JP2006195826A - Method for protecting software and office computer with function of protecting software - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the disadvantages of conventional hardware and software methods and to protect programs used in office computers. <P>SOLUTION: A method for protecting the software of a computer system includes a step for determining if a license is valid based upon the hardware characteristic information of a computer, application identification information serving as the characteristic information of an application program to be executed, and a license code registered in the computer; and executing the application program stored in a program file 9, only if the license is determined to be valid. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a software protection method and a software protection method for preventing unauthorized use of software such as a computer system.

  In a computer system, a software protection method for preventing unauthorized copying of software includes a hardware method and a software method.

  The hardware method is a method in which a protection device is connected to a USB connector or a printer connector of a computer main body and timely monitoring is performed from an execution program. In this hardware method, the operation is continued when the corresponding protection device is connected, and the operation is interrupted when it is not connected.

  On the other hand, the software method is a method in which the execution program monitors the protection code registered in advance at a specific location in the memory. In this software method, the operation is continued when the corresponding protection code is registered, and the operation is interrupted when it is not registered.

The protection code is generally registered when software including an execution program is installed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-325712

  However, the hardware method has a drawback that the selling price of software increases because a protection device is required.

  In the case of the software method, since illegal copying is possible according to malicious intentions such as ignoring a license contract, there is a drawback that software can be installed and executed on a plurality of computers.

  Furthermore, both types are for executable files generated by the compiler, and there was no way to protect the source program that was executed by the interpreter used on the office computer.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to solve the disadvantages of the conventional hardware method and software method and to protect the program used in the office computer. An office computer having a protection method and a software protection function is provided.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the software protection method in the computer system, the license information is based on the hardware unique information of the computer, the application identification information that is unique information of the application program to be executed, and the license code registered in the computer. The validity is determined, and the application program stored in the program file is executed only when the validity of the license is determined.

  The invention according to claim 4 is registered in the computer, the program storage unit storing the application program, the hardware specific information of the computer, the application identification information which is the specific information of the application program stored in the program storage unit, and the computer A determination unit that determines the validity of a license based on a license code, and a program execution unit that executes the application program when the determination unit determines that the license is valid .

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided license transfer code generating means for generating a license transfer code when the license code stored in the transfer source computer is deleted, and the license transfer code and the transfer source computer. The validity of the license is determined from the hardware specific information. If it is determined to be valid, the hardware specific information of the transfer destination computer and the application identification information for transferring the license are logically operated and encrypted to obtain a new license code. A new license code creating means for creating and a registering means for registering the new license code in the transfer destination computer are provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the license is determined by the licensor code created based on the hardware-specific information, so that the software can be operated only for the license-registered computer. As a result, the license can be managed on a computer basis.

  Also, when changing the computer to be executed, the license is transferred, and at that time, the license transfer code is used together with the license deletion, so that the license registration on the source computer can be securely deleted and other Unauthorized copying to a computer can be prevented.

  In addition, only privileged users can store application identification information in the header of the program file, etc., and non-privileged users cannot refer to or change this identification using the source program editing software (source editor). Therefore, it is possible to apply protection to software written in an interpreted program language.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  A system configuration of, for example, an office computer in which the software protection method is implemented will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a control unit for controlling the office computer in an integrated manner. The control unit 1 includes a license management unit 2 that manages licensors, a protect inspection unit 3 that inspects protection, a program execution unit 4 that executes programs, an input unit 5 that inputs various data, and a display unit that displays various data Is connected.

  The license management unit 2 is connected to a license code table 7 that stores a license code, for example, a storage unit 8 that stores hardware specific information that is a serial number of a hard disk device.

  The protect checking unit 3 is connected to a license code table 7, a storage unit 8, and a program file 9 in which program files 1 to n are stored.

  The program files 1 to n stored in the program file 9 are read by the program execution unit 4 and executed as appropriate.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes a printing unit, and 11 denotes an interface connected to the Internet.

  Next, the operation of the software protection method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, initialization processing is performed (step S1). That is, the control unit 1 initializes the units 2 to 6.

  Next, a process selection menu screen is displayed on the display unit 6 (step S2). The selection items include program execution, license management, and termination.

