Basic copy protection?

Question

How can I add some basic copy protection to my published
captivate files?
I don't really know what techniques are available for this.
Can I have the flash file prevent itself from playing if not
downloaded from or connected to the website? Can I have it check a
cookie? Is there some basic way of putting flash on the html page
that prevents users from being able to link to it directly or copy
it? Is there a way to prevent caching?
Are there any down-sides to this?
Thanks in advance,
Ari

Answer 1

OK, now I have this working AFAIK.
Can anyone see a way for users to get around this?
I'll paste the code below if anyone wants to implement this
in their own projects.
jbradley88 was right about the _root reference being needed.
quote:
You might try appending _root. to all references and see if
that helps (as in _root._url and _root.getURL and
_root.unloadMovie)
He was also right about the need for using
unloadmovie instead of geturl. It I use geturl, a user can download
the swf file and play it back locally b/c they can ignore the
security warning. If I use _root.unloadmovie() then the movie
unloads even if downloaded and played back locally.
Also, I was using "FALSE" and "TRUE" as boolean values for
variables before and it didn't work. Seems flash wants them in
lowercase instead.
I just replaced the actionscript in the preloader that
shipped with Captivate with this code:
//Check to see that it is playing from mywebsite.com domain
//just set the url to your domain
//The localURL's are for allowing the movie to be previewed
on the local machine it was made on
//just set the variables to reflect your folder structure
okToPlay = false;
siteURL = "
http://www.mywebsite.com";
siteURL2 = "https://www.mywebsite.com";
localURL1 = "D:\\captivate working folder\\Published";
localURL2 = "file:///D:/captivate working folder/Published";
localURL3 =
"file:///D:/captivate%20working%20folder/Published";
if ((_root._url.substr(0,siteURL.length) == siteURL) ||
(_root._url.substr(0,siteURL2.length) == siteURL2) ||
(_root._url.substr(0,localURL1.length) == localURL1) ||
(_root._url.substr(0,localURL2.length) == localURL2) ||
(_root._url.substr(0,localURL3.length) == localURL3))
okToPlay = true;
if (okToPlay == false)
_root.unloadMovie();
//Called when the preloader displays, useful if you need the
size of the movie
function initialize(movieWidth:Number, movieHeight:Number)
function onProgress(loadedBytes:Number,totalBytes:Number){
var percentDone:Number = Math.round((loadedBytes /
totalBytes) * 100);
//Load 20% before starting movie.
if(percentDone > 20)
this.done = true;
percent_txt = percentDone+"%";}
function isDone():Boolean{
//by default the preloader will show until all frames are
loaded
//this function can override this bahavior
if(this.done)
return true;
else
return false;}
Now, AFAIK, when I publish Captivate files using this
preloader they'll only run from my domain or from the local machine
they were edited on (for previewing).
Thanks for the help,
Ari