I am thinking of implementing a good licensing mechanism that has a good resistance against piracy. The required mechanism should not use an internet connection at each and every time the software is used. I am thinking of a mechanism based on hardware IDs etc. Do you guys have any better suggestions? What are the parameters/algorithms/characteristics that I need to concern to make a hack proof license mechanism?
First of all, nothing is hackproof, so i wouldn't spend too much time on protecting your software.
The downside of a mechanism based on hardware IDs is when a user buys a new computer or upgrades most of his computer he needs to update the key too.
HWHash is a pretty good HardwareID implementation, but i guess there are more (free) solutions.
At work we use Hardlock and Hasp keys, but these are usbkey solutions which are not very efficient for small applications.