Software licences in the blockchain
Familiar problems in the software licensing business:
- Software piracy
- Pirated copies
- Violation of license terms
- Sub-licensing
- More expensive and more difficult access to markets
New challenges as a result of the Internet of Things (IoT):
- New distribution channels (machines provide themselves automatically and autonomously with software)
- New licensing models (use or success-dependent)
- New players (mechanical engineering companies become software publishers)
Current approaches:
- Copy protection measures
- Software asset management systems
- Central license servers
- Services from software license consultancy firms
puts a new technological approach into practice:
Secure license transfer
Secure, transparent, manipulation-free, fast and direct (peer-to-peer) transfer of software licences through replicated, distributed, synchronised, encrypted digital inventories, whose consistency is automatically guaranteed by consensus algorithms.
Protection against pirated copies
The inherent encryption logic of the distributed inventories is used for validating the licence and integrity checks on software.
Protection against licensing violations
Automated handling of the agreed license terms with open, replicated and distributed, automatically executed algorithms (smart contracts)
Easy access
Thanks to an open and anonymous system, everyone can easily participate and issue software licences.
is being developed
in collaboration with Hochschule Hof
(Institute of Information Systems iisys, www.iisys.de)
and is supported by
the Free State of Bavaria in the EFRE project of the European Regional Development Fund
(www.efre-bayern.de)
and the Ministry of Economics,
WIPANO – knowledge and technology transfer through patents and standards
