Obfuscating things can only inconvenience your legitimate, law-abiding customers, while the people who would would rip you off are not your target paying customers anyway. (edited out other thoughts about obfuscation)
Another suggestion for protecting your software: create a business model in which the code is an incomplete part of the value of your offering. For example, sell product licenses along with access to some data you manage on your site, or license the product on a subscription model or with customer support.
Designing a EULA is a legal matter, not a coding matter. You can start by reading some EULA text for products and websites you use. You might find some interesting details!
Creating a proprietary license is is highly flexible, and probably a subject beyond the intended scope of StackOverflow, since it's not strictly about coding.
Some parts of a EULA that come to mind:
- Limiting your liability if the product has bugs or causes damage.
- Spelling out how the customer can use their licensed software, for how long, on how many machines, with or without redistribution rights, etc.
- Giving you rights to audit their site, so you can enforce the licenses.
- What happens if they violate the EULA, e.g. they lose their privilege to use your software.
You should consult a legal professional to prepare a commercial EULA.
edit: If this project can't justify the expense of a lawyer, check out these resources:
- "EULA advice" on joelonsoftware
- "How to Write an End User License Agreement"
Like I said on my first post, I don't want to use obfuscation because there's really no point in doing so. Well, actually, the only reason I see to use obfuscation has nothing to do with preventing other people from using the script without paying. Obfuscation could be nice if you want to prevent your clients from messing your code and then "force you" to support them. But this is not really the issue here. About the EULA thing, it's basically what Eran Galperin said and my answer to him also applies here.
Consulting a legal professional for my needs would be insane. I can't afford something like that nor will my product sell that much lol. It's a simple product but I wanted to protect it somehow.
OK, fair enough. I know a small project can't afford that, I didn't know if you were working at a large company or not.
@BillKarwin, it's interesting to me how in the same breath you say "people who would rip you off are not your target audience" and then "create a business model with hosted data" - i.e. create a business model where people essentially can't rip you off. I hear this sentiment over and over and I just don't get it.
@CristianSepulveda, I don't know what to tell you. If you hand over your code to them, then they have access to it, full stop. If you make it "less easy" then you might stop them from accidentally reading it, but anyone who tries can still read it. That's not any kind of security strategy.