Question about Flash Authentication

[Zashxq]

This is important. Remember how I asked for flash tutorials? Well I gave up on that and just said, "What the hell..." and bought Flash 8 for Dummies... and finished the book a while ago. I now know Flash.

The reason I wanted to learn it is to use the advantages of flash for my website, but the problem is, the general problems with flash:

Stealing flashes or downloading them from the internet, claiming them as your own, especially worried about eBaums world, because he could totally steal it, but even though I know how to copyright, he has the money to totally get away with copyright infrigment... so blegh. Also, my website will have information and actual downloadable stuff, so if someone were to just steal the flash then they would have EVERYTHING.

I'm asking this: How do you make it so it has to authenticate for it to work, as it only works on one website, how do you protect a movie, is making it have to authenticate reversable by other flash-knowing people, if they really wanted to steal it? How do you make it so it uses users? Also, is there a way to remember your settings without using users, just by harddrive cache? Like Stick Avalanche 2...

Sorry I talk alot, but this is kinda important, I cant continue if I dont trust flash, then I would just use flash and HTML.

kthx appreciate it

[Shashakiro]

Re: Question for Shash...

I have no idea about any of this.

You're looking for someone like Synth, LD, Jason, or Rick...one of them could probably answer your question.

[Zashxq]

Re: Question for Shash...

Ooops.

Forgot you were only a multiplayer mod. *Renames*

[Tasselfoot]

Re: Question for Shash...

hehe. Shash got taught his UNBELIEVABLY limited flash knowledge by me, who was taught his small flash knowledge by a) a college class and b) by Synth.


ps - moved to the proper forum...

[lord_carbo]

Re: Question about Flash Authentication

Add a link at the begining, end, and/or, if it's a video, at the corner of the Flash as it plays.

It's not fullproof, unfortunately. .swf files can be "hacked" (I guess a better term would be "cracked") into effortlessly with third party programs. As the owner of a Warcraft III modding community puts it for WC3 maps, "as you might noticed, my scripts can extract any informations out of your map, no matter how good or bad your protection application is. Fact remains you cannot protect a map from me." The same thing applies for .swf files.

He also goes on to imply that people probably won't be editing your map unless it's good. Same for .swf's. I doubt you'll get to the level where your stuff is good enough for people to rip off and want to try to claim credit at least in a while, and by that time you should be submitting your originals to Newgrouds, deviantART, and Flash Portal with the same disclaimer on each one saying what sites you have submitted it to, and to visit X site if your disclaimer is ever updated (usually best to link to your dA journal). Since this is "the art community" and not Warcraft III's modding community, this works much much better. You can easily pull the trigger on any site that tries to upload your stuff without your permission.

[Iwhaiwnfi]

Re: Question about Flash Authentication

You can protect/authenticate dowloadable Flash files/games by making a password to actually play the file itself. Not very useful for files on the website, but for your downloadable files, this will work great.

Step 1: Open up flash

Step 2: Make a box and fill it in with any color

Step 3: Insert a new layer and make a input text box that shows the backround and border.

Step 4: Name the variable of the input text box "inputName" without quotes

Step 5: Insert a new layer above or below the text field and make a "enter password" button, again without quotes.

Step 6: Insert a new layer above everything and name that layer "actions" without quotes

Step 7: Go to frame 10 and insert a keyframe into all of the layers

Step 8: Go to actions and put this code in:

password = inputName if (password == "what ever your password is...") { inputStatus = "Access granted!" ; } else { inputStatus = "Access denied!" ; }


Leave the quotes in the code, don't edit anything aside from the "whatever your password is...".

Step 9: Go to your first frame of "Actions" and insert this code in:

stop();

Step 10: Go to your first frame of your button, not in the edit frame but the first frame where your button is located and insert this code into it:

on (release) { gotoAndStop(10); }


Step 11: Go to the 10th frame of your button layer and insert this code into your button:

on (release) {
gotoAndStop(1);
}

Step 12: You're done... test your movie and see if your password works. (Sorry if this seems complicated, but it's pretty simple if you do it step by step. Just keep everything organized).

You can edit this part of the code to show whatever you want the person to see when they enter the correct code, as well as the incorrect code:

if (password == "what ever your password is...") { inputStatus = "Access granted!" ; } else { inputStatus = "Access denied!" ; }


__________________________________________________________
Download Example Password System:
Flash MX 2004: http://files.filehosting.org/oi35971.zip
Flash MX: http://files.filehosting.org/dh35974.zip
__________________________________________________________


This may be more of what you're looking for.. you can also make the .swf playable ONLY on your browser:

Step 1: Open Flash
Step 2: Insert this code into your actions panel somewhere, perferably in the first frame:

myURL=_url; okDomain="www.yourwebsite.com" if (myURL.indexOf(okDomain) != -1) { _root.gotoAndStop("game screen") }else{ _root.gotoAndStop("warning message"); }



Basically this runs a check before the game starts (probably the most obvious place to put this is after the game loads) and checks to see if the game is running on your website, if it isn't then the game will simply not run. The ONLY downside to this is that people with decent AS experience can decompile your .swf to a .fla, and either edit or just delete this code entirely, though it's unlikely to happen.

You can also get an "Obfuscator". It's a program that encodes your AS to an indecipherable code. It turns every part of your AS into gibberish, although your computer can still understand the code. Anyone who decompiles your .swf will get the same exact encoded AS, but it'll be impossible to decypher. You can register at www.debreuil.com's (http://www.debreuil.com/) message boards, then you can access the "Obfuscator" at www.debreuil.com/vs/ (http://www.debreuil.com/vs/) .

That's a lot to read, I know.. but they're all fairly simple methods to protect both web-displayed SWF files, and downloadable ones.

[lord_carbo]

Re: Question about Flash Authentication

Ugh, my entire post was deleted. The hell am I typing that huge wall of text again.

In summary, all of those methods are bad, and there's no reason to "protect" it unless it's being used commercially.