Protecting digital products – 4 tips to prevent piracy

If you’re selling a digital product online, you’ll want to take steps to prevent digital theft. Piracy is almost impossible to stop completely, but sometimes it’s all too easy to get access to your product. Here are some tips that will help make it more difficult.

1. Your thank you page: Name your thank you page with random characters. Otherwise, it is possible to use Google to search for it and easily get your product without paying for it. Try it yourself. Go to their site, use Google to search for “thanks” or “download” just for their site. You will probably be surprised.

2. Restrict search bot access: Search bots look in your root domain for a file called “robots.txt”. This file tells them where they can look. If the file does not exist, there will be no restriction and it will be very easy to find your product. For the exact syntax, do a Google search.

3. Encrypt your PayPal button: If you’re using PayPal to receive payments, you’ll want to encrypt the button. It’s an option you can choose when creating the button. If it is not encrypted, users will know the exact address of the download page when they mouse over the button.

4. Use protection software: The best resource to protect your digital product is a software designed by Armand Morin called “Product Lock”. Product Padlock is effective in protecting all kinds of digital products by restricting access to the file using a combination of a code and the user’s IP address. Even if the file is shared, it cannot be used on any other IP. It also gives you the power to deactivate any refunded product. Too many people buy a product, request a refund, and continue to use the product. Protect your rights.

You worked hard creating your digital product and I firmly believe that you should get all the sales you deserve. Don’t let thieves take that away from you. As the Internet grows, piracy is becoming a bigger problem. We must do everything in our power to stop it.