Subj : Re: Protecting your code
To   : comp.programming
From : MiniMe
Date : Fri Jul 29 2005 06:25 pm

Very usefull observations.
I considered myself the websolution and it is feasable.

My real problem is this: I am not programmer and I intend to pay
somebody to write the code. I am not entirely uneducated in the
programming field but I don't do this for living. The idea that I have
is a good one I consider and I want to protect it. I tried not to make
much case of this but i detected some increased interest coming from
my programmer on the direction of havig the whole design in advance.

The application is modular and they don't need to know the whole
concept in order to write the code for this. Basically it is interface
for some already existing public domain applications and some
conectors which will transform these apps in addons to major
applications already on the market.

So how do I protect my idea and my code from stealing by my very own
programmers ?

 I am not being paranoid here but  I had to stop working with my
programmer because with no reasons he was pushing me to provide him
the whole concept.

MiniMe



On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 13:30:07 -0400 (EDT), "Arthur J. O'Dwyer"
<ajo@nospam.andrew.cmu.edu> wrote:

>
>On Fri, 29 Jul 2005, MiniMe wrote:
>>
>> It is going to be commercial and I need the total controv over my
>> work. Not sure that publishing this uder the open-source license will
>> give me these things.
>
>   Define "total controv [sic]."  Are you planning to release the code 
>(either as readable source code or as executable, hence readable, binary)? 
>Then you'll have to accept that people will read it, and if they're smart 
>enough, they'll understand it. So if you're trying to publish something
>/and/ keep it "secret" at the same time, you're doomed.
>   There is one defense: Make your program suck so much nobody will bother 
>to try and read it.
>
>   Alternatively, you could simply /not publish/ your code. Then nobody but 
>you will be able to see it.
>
>   (The latter strategy isn't quite as sarcastic as it sounds. Several 
>software companies these days are moving to a Web-based system; for 
>example, instead of selling actual binary copies of a proprietary program 
>and thus opening themselves up to reverse-engineering, they're just 
>selling (or planning to sell) Web clients that connect to a server with a 
>single copy of the proprietary program. Since the user never sees the 
>program --- only its input and output protocols --- he can't 
>reverse-engineer it. This is an elegant solution[1], if expensive.)
>
>-Arthur
>
>[1] - Not to imply I'm in favor of it. IMNSHO it's a pretty immoral 
>approach to the digital world. And, practically speaking, unless you're 
>Microsoft or Google it will be tantamount to the "don't publish it" 
>approach --- nobody will use a product that inconveniences them that much 
>for no benefit to the user.

.