Software is digital through and through, and yet there's one unavoidable aspect of software installation that remains thoroughly analog: entering the registration key. The aggravation is intentional. Unique registration keys exist only to prevent piracy. Like all piracy solutions-- short of completely server hosted applications and games, where piracy means you'd have to host your own rogue server-- it's an incomplete client-side solution.
How effective is it? One vendor implemented code to detect false registration keys and phone home with some basic information such as the IP address when these false keys are entered. Software Connectivity Ratio of pirated to legitimate keys no internet connection required 45: 1 occasional internet connection necessary 60: 1 internet must be 'always on' 110: 1 I have no idea how reliable this data is. The vendor is never named, and given that the title of the URL is, I'd expect it to be biased.