I'm sure this is not the case but with what Dan just said, it is implying that you need the Command center to install Sonar. Tell me no! Please. 
I'm hoping that like as in the past I download Sonar on a different computer which has internet access. Transfer the software via an External drive to my DAW and install it. 
And then if I feel the need to install it on my back up DAW which is also off line I do not need to get a second set of numbers from Cakewalk. And that I do not really need this so called Command Center on every computer that runs Sonar. 
 
I would have rathered the USB elicencer if so. But I guess it's at least still easy to do, it will just require installing the Command Center too. And I sure hope we do not have to download the software for each computer, That would really suck. I pay $10 a Gig here in the bush. 

Camel Audio is out of business.

Challenge/response? Subscription? Where are people reading this stuff? Please tell me so I can pull it. Command Center couldn't be easier. Just login and install. No serials or Rey codes required. We did to make it simple and fast for customers to download. I thought that was cool.

If you want to authorize an offline machine you need to request it by logging into your account and sending a request file for the computer you want to authorize. Our EULA is very flexible but we're no longer allowing multiple machine installations without a logged request to prevent abuse of the system.
Its all automated so its not like you need to speak to someone. If your concern is about Cakewalk going out of business and the servers not being available, its standard practice for companies to have an escrow for such scenarios. We're owned by Gibson, its not like Gibson is going to go out of business soon :)
 

yevster

Dave000

I know that Waves is setup that way, Ik seems the same or moving in that direction.

Actually, Waves is not that way. You can save your license to a USB drive and it will just work on any machine where you have your USB drive plugged in.

IK is that way. The challenge and response are the same for a single machine, but to install on a new machine, you need to activate.

I don't mind C/R for a company whose future appears secure for years, but given Cakewalk's history, I wouldn't trust it with C/R.

Hum? I have a Waves License Center icon on my desktop. I think I would prefer the usb drive to be able to use the plugs on other systems. I think I can upload the license back to the cloud then to different systems but my other systems are off line... thanks for the info on the usb drive, something to look into...

well I guess this marks the end for all the box sets.

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk]
Challenge/response? ... Where are people reading this stuff? Please tell me so I can pull it.

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk] Our EULA is very flexible but we're no longer allowing multiple machine installations without a logged request to prevent abuse of the system.

Do you really have no time to drink coffee together?  

tlw
I'll admit that I much prefer the pre-2015 installation process because I can keep copies of the installers, serial and registration codes locally and reinstal on any PC capable of running Sonar even if Cakewalk the company no longer exists. I also have severe doubts whether Calkewalk could, as a final act of the company, remove all copy protection and make the installers a free download as Cakewalk staff have indicated on this forum. It would depend on the circumstances.

 
The installers are still on your local system, difference is they are all in a place you chose to keep them in. That's set in the CCC settings page---> "Download path". No real difference there, I assume you keep your other install files in a directory of your choosing.
 
Serial numbers are in your account area as they were before. You now need an activation response instead of a "Registration number". They amount to the same thing and you can generate one of those if you have Sonar offline on initial install. If you don't you don't need it because the CCC looks after it for you.
 

 
I don't know about the US, but in the UK if Cakewalk/their owners went bankrupt the software code and the possibility of charging for support would be regarded as a highly valuable financial asset by the reciever in bankruptcy. The reciever would be running the residual company, seeking to maximise its value so that the maximum possible can be paid to creditors, either by realising assets or selling the company. The owner (or staff) simply giving away a potentially valuable asset would not be allowed, and if the asset were given away at the point the company was clearly bankrupt but had not yet sought the protection of bankruptcy the owner/staff might find themselves in a great deal of trouble.
 
Having said that, the only alternative to Sonar I can readily see myself using is Logic Pro, and exactly the same situation arises with Logic as well. So I've just bought Sonar Platinum anyway.
 
I guess the safest answer is to not only back up projects and audio data but to also export all MIDI stems so that the project can be recreated, as far as possible, in other software if required.

Once activated it'll keep running whether offline/online/end of CW/end of the world etc. Of course there'll be no more updates or bug fixes in the case of the last two. However that's true of any company and if I thought like that I'd never buy any software ever...just in case.
 
