Comments on: The Cracking of Bombora http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/ Bombora - Surf, Sail, and Ocean Forecasting iPhone App Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:24:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Dave http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-40 Dave Sat, 23 May 2009 23:47:01 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-40 Blocking jailbroken devices isn't really a good idea. Also, device IDs may not exactly correlate to the number of purchases because some people (like me) have multiple devices assigned to a single account. Probably better to do the Info.plist check and use that for statistics / crack checking. Blocking jailbroken devices isn't really a good idea. Also, device IDs may not exactly correlate to the number of purchases because some people (like me) have multiple devices assigned to a single account. Probably better to do the Info.plist check and use that for statistics / crack checking.

]]> By: Dave http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-20 Dave Sat, 23 May 2009 16:47:01 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-20 Blocking jailbroken devices isn't really a good idea. Also, device IDs may not exactly correlate to the number of purchases because some people (like me) have multiple devices assigned to a single account. Probably better to do the Info.plist check and use that for statistics / crack checking. Blocking jailbroken devices isn't really a good idea. Also, device IDs may not exactly correlate to the number of purchases because some people (like me) have multiple devices assigned to a single account. Probably better to do the Info.plist check and use that for statistics / crack checking.

]]> By: Kerry http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-18 Kerry Thu, 21 May 2009 19:17:42 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-18 AC,<br><br>I think you're on the right track - there isn't much we *can* do, legally - lawyers are expensive, time is expensive, and the international variables make it even more complicated. The potential for futility is overwhelming.<br><br>I definitely feel that we've lost sales - it's my belief that at least some of Bombora's target market are those with the aptitude to jailbreak. So it goes.<br><br>We're trying some new stuff, like the sale running until the release of our next major update (which will have some fun anti-piracy measures of our own,) so hopefully that will produce some results - or at least, some more fodder for the discussion.<br><br>"Apple really needs to get it together and start protecting their developers."<br><br>I couldn't agree more.<br><br>Kerry AC,

I think you're on the right track – there isn't much we *can* do, legally – lawyers are expensive, time is expensive, and the international variables make it even more complicated. The potential for futility is overwhelming.

I definitely feel that we've lost sales – it's my belief that at least some of Bombora's target market are those with the aptitude to jailbreak. So it goes.

We're trying some new stuff, like the sale running until the release of our next major update (which will have some fun anti-piracy measures of our own,) so hopefully that will produce some results – or at least, some more fodder for the discussion.

“Apple really needs to get it together and start protecting their developers.”

I couldn't agree more.

Kerry

]]> By: Bombora Memorial Day Sale! | Bombora - Surf Forecasting for iPhone http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Bombora Memorial Day Sale! | Bombora - Surf Forecasting for iPhone Thu, 21 May 2009 17:28:41 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-17 [...] the recent deluge of new users running a cracked and illegal copy of Bombora, we hope that dropping the price for this period of time will make it “more accessible” [...] [...] the recent deluge of new users running a cracked and illegal copy of Bombora, we hope that dropping the price for this period of time will make it “more accessible” [...]

]]> By: AnonymousCoward http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-16 AnonymousCoward Mon, 18 May 2009 23:12:17 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-16 I was actually in with the group of guys that make these cracking programs back when the appstore first came out. I can't apologize for them, and I haven't talked to those guys in over a year. The host/developer of appulous is kyek, you might want to do some searching (on the forums they have) and get in touch with him. I think their site is hosted in Russia or the Netherlands now tho, so I don't know what you could legally do.<br><br>I hate to see indie devs losing their sales over this. Are you guys still going to be developing more apps for the iphone?<br><br>By the way, all the "cracking" does is decrypt a certain part of the program. It involves running GDB (Gnu debugger) while the program is running in memory on the account that made the purchase to do it.<br><br>Are you guys sandboxed or is it possible to poke around the file structure and perhaps make the program not run on jailbroken iphones? Say, for instance, if the cracked games installer (not going to drop any names here) is located in the /Applications folder, throw up an error.<br><br>I'm sure there is some way you guys can get around the piracy of your app, whether or not it complies with the appstore terms is another question.<br><br>Apple really needs to get it together and start protecting their developers. I was actually in with the group of guys that make these cracking programs back when the appstore first came out. I can't apologize for them, and I haven't talked to those guys in over a year. The host/developer of appulous is kyek, you might want to do some searching (on the forums they have) and get in touch with him. I think their site is hosted in Russia or the Netherlands now tho, so I don't know what you could legally do.

