Serial/License Number

I have a Swing application that I plan on selling soon and I'd like to require users to enter a serial number to be able to run the program. I'd like to make the serial number computable rather than create a list of hundreds (thinking optimistically) of serial numbers and check against them in the code.
Can anyone point me to any resources for algorithms I might be able to use? Or offer any advice?
I'm fully aware that I will not be able to totally secure my program and that it's decompileable and so on... I just want to make it more difficult for someone to use the program without paying for it or more obvious that they're doing so.
Thanks for any help.

Thank you for your interest in my business model.
Believe it or not, I've actually thought about the market for this program. I have considered how much of this 'security' will annoy customers, how much will reassure them that the application they paid for is not being used for free by their competitors, and how effective it will be at actually stopping people from copying the program. I've thought about how large the market is, how technical it is, how much of the market knows what bittorrent is, how many know how to find someone who knows what a decompiler is. I've thought about how much time it would take to crack the program verses rewriting the program from scratch and the skill level involved in both tasks.
I've thought about the value the program will provide a customer, what their ROI will be, and what my ROI will be. I've thought about how many customers might want to open the door for other potential users, how they would distribute it, who they would distribute it to and how that would affect my market share, my reputation, and my name recognition. I know how many people want to use the program now and how much they will pay for it. I also know that they will feel they should have paid less if there is not some semblance of serial number security on the program, even if you and I know that no program is truly secure.
I have considered these things. I have decided that a serial number/license number/activation code scheme is necessary for this program. I welcome opinions and suggestions about how to best implement this scheme. I also welcome more detail about your experiences, Brian, and the business model you now follow as it may be appropriate for future projects of my own.
Thanks again.

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