Online License Check Required?

[Rene Toepfer]

The only issue I have is: What happens if something happens to you, @Mario, or you have no interests in developing Imatch anymore?

In last case you could send a key which unlocks Imatch forever and switches off the license check. That would be an easy solution.

The first case is more difficult. Imagine the case that you are not possible to do anything anymore. Will your replacement or inheritors have the knowledge to unlock Imatch? In a company with a lot of developers it is (hopefully) known to more than one person how to handle such situations.
I know, nobody wants to read or listen this but it needs to be considered in such a decision and you were asking for opinions.

And than I have my personal experience with Raw Shooter when it was bought by Adobe to be the foundation for Lightroom...

[Jingo]

The only issue I have is: What happens if something happens to you, @Mario, or you have no interests in developing Imatch anymore?

In last case you could send a key which unlocks Imatch forever and switches off the license check. That would be an easy solution.

The first case is more difficult. Imagine the case that you are not possible to do anything anymore. Will your replacement or inheritors have the knowledge to unlock Imatch? In a company with a lot of developers it is (hopefully) known to more than one person how to handle such situations.
I know, nobody wants to read or listen this but it needs to be considered in such a decision and you were asking for opinions.

And than I have my personal experience with Raw Shooter when it was bought by Adobe to be the foundation for Lightroom...

Yup.. this exact thing happened with Sagelight... we own a perpetual license, but the software has to "call home" and the developer fell off the planet.  After a few months, the license server subscription must have expired and the software stopped working.  With the single developer no longer around, the software was dead in the water for over a year until some resourceful users determined a hack...  Not an ideal situation but a tiny concern in the scheme of life.

[Mario]

This is why I've said I don't really are a fan of this in my very first post.

I would need an escrow or fall-back in case I'm hit by bus or the COVID Kappa variant gets me 
Basically, something that unlocks the license check in IMatch. Could be a key file or CAL license like I use in IMatch Anywhere.
But that all creates extra work, support headaches and I don't need that.
And it would also open a fairly easy path for cracking the license check.

Another solution would be to integrate a commercial license manager in IMatch, which takes care for all these things.
And has a a global "all licenses good forever" switch in case I don't kick the virtual dead man's pedal once a month or so.

But these services are expensive, invasive (just look at all the services Adobe installs and runs on your machine in the background, without you knowing...), they create privacy and legal issues etc.
I don't really want anything of this. My time is to precious to deal with all this. I like it as it currently is.

Still, the problem with pirated or illegally gained licenses due to charge backs remains.

[Stefanjan]

Microsoft stopped supporting Microsoft Money a long time back and released a free Sunset version based on Microsoft Money 2005.

Many users including myself still use it for personal money management and there is a very active group of users supporting each other.

Just an idea, perhaps Mario could share an unlocked version of imatch with a very small band of very trusted users.

Not sure whether this practical.

[ChrisMatch]

This is why I've said I don't really are a fan of this in my very first post.
I would need an escrow or fall-back in case I'm hit by bus or the COVID Kappa variant gets me 

That would also be my biggest concern. If iMatch - for whatever reason - is no longer maintained, I currently have several years to look for alternatives. With a regular licence check, I have the problem after a few weeks.

But isn't it the case that a transfer back is only possible for 1-2 months? So you would only need a solution to cover a relatively short period of time after a purchase. No need to check the license over and over again after a few month - correct?

Couldn't you offer new buyers an automatically (e.g. after 3 months) expiring version for download (as with a trails version) and only after these 3 months does the buyer receive a permanently unlocked version?

This would avoid the problem described above and you would not have to constantly check the licence?

P.S. I still have the upgrade to 2021 ahead of me - but I'm looking forward to it 😉 

[Mario]

Charge-backs can be made up to 6 months or longer, depending on the country of origin, payment method used etc. It's all complicated.

[plastikman]

Software piracy was always a problem. But since the big shops like Adobe, Microsoft etc. are switching to rock-hard subscription-only software-as-as-service models, with constant license checks, small ISV's like me become more and more of a target.

Microsoft is releasing a for purchase version of Office again this year. You could consider having last year's version for purchase without this check for folks who can't be online. Or call these edge cases and have them contact you for a special server-side arrangement (e.g. disabling the checks after verification/whitelisting).

[ChrisMatch]

Charge-backs can be made up to 6 months or longer, depending on the country of origin, payment method used etc. It's all complicated.

Then make the "cool down period" 6 months. That should cover most cases to make it unalluring to rip you off.

[birdbrain]

I don't like subscription models.

IMatch is about independence. You buy it, you download it, you use it.
When Mario is hit by a bus or no longer cares for the product, you still have IMatch and it will continue to work until a future Windows update or new file format breaks it.

This is one of the reasons I chose IMatch. Another is that no cloud is required. In other words: I value independence and privacy and so do you Mario.

My opinion: You're a smart guy and have already thought about the impact on the implementation and the inconvenience (or not) for your customers. Sp you probably already know what to do.

[Aubrey]

Charge-backs can be made up to 6 months or longer, depending on the country of origin, payment method used etc. It's all complicated.

6 months is ridiculous length of time for software use and turn around and ask for money back.
Has the world gone mad! 
In six months one could complete a project with particular software and then ask for money back. e. g., Auto CAD....

[Mario]

In six months one could complete a project with particular software and then ask for money back. e. g., Auto CAD....

Precisely.

This is why more and more software vendors switch to a cloud-based licensing or even a subscription model. To increase revenue and prevent fraud.
I'm no fan of this, but if things get worse...