Doctor Web does this to protect the rights of legitimate license owners. Sometimes licenses get stolen — for example, when a computer is getting repaired at a service center. Some users publish their serial numbers on the Internet or give them to their friends, thus violating the terms of the license agreement and making it possible for anyone to apply for a renewal discount. To protect the rights of the rightful license owner, part of the serial number is hidden in Dr.Web services. The entire serial number is only visible to the license owner:
- in the email received from the Dr.Web eStore
- on the license certificate.
Never show these documents to anyone if you do not want to lose the privileges enjoyed by rightful license owners.