  And the selection item selected by the operator from the input part 5 is received (step S3).

  If the program execution is selected, the process proceeds to step S4. If license management is selected, the process proceeds to step S11. If the end is selected, the process proceeds to step S17.

  Hereinafter, processing when program execution is selected will be described. First, the protect checking unit 3 reads and acquires the application identification information stored in the execution target program file 9 (step S4). Here, the application identification information is information stored in, for example, a header portion of a program file using the identification information writing software 10 during application software development, as shown in FIG. The code editing software (editor) cannot be referenced or changed.

  Next, the protect checking unit 3 reads and acquires the hardware specific information 8 (step S5). Here, examples of hardware specific information include a serial number of a hardware device.

  Further, the protect inspection unit 3 calculates a license code from the application identification information and hardware specific information (step S6).

  Further, the protect checking unit 3 refers to the license code table 7 and checks whether there is a code that matches the calculated license code (step S7). Then, the protect inspection unit 3 determines license registration (step S8).

  If it is determined in step S8 that there is a code that matches the calculated license code in the license code table 7, the process proceeds to step S9. On the other hand, if there is no matching code, the process proceeds to step S10.

  In step S9, the program execution unit 4 reads and executes the program from the corresponding program file group 9 for the program selected by the operator on the selection screen. Then, after the program is executed, the process proceeds to the selection screen display in step S2.

  On the other hand, in step S10, a warning message screen indicating that the license code is not registered is displayed on the display unit 6. Then, the process proceeds to the selection screen display in step S2.

  When license management is selected in the above-described selection in step S3, a selection screen for processing related to software license management is displayed on the display unit 6 (step S11). Here, the selection items include acquisition of hardware specific information, license code registration, and license transfer.

  Then, a selection input is accepted from the operator at the input unit 5 (step S12). If the acquisition of hardware specific information is selected in step S12, the process proceeds to step S13. If the license code registration is selected, the process proceeds to step S14. If the license transfer is selected, the process proceeds to step S15. Processing proceeds.

  Here, the flow of the software license issuance and registration procedure will be described with reference to FIGS. The license issuance and registration procedures are different between new license registration and license transfer.

  First, the procedure for new license registration will be described with reference to FIG. There are two types of license issuance: a license purchase applicant and a license issuer. First, the license purchase applicant obtains hardware specific information of a computer that executes software (step S21). This is acquired by the license management unit 2 in step S13 of FIG.

  Then, an application software license purchase application is made to the license issuer (step S22). At this time, hardware-specific information is also submitted. After accepting the license purchase application, the license issuer creates a license code by logically calculating and encrypting the hardware specific information and the purchase target application identification information (step S23). At this time, the license generation software 20 shown in FIG. 3 is used to create the license code. Then, the license code is sent to the applicant (step S24). Then, the applicant receives the license code from the issuer (step S25), and registers the license code in the target computer (step S26). At that time, the license management unit 2 registers in the license table 7 in step S14 of FIG.

  Next, the procedure for transferring a license will be described with reference to FIG. First, the license transfer applicant obtains hardware specific information of the license transfer source computer (step S31). At this time, the hardware management information is acquired by the license management unit 2 in step S13 of FIG. Then, the registration of the license code is deleted on the license transfer source computer (step S32). A license transfer code is created along with the license deletion. At this time, the license is deleted by the license management unit 2 deleting the target license code from the license table 7 in step S15 in FIG. The transfer code is created by performing logical operation and encryption on the license code deleted by the license management unit 2 in step S16 of FIG. Then, hardware specific information of the license transfer destination computer is acquired (step S33). Then, an application software license transfer application is made to the license issuer (step S34). At this time, the old and new hardware specific information and the license transfer code are also submitted. After accepting the license transfer application, the license issuer determines the validity of the license from the source hardware specific information and the license transfer code (step S35). If it is determined to be valid, a new license code is issued. In this case, a new license code is generated by performing logical operation and encryption on the submitted new hardware specific information and transfer target application identification information (step S36). At this time, the license generation software 20 shown in FIG. 3 is used to create the license code. Then, the license code is sent to the applicant (step S37). This sending is performed by e-mail or FAX via the Internet.

