[kabdib]

Encrypting results seems indistinguishable from holding the customer's data hostage. That's not a great place to be, especially if an event is in Outer Qlyphm and the participants want their results now, not when the caravan returns from civilization.

Just charge for the software, provide a download link, and have a simple activation step. Most of your users are not going to be technically capable of bypassing even a very simple registration system. And if they are, it will be very difficult to win that arms race without alienating your honest customers and destroying your product's reputation.

Choosing a good price and treating the customer fairly are the most effective anti-piracy measures you can take.

[NullPrefix]

>your users are not going to be technically capable

Did you just assume weightlifters aren't technically capable?

[kabdib]

Er, no. Just assuming that weightlifters are a representative sample of the general population. There will, of course, be exceptions to this due to geographies and special-interesting groups ("The Usenix Lambda Lifting Association?").

Also not assuming that weightlifters are the same as the folks running the events. In my experience the people who run events just want software that works, and are unimpressed with packages with elaborate and fragile DRM systems that can fail in the middle of a conference. Laptops fail or are stolen, and recovery from thumb drives and "somebody drive find a Starbucks and get those files from Dropbox" are often done with the clock ticking and the crowd getting restless.

[Eire_Banshee]

This guy gets its. The software already available is a headache to use and the goal here is to "get out of the users way", so they can focus on running the meet instead of fighting the software.

[mattchamb]

Assume all users are not technically capable

[jakejarvis]

That was taken wildly out of context....