During a software activation process, a processing device may provide a software license key to be communicated to an activation authority. The software license key may be provided to the activation authority via one of a number of communication methods, such as, for example, via a telephone, via a facsimile, via e-mail, via a text message, or via other communication methods. A length of the software license key may be based on an expected amount of time to provide the software license key to the activation authority. When the expected amount of time is relatively long, the software license key may be relatively short. When the expected amount of time is relatively short, the software license key may be relatively long. In some embodiments, a relatively short software license key may be a unique subset of a relatively long software license key.