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I've seen so many links which have this title:

ioncube php encoder nulled

What does it mean?

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I don't recognise the sentence *This software is nulled", and neither does google (only two hits). Please check what you wrote. Even better: please show us an example, in context. – Pitarou Dec 24 '11 at 4:45
@Pitarou maybe above example would help ya. – web designer Dec 24 '11 at 4:51
A link would have been better, but that was enough to track it down with a bit of help from Google. – Pitarou Dec 24 '11 at 5:19
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Obviously this is a technical term and probably related to software licensing. This question may be able to draw suitable response on the technical sites such as ServerFaultSE, SuperUserSE or SO. – Kris Dec 24 '11 at 8:15

closed as too localized by simchona♦, Mahnax, onomatomaniak, FumbleFingers, kiamlaluno Dec 24 '11 at 18:42

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1 Answer

up vote 2 down vote accepted

According to this discussion site for website admins, nulled means:

"voided, cracked, or stolen," or any other term you might want to use for "a copy not licensed by its legitimate developer."

I'd never heard the term before and, judging from what I found on Google, I think it's jargon only used by site admins who share software.

EDIT

David Schwartz (see discussion below) tells us that "null" means "remove the anti-piracy features". This term is only used for scripts and, contrary to the quote above, it does not necessarily mean that the software has been pirated.

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The key point is that the copy protection or "phone home" code has been removed or disabled. – David Schwartz Dec 24 '11 at 5:15
Is there any difference between nulled and cracked? – Pitarou Dec 24 '11 at 5:25
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There are two slight differences. First, "nulled" is only used to refer to scripts. Second, "cracked" software is always cracked without permission. You would never say, "since the program was obsolete, the distributor decided to make a cracked version available." The term "nulled" does not imply it was done without permission. – David Schwartz Dec 24 '11 at 5:33
@DavidSchwartz Thanks! – Pitarou Dec 24 '11 at 5:43

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