Is there any way I could avoid this scenario?

[sparkdigital]

Hi,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this and whether it fits in with WB being OS in the first place... Anyway, here we go!

I'm thinking of offering an affordable service by offering template based website packages using (of course!) WB. Instead of asking for a bulk payment up front I would charge a modest annual fee for the life time of the website.

The client would have copyright over the content, I would like to retain copyright over the actual website template (is this possible with WB?).

The downside could be that a client decides to even though he doesn't own the actual website, he copies it via ftp and takes it somewhere else where hosting is $5 per year... Having been in business for a while I know it won't be worth it to go after the client using the legal system.

Is there any way this can be avoided, maybe by using a licence key or encryption or something like that? Would this be in violation of WB being OS? Or would it be best just to withold ftp from the client in the first place?

Looking forward to your comments!

Thanks,

Konrad

[Ruud]

You don't really need FTP to steal/copy a template.
The generated HTML and the CSS is easy to get from any site.

I would suggest to add all kind of license warnings in the html and css and hope for the best.
Let your customer sign for not copying (maybe just within a x period of time) using your Terms.

Encrypting won't help either. There are lots of "tools" to view generated sourcecode of webpages.

I use the same charging model, and my main "protection" is to keep the customer happy.
Most of them are coming from the €5 p/y providers, with websites built by their sons classmates little brothers. They came unhappy about internet sites, and now they are happy.

Ruud