In regards to "gackers", "crackers" and "mackers" devising ways to access the data, these kinds of people will always be a hazard to deal with. There are all so

In regards to "gackers", "crackers" and "mackers" devising ways to access the data, these kinds of people will always be a hazard to deal with. There are all sorts of ways to deal with this, including not actually collecting all such data in the first place, but that's a discussion for another time and place. As far as having proprietary model and the use of patents, these already dictate how you will move forward from here and as such, you now have to have the do the hard yards to bring everything to fruition. You have to ask yourself this question: do you have the necessary nouse to follow the business model through to completion? Just remember that when you bring in business "partners", they will have their own priorities that will concern them and yours will be secondary or even tertiary to them. You have to stay ahead of the games that you are involved with (there will be many of these) and it is very easy to lose sight of this and drop the ball. Finally, just remember that there are no guarantees that even if you have the best technology and all the patents that surround this new technology that there will be anyone who will be interested in what you have to offer at the price you want to sell it at. From a personal perspective, I no longer have any interest in making anything proprietary or ever getting in the ugly world of patents. So take my comments above in that light. I have run my own business and it is a lot of hard work to keep it going and growing. I no longer have any such interest as I find myself now in a place of having far more important things to interested in and devote my time to.