Product Protection for Digital Goods  

If you're thinking about pinching pennies by selling your ebook without using an ebook security solution, you might want to think again... All it takes is one person who legitimately purchases your ebook and then turns around and shares it with their friends, relatives, and co-workers. They, in turn, share it with their friends, relatives, and co-workers, and so on and so forth. So what is the end result? Literally thousands of pirated, unpaid for copies of your ebook are being circulated around the Internet! Most people don't even realize that sharing or reselling an ebook that they purchased is illegal and a violation of copyright law!

There are four main ways that people ultimately steal your digital goods:

1. By locating the download link and downloading the ebook without paying.

2. By purchasing the ebook and then sharing it with all their friends, family, and coworkers.

3. By purchasing the ebook, but then demanding a refund even though they keep & continue to use the product.

4. By obtaining a free copy of the ebook from another source, such as a friend, newsgroup, forum, ebay, or wherever it has spread to.

There is no 100% security guarantee in anything, but that's no reason to totally ignore protecting your hard work. A thief can easily kick in your front door and rob your house, but you still lock the door. Locking the door is not 100% effective security, but we still do it. Why? Because it deters most potential theft and those who are more determined will have to work a bit to get in which in turn tends to just keep some people HONEST. If your information is not free, then it's obviously of some value. So, how much damage would it do to you if it were made freely available? What type of impact would it have on your sales and could you absorb that without thinking twice?

Is a $24.00 ebook worth paying for another service to protect it? It might be if you figure in your possible projected sales over the long haul. What about a $1,000 report? Does the price change the perspective? I personally don't believe so.

Businesses protect their property. If you believe your information or software to be of a unique or valuable nature, you should protect that information using some means, no matter how small.

PROTECTION OPTIONS

Here are some common protection methods:

· No Protection: Just distribute your information and hope for the best.

- Pros: No special process to access file, which means less support issues, easy to distribute.

- Cons: File can be passed around, copied, distributed and/or sold without authorization from the owner. Can't prevent access after charge back or refund.

· General Password Protection: Simply requiring a predetermined password to install or register the file.

- Pros: Simple for customer or end user.

- Cons: File and password can be passed around, copied, distributed and/or sold without authorization from the owner. Can't prevent access after charge back or refund.

· PC-Unique Password Protection: Generates a unique password based on the user's computer.

- Pros: Can't pass around the file since it is basically locked to one machine.

- Cons: Requires an extra step for registration; Customer cannot move file to another PC; If their PC crashes they will need another unique password. Can't prevent access after charge back or refund.

· Delayed Registration: This requires a user to enter a second registration number a specific number of days after they first register the file. For example, after 30 days of use, they must enter a new registration number that they receive from you.

- Pros: It allows control over charge back and refunds. The file will be disabled after the second registration period because you will not provide the second key to reactivate the file.

- Cons: Requires an extra step for registration; A user can request refund or charge back AFTER the second registration period.

· Post-Purchase Activation: Requires activation by online server. After user purchases they are entered into an online customer database. They then install and register the file by entering their name, email or some data. The server confirms the purchase and then activates the software. This method is become more and more common with digital products.

- Pros: Can prevent unauthorized distribution of file since the online server must activate the file.

- Cons: User must be online to register file; can't move file to a different PC; can't prevent access after charge back or refund.

· Active Password Protection: Each time user attempts to access file it checks an online server to confirm the usage rights and permissions for the user.

- Pros: Prevents distribution or copying of file; File Owner can revoke access to file after charge back or refund; Access permissions can be changed and applied in real-time.

- Cons: Must be connected to the net to register and/or access file; User may not be able to move file to another PC; User registration can be somewhat cumbersome and difficult for some customers.

In conclusion there are many ebook compilers out on the market today that allow you to have the book actively registered and allow you full control of disabling the ebook should an issue result that would force you to take that particular kind of action, such as a refund. This type of control would be the preferred method of ebook delivery and these types of compilers also have many other features including: · Disable right click · Disable copy and paste · Disable save file · Allow complete user statistics · Ability to view user and have email address through registration · Allow books to be viewed by potential joint-venture prospects with the ability to disable after they view it · Many other features depending upon the compiler

Taking all of these benefits into account, it is a wise idea to provide a little insurance on your hard work in hopes of keeping individuals a little more honest.

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jennifer Plocar writes about Internet marketing strategies and instructional guides dedicated to helping the "newbies" of marketing along with FREE Internet marketing courses. You can sign up for her free tips and get additional information at her website: http://www.aroadtomoney.com/earn$1,000aday.php