  Then, the applicant receives the license code from the issuer (step S38), and registers the license code in the transfer destination computer (step S39). At that time, the license management unit 2 registers in the license table 7 in step S14 of FIG.

  Finally, when the end is selected in step S3 of FIG. 4, the control unit 1 performs the end process of each unit 2 to 6 and the process ends (step S17).

  As described above, according to the present invention, software license registration, license transfer, and license determination at the time of starting a program are performed as follows.

  First, as a license registration procedure, the license purchase applicant applies to the license issuer to purchase application software. At this time, the hardware specific information of the computer executing the software is acquired and submitted. The license issuer performs logical operation and encryption on the identification information of the application to be purchased and the hardware specific information, creates a license code, and sends it to the purchase applicant. The purchase applicant registers the license code in the computer.

  Next, when transferring the execution right of the software to another computer, as a license transfer procedure, the license transfer applicant applies for the license transfer of the application software to the license issuer. At this time, the unique information of the hardware of the transfer source and transfer destination computers and the license transfer code are submitted. Here, the license transfer code is a code generated when the license registration is deleted on the transfer source computer. The license issuer determines the validity of the license from the hardware specific information of the source computer and the license transfer code, and if it is valid, logically calculates the identification information of the target application and the hardware specific information of the destination computer. Encrypt and create a new license code and send it to the applicant. The transfer applicant registers the new license code in the computer.

  Next, the license determination at the time of starting the program is performed by the license checking means before starting the program, based on the application identification information stored in the program file, the hardware specific information, and the license code registered in the computer. Determine sex.

  Here, the application identification information is information prepared for each application program, and is stored in a program file by a privileged person at the time of program development. Further, it is assumed that the identification information is not changed even if a non-privileged user changes the source program.

  As a result of the license determination, if it is valid, the program is started, and if it is not valid, the program start is stopped.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the software protection method is employed in the office computer has been described. However, the computer is not limited to the office computer and may be another computer as long as the computer uses an interpreted program language for the application program. .

The system block diagram of the office computer by which the software protection method which concerns on one embodiment of this invention was employ | adopted. The figure which shows the application identification information writing based on the embodiment. The figure which shows the license code production | generation concerning the embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement of the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a license code issuance and registration procedure according to the embodiment. The figure which shows the transfer of the license code which concerns on the embodiment, and an example of a registration procedure

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control part, 2 ... License management part, 3 ... Protection inspection part, 4 ... Program execution part, 7 ... License code table, 8 ... Memory | storage part, 9 ... Program file.

Claims (7)

In a software protection method in a computer system, the legitimacy of a license is determined based on computer hardware unique information, application identification information that is unique information of an application program to be executed, and a license code registered in the computer. A software protection method, wherein an application program stored in the program file is executed only when the legitimacy is determined. 2. The software protection method according to claim 1, wherein the license code is generated by logical operation of hardware specific information of the computer on which the application program is executed and the application identification information. The application identification information is provided for each application program, and the application identification information is neither referenced nor changed when the source program of the application program is changed by editing software. Software protection method. A program storage unit for storing application programs;
A determination unit that determines the validity of a license based on hardware specific information of a computer, application identification information that is specific information of an application program stored in the program storage unit, and a license code registered in the computer;
An office computer having a software protection function, comprising: a program execution unit that executes the application program when the determination unit determines that the license is valid. License transfer code generation means for generating a license transfer code when the license code stored in the transfer source computer is deleted;
The validity of the license is determined from the license transfer code and the hardware specific information of the transfer source computer. If it is determined to be correct, the hardware specific information of the transfer destination computer and the application identification information for transferring the license are logically calculated. New license code creation means for creating a new license code by performing computation and encryption,
A software protection method comprising: registration means for registering the new license code in a destination computer. 6. The software protection method according to claim 5, wherein the registration means is performed via mail. 6. The software protection according to claim 5, wherein the license code stored in the transfer source computer is created from hardware identification information of the computer and application identification information that is identification information of an application program to be executed. Method.

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