ࡱ> $Root Entry) 7 O n !!2" F+w`G?@ABCD%t Word for Windows 95@t@@z*w@L(>>>>> >>wD=????????A?C?C?C?9|?P@PBDX EY:B==?????:B?==??????=?=?A?T'b'(("(#(,,--,.-...../#/9/:/Q//;;;;;;;<<<<<<<<<<<<<<===='=(=uVU uDPJcc<Jc`c`c(@ #9:;<=>KXZno}~ QR!!!!!!!!!!!!!I!u!!y!!!!!!!!!y!!!!!!y! !!!!!!!!!y!!,-."# """#)#7#O#n####$$2%k%%%=&>&='>'N'a'!u!!!!!!!!y!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!tt h 4h$a'b'''''''%(t(u((((((((T)U)t))))M*N*j*+ + + + + ++/+0+m+n+,,,,tttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!u!!!!!!l ,"),,*.+.,..8/9/:/;<(=!!!!!!!! K@Normala 4`4 Heading 1<&' U]c(k.`. Heading 2 <&U]c"A@"Default Paragraph Font@ Footnote Text &@ Footnote Referenceh The implants are free and some technical assistance could be offered for free to get the implants working. Money would be made only on the back end services offered to the vendors off the data. Although WidgetWare would not advertise the fact, it would be able to make use the data which it houses, unless a particular software vendor explicitly forbids this (in which case the price per card increases).would T-shirtsMacintoshSharewareSharewareSharewareSharewareSharewareSharewareSharewareoperatesInternetInternetInternetInternet  %,.  ,.:/      YK !(,.Zo~ ()#+$++-,.!u!y!!y!!y!y!!u!!y!!!!!(=a',(=--.+ Joe KueflerC:\My documents\regcards.doc@\\KHARTOUM\devprint2Ne00:winspool\\KHARTOUM\devprint2\\KHARTOUM\devprint2O odXLetter!PRIV''''\\KHARTOUM\devprint2O odXLetter odXPRIV''''"+"+"+"+8&. :Cqz py,4i$q$$$)\*****+"+#++++,,--*.+.,.01<0.1<0 1<01<11<1C1<1z1<11<1 1<0y1<04!1=0"1=0"1=0q'1=0'1Q/1;1;1;1;1;1;0,0;1<1<0,1<0-0'=0,.08/09/=Times New Roman Symbol &Arial Times"hbb#~3%OY/Product Registration and Product Licensing Idea Joe Kuefler Joe Kuefler)=Times New Roman Symbol &Arial Times"1hbb!x>#KY/Product Registration and Product Licensing Idea Joe Kuefler Joe KueflerRoot Entry) 7 O n !!2" F+wVj?@ABCD% <1<0,1<0-0<0,.08/09/=Times New Roman Symbol &Arial Times"1hbb"}3%OY/Product Registration and Product Licensing Idea Joe Kuefler Joe Kuefler0Product Registration and Product Licensing Idea Joe KueflerNormal Joe Kuefler33MicrosofDocumentSummaryInformation8 Root Entry) 7 O n !!2" F+w@Sj>>>>>>>`@b@b@b@9@PAP;CDXDYYC5=>>>>>YC5@5=5=>>5@5@5@> 5=>5=>`@Vj`@5@+5@ ERegCard( Implants and Services from WidgetWare, Inc. Joe Kuefler 12-June-1997 Whats the Problem? Knowing Your Customers ISVs (independent software vendors) have great difficulty of identifying their customers when they do not sell directly to their customer. Direct sales tends to be an anomaly in the software industry, typified by complicated software which requires consulting or special training from the vendor. Most software is purchased through indirect sales channels (retail stores, software catalogs, etc.) and the software vendor must rely on the end user to fill out and mail in a product registration card. The rate of return for product registration cards, whether the product is software or a toaster for your kitchen is incredibly low (1-5%). Some software vendors offer T-Shirts, a coffee mug, or some such gimmick to boost the return rate. Many software vendors rely on the first technical support call to capture registration information. Relying on technical support to capture this information has at least three disadvantages: (1) if the software product is intuitive (i.e. well designed) many of the customers may never call technical support; (2) most customers when calling technical support will not have the patience to answer marketing questions because they usually require immediate assistance with the software; (3) if the software has been pirated (illegally copied) you can be assured that they will never call technical support. The names and addresses of customers in a vendors target marketplace are an essential component of repeat business. Without know who your customers are, their is no chance for up-selling future releases or related products. Capturing marketing information which is pertinent to the vendors target markets along with the registration information can provide an even firmer grasp of their existing customer base and can also provide a lucrative influx of mailing list revenue. Customer Profiles Knowing whether or not to continue support for operating systems like OS/2, MacIntosh or Windows 3.x is an important business decision that software vendors need to make for their development and marketing efforts. Oftentimes, this information is not tracked reliably from the sales-side of a vendors organization. Even when critical pieces of data like target operating systems or databases are tracked in the sale system, they quickly become outdated, since customers are always shifting their internal support for such things. The