Hope that covers your concerns.

Ric4001

FastBikerBoy

tlw
 
Once activated it'll keep running whether offline/online/end of CW/end of the world etc. Of course there'll be no more updates or bug fixes in the case of the last two. However that's true of any company and if I thought like that I'd never buy any software ever...just in case.
 
Hope that covers your concerns.

We don't know if the above is correct.  Cakewalk has not answered this question yet.  Change a hard drive, resize the partition, swap a motherboard, change a video card -- your activation file may no longer work and you'll have to get a new one.  That's the nature of machine specific activations -- they may quit working with changes to your machine. 

 
Yes they have. Keith did, a handful of posts above this one....
 

As Noel said, the .crq request file generated is per machine.  But once you receive the .dat file you can archive that for the machine and reinstall at any point and reimport that file.  You own it.  
Just like any other product key, it's good to back that up.  We thought a lot about your experience so changing the pc's hardware shouldn't invalidate your setup.

Ric4001
But access to the activation servers is a legitimate concern.

 
That's the direction all software is going. 
 

Does anyone remember Opcode Vision?  It was one of the most popular midi sequencers in the early days of sequencers.  It also required a challenge-response type of activation to install.  Gibson bought Opcode and shut down the Opcode Vision development.

 
I do research. I researched what happened with Opcode thoroughly before joining Gibson and talked with both Chris Halaby (Opcode's president) and Henry to get their sides of the story. They matched up perfectly. Chris emphasized he had no ill will toward Henry, and wished me success with Gibson.
 
Short form: Opcode was failing at the time of the acquisition. Most of the key developers had already left to go to Apple or another company. Gibson hoped to be able to resurrect the company, but around that time, Apple was about to introduce OS X and the people who could have made the transition were no longer at Opcode. The Windows version never got traction. At that time Gibson did not have the resources to create an entire software development team from scratch. Both Chris and Henry described the setup as one that was "doomed to fail."
 
If you've been following Cakewalk's progress since 2013, the scenario has played out very differently this time. As to all the people who said Cakewalk wouldn't last a year after being acquired by Gibson, Cakewalk is still here and doing much better than it was prior to the acquisition.
 
(And just FYI, over 80% of all acquisitions fail. I'm glad Cakewalk is in the 20% category.)

FastBikerBoy

John T
So if I'm reading this right, in order to activate the new Sonar, I need undertake a dangerous journey to Rivendell, put together a band of people who are supposed to protect me, then have one of them try to kill me, then literally walk to another country, one full of creatures who want to kill me, with my only protection the stupidest person from the former group, pick up a horrible little goblin who wants to kill me, literally walk up a volcano, and throw the only thing I own worth a penny into the lava, and then walk back. And I need to do this for every machine I install on.
 
Cakewalk are dead to me.

Lol.....you'd think so from some of the absurd paranoia floating around. 

What, John T was having a go at us?

bapu

FastBikerBoy

John T
So if I'm reading this right, in order to activate the new Sonar, I need undertake a dangerous journey to Rivendell, put together a band of people who are supposed to protect me, then have one of them try to kill me, then literally walk to another country, one full of creatures who want to kill me, with my only protection the stupidest person from the former group, pick up a horrible little goblin who wants to kill me, literally walk up a volcano, and throw the only thing I own worth a penny into the lava, and then walk back. And I need to do this for every machine I install on.
 
Cakewalk are dead to me.

Lol.....you'd think so from some of the absurd paranoia floating around. 

What, John T was having a go at us?

No he was going through the install procedure, per machine...

Yeah. Have fun, you have more patience than me. I've ignored a lot of the threads as they are just plain out of hand. I don't know how simpler it could be than reading the announcement followed by the FAQs.

cityrat

Keith Albright [Cakewalk]
As Noel said, the .crq request file generated is per machine.  But once you receive the .dat file you can archive that for the machine and reinstall at any point and reimport that file.  You own it.  
Just like any other product key, it's good to back that up.  We thought a lot about your experience so changing the pc's hardware shouldn't invalidate your setup.

That's extremely helpful info - does the dat file work if you change hardware on the computer?  For instance if a hard-drive dies etc?

Yes it does, its not hardware dependent.