DISTINGUISHING LEGITIMATE HARDWARE UPGRADES FROM UNAUTHORIZED INSTALLATIONS OF SOFTWARE ON ADDITIONAL COMPUTERS

摘要

A client transmits requests to access features of a software program to a server. The requests include a hardware profile of the computer on which the user is attempting to run the software. The server stores the hardware profile of the computer on whic h the user is authorized to run the software program. Responsive to receiving a request, t he server determines whether the user is licensed to run the software, by determining whether the received hardware profile is acceptably similar to the stored hardware profile, and/or whether a sufficient period of time has passed since a previous hardware update.