I hate to see indie devs losing their sales over this. Are you guys still going to be developing more apps for the iphone?

By the way, all the “cracking” does is decrypt a certain part of the program. It involves running GDB (Gnu debugger) while the program is running in memory on the account that made the purchase to do it.

Are you guys sandboxed or is it possible to poke around the file structure and perhaps make the program not run on jailbroken iphones? Say, for instance, if the cracked games installer (not going to drop any names here) is located in the /Applications folder, throw up an error.

I'm sure there is some way you guys can get around the piracy of your app, whether or not it complies with the appstore terms is another question.

Apple really needs to get it together and start protecting their developers.

]]> By: Kerry http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-15 Kerry Sun, 17 May 2009 18:39:32 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-15 Thanks for the heads up - appreciate it!<br><br>It's fixed now - I could tell that you didn't want us to promote them anymore, right? Thanks for the heads up – appreciate it!

It's fixed now – I could tell that you didn't want us to promote them anymore, right?

]]> By: Hunter http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-14 Hunter Sun, 17 May 2009 15:30:14 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-14 I'm one of the guys that works on Bombora.<br><br>Jay - I believe that nothing we could do would ever really stop these people. At the same time, if the bar for piracy is raised slightly, it might not encourage such a high level of casual cracking.<br><br>Maybe I'm wrong - we'll see. We're certainly not going to expend a ton of resources on it. I'd rather spend time working on real features.<br><br>I love the App Store but there's no doubt it has a lot of problems / deficiencies that I hope Apple will fix over time.<br><br>-Hunter I'm one of the guys that works on Bombora.

Jay – I believe that nothing we could do would ever really stop these people. At the same time, if the bar for piracy is raised slightly, it might not encourage such a high level of casual cracking.

Maybe I'm wrong – we'll see. We're certainly not going to expend a ton of resources on it. I'd rather spend time working on real features.

I love the App Store but there's no doubt it has a lot of problems / deficiencies that I hope Apple will fix over time.

-Hunter

]]> By: dm http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-13 dm Sun, 17 May 2009 00:01:42 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-13 I understand that in order to run cracked apps, the security subsystems in the iPhone need to be disabled, i.e. the app needs to be tagged as "part of the OS" and have elevated privileges.<br><br>I wonder if it would be considered ethical to have your app contact iTunes and purchase itself? I understand that in order to run cracked apps, the security subsystems in the iPhone need to be disabled, i.e. the app needs to be tagged as “part of the OS” and have elevated privileges.

I wonder if it would be considered ethical to have your app contact iTunes and purchase itself?

]]> By: anon http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-12 anon Sat, 16 May 2009 23:27:04 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-12 THANKS FOR THE GREAT LINK TO THE APP SITE! THANKS FOR THE GREAT LINK TO THE APP SITE!

]]> By: saurik http://www.bomborasurf.com/2009/05/06/the-cracking-of-bombora/comment-page-1/#comment-11 saurik Sat, 16 May 2009 23:02:01 +0000 http://www.bomborasurf.com/?p=361#comment-11 Won't they just then crack the newer version of your program? I don't see how forcing an upgrade and requiring people to use that version will actually manage to stop this from happening.<br><br>The stupid part about all of this is that if Apple were to just provide you access to a customer list for your own product you would not be in this position. The idea that you have to provide both support and server resources to /anyone/ who claims they own your application is ludicrous. :(<br><br>(For the record, products sold via Cydia do have this ability, in addition to being able to give people discounts on purchases if they own other products and other "must haves" that result when you have serious business concerns at work.)<br><br>-- Jay Freeman (saurik) Won't they just then crack the newer version of your program? I don't see how forcing an upgrade and requiring people to use that version will actually manage to stop this from happening.

The stupid part about all of this is that if Apple were to just provide you access to a customer list for your own product you would not be in this position. The idea that you have to provide both support and server resources to /anyone/ who claims they own your application is ludicrous. :(

(For the record, products sold via Cydia do have this ability, in addition to being able to give people discounts on purchases if they own other products and other “must haves” that result when you have serious business concerns at work.)

– Jay Freeman (saurik)

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