1. A computer readable medium for activating a software application for execution on a designated computer, the computer readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the following steps: (a) computing an installation identifier representative of the software application and the designated computer; (b) receiving an activation code generated in accordance with the installation identifier and a blinding factor value; (c) computing a reference value as a function of the installation identifier; (d) computing a decryption key as a function of the activation code and a trial blinding factor value; (e) using the decryption key to access an encrypted value representative of the installation identifier; and, (f) comparing the encrypted value to the reference value.