So I have a website I would like to make that would essentially be selling files. For the sake of discussion let's say that these files are like the raw text of a book. If somebody buys a file from my site, there really isn't anything preventing them from sharing that unlimited amounts of times with their neighbor or whatever.I know that the music industry has suffered from this type of thing for years, so there may not be an easy solution, but what could I do to try and limit the use of that text file to just one person? Is there any type of encryption or password verification that would help me solve this problem? Or do I just have to cope with the fact that it's 2010 and nobody will pay for anything they can find for free on the web?
How to restrict viral file sharing
encryption
The music industry is a perfect example. Instead of embracing reality, they tried to fight it by imposing restrictions on their end users. The restrictions got so bad that many of their end users said something rude and started looking for pirate alternatives.You can't stop people pirating stuff.However, if you make it good value for money, then you can still make something out of your work while some people are pirating it. And if you add some basic protection, you can stop most ordinary users from pirating, even though you'll never stop the experts.Try to think of ways that make it easier for people to pay for a genuine copy - e.g. easier/quicker payment methods.Try to keep adding new content that keeps people coming back for more - a small group of returning customers may work out better than a large group of once-off purchases. Maybe a subscription model might work better to get people to revisit your site.You could embed license information in the document - seeing your own email address at the top of a document is a good incentive not to pass it on to other people.