About Avast 5.0.545 trial until 2024 ???

Hello Avast team.

You should update your security because hackers can extend trial licence. I can send you about this file if you want. Please fix this bug.

Screenshot:

http://i44.tinypic.com/iznatf.png

Regards Draghone.

Please, send the file to sales (at) avast (dot) com and a link to this thread.
Useless, as per Igor’s post.

You have a license file that behaves this way? Or is it rather a crack/patch for the program executables?

@Tech. I sent the files. I hope they fix quickly.

@igor. This is .dll file only. I sent this files sales [at] avast [dot] com.

sales guys will hardly do anything about it, I’d say.

Well, patches are not that hard to fight… it will happen, when the time comes ;D

When will this happen?
Why isn’t an activation process occur?

I sent the patched files to @vlk.

yeah it’s been mentioned a few months ago that Avast wouldn’t interact immediately when a patch is detected/tracked/discovered >>> was also said IIRC that they’d wait a few weeks, months, until the pirates get used to to the software, then they would block the pirated licenses, expecting that the pirates would felt so bad and have such withdrawals they’d buy Avast finally ;D not sure it’s gonna work that way…anyway.

I really can’t understand this behavior… Seems they’re bluffing…

same feeling here :smiley:

Maybe the pirates could downgrade to the free version if they like avast :stuck_out_tongue:

Well, a few points maybe:

  • we’re already offering a pretty full-featured product for free… so we obviously don’t have a big problem with people using avast! for free :wink:
  • even the paid versions can be used for a month in trial mode… so why block cracked versions, working the same, immediately?
  • blocking the cracked versions immediatelly doesn’t bring anything to us; the users will probably install something else instead and never try avast! at all. If, however, they use it for a while… they might get used to it, maybe change their mind if it stops working then… or at least spread the word and recommend it in between (if they use it, they probably like it, even if they don’t want to buy it).
  • cracks are certainly less of a concern than keygens (as they were in avast! 4.x) - you can hardly sell a crack on e-bay as a valid license to unsuspecting (potential) customers, applying cracks is much harder for computer-illiterate users, etc.
  • we have some measures prepared against the cracks, and are adding new ones in new program versions. However, fighting cracks is always a cat&mouse game - something is prevented, and soon a new type of crack appears. So, again… it’s not efficient to show the “defense” immediatelly - the sooner it’s done, the sooner we’ll have to spend time on preparing a new one. Besides, the number of affected users should also be considered - it’s hardly worth spending any significant amount of time on preventing a patch used by an insignificant number of users (compared to the rest of them).

So yes, there are some protections prepared in the program… but they are not activated yet. When we decide that it’s time to do something about the unauthorized users, we can simply activate them in a virus database update. At the moment, however, we don’t see it as a problem - but we’re monitoring the situation :wink:

Thanks Igor.