LICENSING

Strategy

You can decide what action will be taken if a valid licence is not available for your software:

  • a warning message is displayed but the program continues to run normally.
  • a warning message is displayed but the program runs in one of the demo modes E.g. with some features disabled or for a limited period of time.
  • the program will not run until a licence is purchased.

User Access

Network Licensing

Sheriff-protected applications can be accessed by users over any type of local or wide area network, which can span time zones. Normally the licence file will be located on the server.

Using the Sheriff Administrator you can specify the maximum number of concurrent users and also monitor active programs and which users have access to them. You can suspend an active user at any time although normally you will only do this you when you have reached the limit of authorised concurrent licences and you wish to grant access to another user.

Note that you can define a licence as standalone, in which case use of the protected application is restricted to the licensed machine and cannot be shared over a network.

Portable Licensing

Allows remote or mobile users to export a licence from the server for off-line usage. Sheriff offers two portable licences:

  • A temporary with limited lifetime. When a temporary licence expires original the original machine will automatically reclaim the exported licence.
  • A permanent will not expire and can only be reclaimed by importing it back to the original machine. Note that the publisher may disable this option when issuing a licence key.

Licence Policy

Limits the maximum number of concurrent users to that permitted by the End User Licence Agreement (EULA).

Feature Control

Enables software publishers to distribute full versions of their software but limit end users’ access to software features. End users can then buy what they need. Using ‘feature control’, software publishers can license their software as shareware, demo, trial or buy-as-you-need.

Licence Metering

Day Metering enables the software to run to a specified date (E.g. until 12/12/2013) or for a specified number of days (E.g. 21 days).

Unit Metering provides a flexible method for the software publisher to determine which events will be chargeable. Each chargeable event is known as a ‘unit’ (E.g. an execution of the software, viewing/printing a document, or any specified period of time). So the publisher might permit the software to be executed ten times only – this would be the equivalent of providing ten metered units.

Limitation Policy

When the licensed maximum is reached a ‘soft’ or hard’ landing is imposed. The former warns the system administrator and user that they have exceeded the terms of the EULA but does not impose any limitations on the users, the latter will not allow the user to run the application.

Reusable Key

Enables publishers to issue a licence key that will be valid throughout the lifetime of the end user's machine. With a reusable key, the licence policy can be restored to its original state should the licence file be accidentally damaged or lost, so minimising publishers' intervention.

Reusable Reference Code

Enables publishers who are using expiry date metering to issue new licence keys without requesting a reference code from the user.