Yep. Regrettably so.

I will try something like that when i am in the mood to tinker
 

Rhetorical question regarding Spotify : Has recording sales EVER been a reliable way for the average recording artist to make a living? IMHO that answer is no. By the time an artist gets big enough to negotiate a deal that pays them decently for actual sales, they tend to be rich already from other means. In fact, many of the more business saavy artists are skipping the label game altogether. Tech-9 (an underground rapper by an measure) made 7.5 million last year despite NO radio play and modest sales. Most big name acts wished they cleared that. I'm not saying Spotify are the good guys, but that the recording industry has an annoying habit of making artists forget who has been screwing them long before the internet existed.

Wow!  I didn't mean to start polarizing and for that I am sorry.  I think we're all left with either using products or not and one consideration for some folks is the method of protection.  As to piracy being over inflated, that may be so... but it definitely hurts small developers more than others.
 
Fortunately we live in a world with a myriad of options these days.  And hopefully the Trek universe, where money is no longer a factor, will someday unfold... in which each human cultivating their own awesomeness will be encouraged...and prisons of any kind will not be necessary.
 
I'm sorry for anyone having bad experiences with anything in their lives...
 
peace.
 
 

Vastman..i think most of the convo was civil. We all have opinions on the topic. Expressing them is no big deal until someone turns it into personal attack.

As far as it affecting small developers and large developers differently, I honestly struggle to find a measurable way to indicate that. Sometimes I figure "it must affect them", but then can never measure how. It would seem that zero dollars those pirates were willing to spend on that product still measures zero if they didn't crack it. In fact, I can make a stronger mathematical argument that actual sales + money that wasn't spent on licensing of anti-piracy tech might be more profitable. I certainly doubt any company gets a check for moral victory of thwarting would be pirate. In fact, there is no numerical data to support decrease in this type of piracy has ever increased profit that I have seen. Counterfeiting is a much bigger threat to profit since it steals customers who were actually willing to pay.

1. Copy protection only inconveniences the honest people. Think about it next time you install a new motherboard and spend 3 days authorizing software you already paid for. ToonTrack is the absolute worst BTW. XLN (Addictive Drums/Keys.etc) is the best. The pirate clicks on mypiratedprogram.exe and is done in 2 minutes, if that. You, the honest user? Go to a web page, download updates, deauthorize the last computer ID etc...
See my point?
 
2. That being said, I've been using iLok for years and never had a problem. Easiest of them all when moving to a new PC, installing a new network card, hdisk etc. Simple.
The key is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. NEVER update ANY iLok driver, software etc unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY..
I am serious. 
This is where most people get into trouble.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
3. That being said (again), copy protection doesn't work. It doesn't. iLok was cracked a couple of weeks ago and it won't be long before eLicenser is cracked as well. As long as humans are coding these applications, they will have flaws and smarter humans will exploit those flaws.
 
The only solution is biometrics coupled with artificial intelligence which will reliably detect when the system is being probed in a hack attempt and re-writing the code on the fly. And when we finally reach that point, the world is going to be so scary that hacking ProTools is going to be a nit in comparison.

Tell us, ol' pal, about the debauchery, but particularly also about the startup delay trick!

bitflipperHonestly, much as I hate dongles I wouldn't let it stop me from getting some product that I really, really wanted. Fortunately, that hasn't happened to me yet.

This. I don't like them but this is a business and they are required for some top end plugins.

pentimentosound
Ignoring the "debate parts", I came here hoping to learn how well iLOK stuff works in SPLAT, because I'm considering the Eventide H3000 deal that ends tonight. If I were more the PC whiz type I might feel more confident of it.....
 
Michael

Probably not the best thread for this. The only issue I have seen with Eventide Anthology X is here http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3342467 and it was an older version of UltraChannel. Updating to the current version solved the problem. So far no issues with PC based licenses on Win10 in Platinum.

dubdisciple
If anyone has a study showing any company that was experiencing significant drop in sales making a rapid spike in sales following implementation of iLok type systems, I would love to see. The more successful companies using it seem to be companies that were very successful prior to implementation.

 IK Multimedia, Izotope.  No study needed.  Izotope had floods of emails and only their products for Pro Tools are dongled.

LOL Steve! I'm working on "both".
 
Thanks for the link
Michael

dubdisciple
Unfortunately, the startup delay trick is not working but thanks anyway.  I understand that all software is subject to go haywire for some and not others. This particular one just bugs me because it is not the software that is buggy, but another separate company holding me hostage.  Something is really wrong when i could have a pirated version up and working quicker than what  legally own. Something is wrong when pirates are more successful in running software i won than i am.  i am hoping my experience is not common and i certainly don't begrudge people for using iLok.  In some circles it is absolutely necessary.

 Did you google for solutions? I know my problem was a bit more common dating searches back to 2009 and even on Mac platforms. Something seems in your OS may be blocking some files or services. Check your Windows Firewall as well. For some reason unknown my iLok manager gets corrupted over time. 

kitekrazy1

dubdisciple
If anyone has a study showing any company that was experiencing significant drop in sales making a rapid spike in sales following implementation of iLok type systems, I would love to see. The more successful companies using it seem to be companies that were very successful prior to implementation.

IK Multimedia, Izotope.  No study needed.  Izotope had floods of emails and only their products for Pro Tools are dongled.

Actually iZotope offer iLok authorization as an option to Challenge/Response. I know because I chose iLok so I can more easily move between computers.
 
IK Multimedia is the biggest pain to authorise the first time when you've moved to another/new computer.