The digital
age has transformed society, as well as the ways people conduct business and
attract customers, as more and more things have to be done through software and
computer screens. The software that forms the backbone of most businesses isn't
something that you can hold in your hand, which is why it may be difficult to
prove ownership over it and keep it safe from others who want it, so keep
reading to find some great tips you can use.
Legal Protection
When it comes to protecting the software you've produced online, you should ensure you have legal claims against it since, in the worst-case scenario, you can go to the courts in your local state or area to fight for your creation and get compensation for the difficulties you've been put through.
Since the software
is intellectual property, you can apply for intellectual property rights,
which, if granted, will place you as the single owner responsible for the
software, and if you pair this with something like a patent, you'll be able to
prove that you're the undisputed owner of the product. If you're working
directly with customers, having end-user license agreements is a staple of the
industry and is used to ensure users don't copy software.
Virtual Protection
Though you may be successful in placing legal protection over your ownership of a particular piece of software or product, it's far more efficient and less time-consuming to implement virtual and digital protection, too, which will act as the first-line protection against smaller, independent groups of hackers and online pirates.
You could opt to add digital rights management or DRM software
that prevents the software from running unless it's been purchased legally and
add other encryption factors to make sure the source code is nearly impossible
to crack and edit.
Escrow Services
If you're an independent contractor and you're working directly with bigger, professional clients that need your software to conduct business, you'll still have to maintain ownership over the software, but you can do so using escrow services like EscrowTech to facilitate an easier and friendlier transaction.
Similar to standard
financial escrow services, you'll be able to keep the software, which is at the
heart of the deal, in the hands of a safe, neutral third party, and you'll be
able to ensure the software is dispensed safely over time with regular
payments, reducing the risk of a business deal going sideways.
Partnering with a Protection Agency
You can try to maintain an iron fist of ownership on your own over the software you’ve developed, but this may not always be effective because, at a certain point, there are millions of pirates trying to get their hands on what you’ve built, and you alone may not be able to stop them.
This is where digital protection and cybersecurity agencies
come in since they specialize in keeping all of your data encrypted and in
keeping your servers free of any possible attacks from malicious players
online. This partnership can serve as a great investment as you can make back
the money you're spending by increasing sales and reduced piracy.
Regular Monitoring
The last and most important step of maintaining your hold over a piece of software you've created is to regularly monitor the digital landscape since sleuths online are capable of breaching every piece of protection you have in place, and they often release the cracked versions of your program online for everyone else to use.
It's up to you to monitor the ongoing situation and assess how often you
need to make drastic changes and updates, which will make sure that pirates
aren't able to use your program for free, allowing you to stay one step ahead.
Conclusion
Proving ownership traditionally is easy, and there are a lot of safeguards in place allowing this to happen since all you need is a few documents and the object itself. However, software is far more complicated because of how easy it is to duplicate and steal and because of how widely it ranges, with a long line of development.
If you use the information in this article and a few more
preventative measures, you'll be able to hold onto that crucial software;
otherwise, you may find yourself dealing with a lot of inconveniences.
If you have any doubt related this post, let me know