only way for software vendors to ascertain this data is to perform an exhaustive outbound telemarketing questionnaire to their customer base. This assumes that they know who all their customers are. This also assumes that whomever they speak to at their customer site know 100% which machine types and databases are truly in use. It is often a challenge even for MIS professionals to know what is in use in their own organizations. Software Piracy It is obvious to anyone producing and using software that there is a tremendous amount of software piracy (the use of a non-licensed copies of software). Although the software vendor cannot reap the revenue from pirated copies of their software, not every aspect of software piracy is bad. First of all, if a vendors software is being pirated it is ar this. The inherent (non-interactive) data can be expanded by the software vendor, since WidgetWare offers a set of APIs which allow the vendor to capture and relay any information they deem appropriate. Then the implant relays all the captured information to WidgetWares central servers, which operatez 24 hours/day, 7 days/week in multiple countries throughout the world. Exactly how the information is relayed, depends on the resources available. In most cases, the end user is unaware of how this information is transmitted and does not need to supply the implant with any extra information about their hardware or network configuration. direct internet (socket) connection indirect internet connection (via a proxy server) Automated Telephone Transfer Technique (AT3() modem on the local machine network modem SMTP email transmission fax board on the local machine printed hard copy to be faxed printed hard copy with SASE If licensing functionality is desired, the implant will then wait for a response from the WidgetWare server before enabling the software application. Licensing functionality is offered in various components which can be mixed and matched to suit the needs of the software vendor: assure registration data is logged assure that software is operating within the boundaries of international law assure that serial number has not been registered before assure that customer profile matches a pre-arranged authorization Special needs which extend beyond the basic licensing functionality are considered by WidgetWare when appropriate and financially efficacious. In most cases when licensing is in use, the end user will be able to enable the application any time of the day or night, without human intervention. The table below summarizes the different scenarios which are ordered most typical to least typical. Transfer MethodLicensing Responsedirect internet (socket) connectionimmediate and fully automatedindirect internet connection (via a proxy server)immediate and fully automatedAutomated Telephone Transfer Technique (AT3()immediate, but user must listen to receiver and type in the authorization codemodem on the local machineimmediate and fully automatednetwork modemimmediate and fully automatedSMTP email transmissiondelayed: user must wait for email response and type in (or copy & paste) the authorization codefax board on the local machinedelayed: user must wait for a fax response and type in the authorization codeprinted hard copy to be faxeddelayed: user must manually fax the data, then wait for a fax response, then type in the authorization codeprinted hard copy with SASEdelayed: user must manually mail the data, then wait for a response by telephone (is vendor prearranges this) or by mail, then type in the authorization code How does WidgetWare make money? Since the implants are free, how will WidgetWare make money? WidgetWare will charge a small fee for each registration card which is relayed to its central server. This is comparable to data entry houses charging a few cents for each registration card they data enter, but WidgetWare would most likely charge something like $1 per card although the pricing has not yet been researched. The goal of WidgetWare is to make ERegCard( an industry standard. Some vendors (like modem manufactures and fax-board manufacturers) are able to force product registration (or at least increase the likelihood) by using their own hardware. These manufactures will most likely not benefit from ERegCard( but they represent a tiny portion of the potential marketplace.  Patented technique for transferring registration information to WidgetWare server over a telephone line without the use of a modem.  Patented technique for transferring registration information to WidgetWare server over a telephone line without the use of a modem. /= The cost should not be prohibitive for any sized software company to participate in the program.