring revenue model, it needs to be frictionless.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub.

[marchbold]

Sorry all for the confusion but you'll only be paying once per extension!

There are no limit to the app id's you will be able to create.

The split of the repositories was a support choice, it will keep all the issues relating to each of the extensions together and allow our team to better manage the issues.

All existing customers will be given a discount in the form of a free subscription period when you import your existing developer key. Everyone will be given between 3 and 15 months depending when the purchase was.

The Kickstarter Game Services ANE is a separate license. Anyone who donated the $50 pledge will receive updates through this system but their license won't expire as promised.

[philvessey]

Nice one sounds good :)

[marchbold]

Hi all,

The new support and license extension site is now available.

As promised the new extensions are available through the site and all have had the server check removed. Each of your applications will now be completely independent of our servers.

To get started with the new site you should:

• log in with your GitHub account
• import your old developer key to get access to your extensions and a free support period! (http://airnativeextensions.com/knowledgebase/tutorial/2#import)
• generate application keys for your applications
• and get developing!

Each of the extensions now has a dedicated area and we are planning to further expand these areas with getting started guides, screenshots, code snippets and FAQ's. Check out the Adverts extension here.

Get started now http://airnativeextensions.com