[android-developers] Re: License Check fails for 5-10% of legit users

In LicenseValidator.verify() I had to add two more exception clauses:

catch (Base64DecoderException e) {
Log.e(TAG, "Could not Base64-decode signature.");
handleApplicationError(ApplicationErrorCode.DECODER_EXCEPTION);
return;
} catch (NullPointerException e) {
Log.e(TAG, "Got NPE!");
handleApplicationError(ApplicationErrorCode.NPE_ERROR);
return;
}

That NPE is hit more often than not.

Howard, how do you track "piracy" metrics? I'd be interested in
integrating that in my app and see if it's worth it to keep LVL
around, too.

On Sep 19, 7:04 pm, "Howard M. Harte" <hhar...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I put some code into my app to allow LVL failure up to five times
> before declaring the app unlicensed.  In addition, once licensed, I
> only checked again once a month.
>
> Even still, I had complaints, and pirated copies of my app found their
> way to warez sites.
>
> Like all anti-piracy schemes I've seen so far, LVL was more effective
> in annoying legitimate users than thwarting piracy.  IMO, this sort of
> thing should be built into the platform, without developers or users
> having to worry about it.
>
> Recently, I removed LVL from my app, as I did not see a noticeable
> increase in sales for the time I was using LVL.  Only one of my apps
> is popular enough to be pirated, and according to the analytics that I
> used to have in my app, more than 95% of the users were using a
> pirated copy.  Unfortunately, it seems very difficult for a developer
> to convert pirates into a revenue stream.  I've also removed the
> analytics now, over privacy concerns.
>
> Just my observations, having had an app in the Market since early
> 2009.
>
> -Howard
>
> On Sep 16, 12:45 pm, Kenny Wyland <speci...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > This is really starting to become an issue. I'm getting bad reviews
> > and my word of mouth recommendations for my apps are stopping because
> > the Google Licensing service is repeatedly denying users the first
> > time they start the app. I get emails from users regularly and I need
> > to find a solution. I'm using a ServerManagedPolicy, I'm essentially
> > using the example code from the dev website.
>
> > Does anyone have an example of a policy which handles some local
> > caching and such?
>
> > Kenny

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