Summing up s2M support reply:
I see! Thank you.
Well, as far as cookies go; they don’t play a huge role in this sort of access. They only allow for continued access once an access link is clicked.
For instance, if I receive the access link to what I paid for via email, upon clicking that link a cookie is set in my browser which allows me to return to that particular Post/Page in the future without needing to be authenticated again. However, should cookies not work for any reason, returning to my email and clicking on the access link again will set the cookies again and again. Thus, it’s the link itself that provides them with access. Cookies are just there to make the user experience a little smoother when possible.
That’s so helpful an answer Jason, thank you. What prevents the customer from sharing the email with others thus allowing them access also?
Each access point within s2Member is restricted to X number of unique IP addresses. You can gain control over this by adjusting the setting here in your Dashboard: s2Member ? Restriction Options ? Unique IP Addresses.
So for instance, if I set it to 5 unique IPs and one my customers decides to post the link on Twitter, it’s going to quickly result in everyone being denied access, including the original customer because they did so.
That is so cool Jason! You guys did an excellent job of thinking this through. However, might not such a setting deny rightful customers as well as reward other purchasers who share the link if that setting is too high or too low? What a hornet’s nest.
Also, would 30 students at 10 classroom workstations access the same link and be considered 1 IP address or 10 IP addresses?
It would depend on the IP address. If they all access it from the same underlying IP address then it would only count once.
If this becomes an issue, I’d suggest that you force people to register for an account. In such a scenario (i.e. if everyone has an account) then you could disable s2Member’s Unique IP Restrictions and instead configure s2Member’s Simultaneous Login Monitoring feature, which is not prone to this sort of abuse; i.e. you allow X number of people to be logged in at the same time on a single account, regardless of IP address.
Yes, it has the potential to work for you or against you; depending on how you configure it. We find that it’s best to be generous and allow 10-20 unique IPs, since these days people tend to travel a lot or have multiple devices.
