Smarte Solutions

For any CD media-based copy protection technology to be viable throughout the marketplace, it must be universally compatible with CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD (those capable of reading CD media) drives as well as the associated operating system of the protected application(s). SSI specifically designed its copy protection technology to fit this contingency under all Microsoft 32-bit operating systems (Windows 9x through Microsoft XP). This compatibility provides SSI with one of its strongest competitive advantages in that it succeeds specifically on CD-reader types where competitive solutions fail.

Through a patent-pending media manipulation technology, SSI protects software applications distributed on CD media from casual piracy. SSI offers software manufacturers a cost-effective anti-piracy solution that resides entirely within the CD media itself. This anti-piracy technology distinguishes an original, properly licensed CD from a forgery. With this solution, software manufacturers can effectively render forged application CDs unusable.

At the point of CD production (either replication or duplication), the SSI technology physically alters the CD media in a way that cannot be duplicated or digitally reproduced by standard CD writer hardware and software. SSI has developed the necessary code (static and dynamic link libraries) whereby the originality of the media can be efficiently validated through a seamless check for the media manipulation. Calls to this validation code can be contained within a third party file wrapper shell (code to protect the native application code from being stripped) or placed directly within the protected application(s) by the developer.

The validation code can be called at whatever point or points a particular application needs to validate the originality of the CD. When called, the validation code determines whether or not the disc media is valid and original. This key information is then passed back to either the application (if called from the application) or to the file wrapper shell (if called from the shell), which then carries out the appropriate action, in line with the software manufacturer’s Piracy Management objectives.

Smarte Product Authentication is a customizable Software Piracy Management platform, developed by Smarte Solutions, Inc. (or “SSI”), at the core of which is an immediately mass-deployable, CD-based copy protection tool, marketed as SmarteCD. The platform, as a whole, is comprised of complimentary Smarte Technologies that can be variably bundled by software manufacturers to provide sound, revenue-enhancing solutions that combat software piracy. The purpose of Piracy Management is to provide software manufacturers an immediate return on investment by significantly increasing legitimate sales and decreasing both production and distribution costs.

Smarte Product Authentication offers software manufacturers a flexible and cost-effective Piracy Management infrastructure that is ideally suited for the protection and promotion of multi-license enterprise software as well as individual consumer-license retail applications distributed on CD or via the Internet. For product and business environments that do require a rigorous ‘anti-piracy’ solution, Smarte Product Authentication can provide the strictest possible protection to an application, eliminating virtually all casual piracy of the product. Smarte Product Authentication, though, differentiates itself from alternative anti-piracy solutions in its flexibility of implementation. Because the infrastructure is comprised of distinct tools that can be used in different combinations and with variable underlying strategies, the resulting Piracy Management solution can be tailored to fit company and product specific user-base objectives. By uniquely managing piracy through Smarte Product Authentication, software companies can exploit piracy to their economic benefit – maximizing piracy’s positive contributions and minimizing its negative effects.