Electronic License Management (ELM) is a core feature of SOLO Server, which allows you to maintain control of your software after it leaves your possession. It also allows you to automate the disbursement of software updates while optionally collecting usage information and verifying that a customer's license is still valid.
The heart of the software licensing and copy protection is product activation. Every copy of your software must be activated when installed on a new computer or network. In addition, creating, maintaining, and distributing different builds of your application, where each build fulfills a unique set of licensing requirements, can result in a significant amount of unnecessary effort. Distributing separate builds of your application (each making different sets of features and modules available based on what license was purchased) is less than ideal, as it would be just as possible for anyone to arbitrarily distribute such packages. Instead, activation allows a single build of your application to change the state of the license for a computer, network, and/or tailored licensing requirements.
In addition to automating the activation process, SOLO Server also allows you to keep track of activations, allow reactivations on the same computer, etc.
Imagine you are using SOLO Server's e-commerce features, you sell a license for your application, the customer activates it, and a few weeks later you find the license was purchased with a stolen or lost credit card. Another scenario could be that a customer has called and activated your application, and is requesting a new activation claiming his or her original computer is broken and had to be replaced. Protection PLUS allows you to automatically check with SOLO Server periodically to verify the status of the license. Should you encounter situations like the ones described here, you can disable an individual system previously activated or the entire license (and all systems activated with it), and rest easy that the system revoked will soon no longer be licensed and able to run.
Additionally, some applications may require time-limited licenses which are activated (known as periodic or lease licenses). SOLO Server's rich e-commerce features can help you automate accepting payments (even automatic, recurring payment) while making it possible for your software to automatically update its expiration date. So for example, let's say your customers may only use the licensed application or service for 30 days before payment is necessary again. Once the next payment is processed after 30 days, your application can automatically check for a new expiration date without requiring customers to go through the process of activating again. This level of automation gives you and your users the simplest and most convenient experience possible.
There are three ways a license may be deactivated. The first is where you, the author of the application, deactivates the license remotely through SOLO Server. In this scenario, your application needs to rely on the background checking and features of Protection PLUS and SOLO Server to detect and respond to this event appropriately. The second is similar, but allows the customer to deactivate the license remotely though the customer license portal.
The third type of deactivation is one which is initiated by someone using your application with Internet access available. This is a very simple and convenient way for your customers to essentially migrate (or transfer) the license from one system to another. An example of when a customer would want to do this would be when he or she is upgrading from one computer to another. This process is completed immediately and does not rely on background checking. Allowing your customers to do this online in this manner is a convenience to them, and reduces your support overhead.