How do I stop people copying my software?
No software can be made impossible to copy: anyone who can use a file can copy it. What you can control is what a copy is good for. Pramaan does two things.
- A copy only opens on its buyer's computer. Your app ships encrypted, and the key that opens it is sealed to the buyer's security chip (TPM 2.0). Copy the installed app to another computer and it has nothing it can open.
- A leaked copy names its source. Every copy carries its own fingerprint, so if someone shares the opened content, you can tell whose copy it was.
That moves piracy from easy and anonymous to expensive and traceable. See what Pramaan does.
What is a device-locked (node-locked) licence?
A licence that works on one particular computer and no other. Most software does this with a
check in its code (if licensed), which a cracker can patch out. Pramaan has no such check
to remove: the licence is what unlocks the encrypted part of your app, inside the computer's
security chip. Without the right chip, there is nothing to run.
Can software licensing work offline, without a licence server?
Yes, and with Pramaan it always does. Your app never contacts Pramaan, or anyone, to check a licence. It carries a small piece of trusted data built into it, and checks a proof it was given when the licence was issued. Time limits are measured by the security chip's own clock, so setting the computer's clock back doesn't stretch a licence. Your customers can work in a lab, on a ship or on a network that never touches the internet, and your app keeps working if Pramaan ever stops existing.
How can I find out who leaked my software?
Every licensed copy of a fingerprinted release is slightly different, in a way that doesn't change how it works: each customer's copy holds its own sequence of marks. Drop a leaked file into Pramaan on your computer and it compares the marks with every licence you issued, then names the licence the copy came from and the computer it was sealed to. For copies sold on Pramaan Marketplace it also names the wallet that bought it.
Several people mixing their copies together can't build a sequence none of them was given, so they implicate one of themselves, not an innocent customer. Some kinds of reformatting can remove marks; when that happens Pramaan says it can't name anyone, rather than guessing.
How is this different from a licence key?
A licence key (or license key) is a string. Anyone who has it can type it in, so keys get shared, generated and posted online. A Pramaan licence is sealed, with cryptography, to one computer's security chip. It isn't something a customer can read out to a friend, and a key generator has nothing to generate.
What happens when a customer gets a new computer?
You issue their licence to the new computer from Pramaan, in a few clicks. They still count as one customer, and their old computer's copy stops counting once its licence ends.
Do I need to understand blockchain to use Pramaan?
No. Pramaan records your releases and revocations on a public blockchain so that anyone can check them, and it does that for you. You can start on a practice network that runs on your own computer and costs nothing. If you later use a public blockchain, you pay its small network fees directly; we never take a cut or hold your money.
How do I prove I invented something first?
Keep your research in Pramaan's notebook, on your own computer. As you work, Pramaan records a fingerprint of the notebook on a public blockchain, with the time. The notebook itself never leaves your computer. Later you can disclose just the steps you choose, and anyone can check they existed at that time, without seeing the rest. You can also publish an idea openly, as a defensive publication, so it is on the public record as prior art.
A proof is evidence for you to present, not a court's finding, and nothing here is legal advice. See how proof of invention works.
Can I record research I did with an AI assistant?
Yes. Import a chat with an AI assistant into your notebook: your messages become your prompts and the assistant's replies are marked as AI output. Pramaan then shows which steps were yours, so you can show the human contribution when it matters.
Can customers resell a software licence?
On Pramaan Marketplace, yes, when the publisher allows resale for their app (publishers on Studio, Business or Enterprise can) and the seller is on Studio, Business or Enterprise (on the free plan, a licence you buy stays yours). It works for computer, phone and web apps alike, and what is sold is the licence, not a copy. The buyer's payment waits in escrow, the publisher's Pramaan seals the licence to the buyer's computer, phone or browser, and the buyer's Pramaan checks it works there before the seller is paid; the seller's copy then stops working. The publisher earns a royalty on every resale (8%, or the rate they set), and Pramaan a fixed 2% commission. Buyers can pay in USDC, USDT, ETH or BTC. See licence resale.
What kinds of software can Pramaan protect?
Software that runs on the customer's own computer, often offline: engineering and industrial tools, healthcare and lab software, creative tools, games, and on-device AI models. Your customers need a Windows 10 or 11 computer with a TPM 2.0 security chip, which every Windows 11 computer has. See where Pramaan is used.
Can Pramaan protect Android and iPhone apps?
Yes. A phone app's protected part is sealed to a key inside the phone's own secure hardware: the Android Keystore (StrongBox where the phone has it) on Android 12 or later, or the Secure Enclave on iOS and iPadOS 15 or later. The key can never be read out, so a copy of the app and its licence on another phone opens nothing. The check is the same one desktop apps use, running on the phone, offline. Buyers install the app from your link, and pay for it on Pramaan Marketplace for their phone. See Android Keystore and Secure Enclave.
Can I license and sell a web app?
Yes. A web app runs in any browser, on a phone or a computer, so there's no file to lock. Instead each buyer's browser makes its own key, which the page can use but never read or copy out, and your storefront gives that browser a signed access pass. Your server checks the pass and asks the browser to sign a fresh challenge, so a pass copied to another browser is no use. Free apps, free trials, timed and lifetime licences, and resale all work, and a pass sold on is withdrawn at once. It takes two small files from Pramaan, one for the browser and one for your server.
How much does Pramaan cost?
The Developer plan is free for one app and up to 25 customers, with the same protection as every other plan. Paid plans add more apps and customers, leak tracing and licence resale. You pay for customers actively using your app, not for downloads. See pricing.
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