The Activation Key is a string of numbers and letters which is used to activate a carrier or algorithm library
A "carrier" is a file in which you can hide data using specific methods. Carriers are usually multimedia files (images, sounds, or even web pages). This file will not look suspicious, because the data is hidden very well inside the "carrier".
Since the structure of the algorithm and carrier libraries are public, someone could use these libraries to extract data from carriers or make a program which searches for data in carriers.
So, in order to secure these libraries, we have implemented a security system based on activation keys.
The keys are generated from a password, known only by the developer of the library. The library is activated with the call of a function which has the password as a parameter. If the password is wrong the library will not function. Only east-tec Invisible Secrets knows how to convert the password to an activation key or vice versa. If a developer wants to make his library public, he also makes the activation key public but not the password. So if the attacker doesn't know the password, he can't use the library.
The activation keys are generated in the Options Dialog Box.