Android license server may be easy to crack; pirates cheer

Pirates rejoice as Android License server can be easily circumvented.

Remember when Google rolled out an Android Market Server License server in order to make it difficult for pirates to swipe apps without paying for them? Well, it looks like that deterrent is very simple to crack.

The cool folks at Android Police have put together a demonstration video (at the bottom of the post) which shows how the Google Android Market Server License can be easily circumvented without rooting your device.

Well, “easily” is a loaded word because you still have to have a solid understanding of coding and you have to be willing to dive into your Android device and app. But, with a few simple tweaks, one could easily trick Android apps into thinking these are legitimate copies.

For now, Google’s Licensing Service is still, in my opinion, the best option for copy protection; however, we really need to see a better solution, such as checking the apk for alterations or ways to confirm an application was installed through official means.

This is bad news for the little, green robot because even though the Android Market is catching up with the Apple App Store, the return on investment is not as strong on Google’s platform as on the Apple iPhone (generally speaking, of course). For all the guff that Apple (rightfully) gets for its dictatorial nature with the App Store, the iPhone OS is where many mobile developers are able to make a comfortable living. Apple has already doled out over $1 billion to developers.

You don’t really hear about the get-rich-quick stories with Android even as its user base is slowly growing beyond the Apple iPhone customers base. Part of the problem is that Google doesn’t allow multiple countries to even sell apps in the market yet and I’ve had many a disgruntled developer tell me that Google doesn’t even try to help with taxation issues.

Check out the demo below for a better understanding of how the License Server can be bypassed and please support your developers by buying apps you love.

[Via Android Police]

About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

AdamZ

Wow…

I have to be honest… I just read a few articles here on your site – all Android related – and I have to agree with so many comments I’ve read from readers in the past. It is obvious you have a dislike for Android… and obviously adore anything Apple. Don’t get me wrong – I have no issues with that… except when it becomes obvious in your articles. Is it really necessary to take a shot at Android and give an example of how iOS does it better? I honestly don’t know why anyone interested in Android would still visit this site…

- AdamZ
A once reader of IntoMobile
Westy

First i would like to say I am no fan of Apple nor of their gated community of fan boys and I owned a G1 from day 1, currently own a Nexus One and love all of googles products. With that being said, at the end of the day the article is true, Google does need to do something about controlling the Market. I believe in an open environment but there do need to be some controls. Their also needs to be away to better secure apps from privacy. I do agree i dont like how some of their articles bash Android and would like to hear about the good and the bad, but i rather someone air out its dirty laundry the pretend everything is fine. This way Google will know this is a valid issue and will do something about it. Apple fanboys dont say anything and Apple continues to push forward with there closed logic.

Sidenote you do know Marin owns an Android phone and I believe uses it as his primary device?
Fork

“Check out the demo below for a better understanding of how the License Server can be bypassed”

Did you even watch the video and understand what they where doing before adding it to your article? if so please explain how watching someone install an application, seeing it fail as the user has not purchased it, watching them remove it and then install a patched (or ‘cracked’) version of the app and then use it teach me anything about how they did it or how the license server works? I hope you didn’t confuse the shell on the computer screen with some “1337 h4xX0r” tool, its just a debugging interface that allows you to control your phone from a computer (if you have the option in your version of android and you normally have to enable it manually).

I don’t even think this is the best method to achieve there goal, if you have one license server that is used by a whole bunch of applications then your time would probably be better spent trying to emulate the responses from the server and having it return true for all requests (so you don’t need to modify every application before it will run, just android itself).

But good on them anyway for the achievement and i won’t be surprised if they look at any updates to the drm as more entertainment (so is there any point Google wasting more money on something that can never work?)