Why doesn't iLok (and the companies they protect) allow you to have one iLok backup?

This has always confused me.  Both from a customer relations and (for iLok) a sales perspective.  Why doesn't iLok allow for your licenses to be backed up on one singular backup?  Especially now with new iLok2 which will hold (I think) 500 licenses.  I know that with your main iLok you can have as many copies of software on as many computers you want but can only use one at a time.  But since most companies today have seen the light and allow for 2, sometimes 3 instances to run concurrently on different computers (i.e. studio desktop and live performance laptop) it seems an opportunity missed by both iLok and their client companies not to provide this service.  First, the client company comes off as fair-minded and decent and, most important, customer oriented.  And iLok sells twice the number of iLoks.  And, unless my math is off, it, at worst, only doubles the instances of the software (which, as I stated above, is what most companies allow anyway) or, more likely, doesn't affect the number of instances in any meaningful statistcal way.  How much piracy is abetted by having a singular working backup iLok?? 

And why can´t you delete licenses you don´t need? Strange.

I'm curious to know if I'm the last person on the planet who absolutely refuses to spend an additional $35 just to be able to run my software. (Never mind that the gizmo probably costs 10 cents to make.) I was all set to buy the Antares Mutator Evo until I saw it required an ilok. Call me hard-headed, but I'm not gonna do it. Not now, not ever.

I'm with you JMA... I absolutely will not now or EVER do it.  If there is something that absolutely requires an ILok or similar device, I'll find another app to use to do that job.  The whole ILok thing is total bullcrap -I've seen so many get broken, lost, whatever and it's always always always a hassle.  Zero downtime??  SURE- if you pay them for a backup of your OWN information......???  anyone see the insanity in that?? 

How much piracy is abetted by having a singular working backup iLok??

 
Ol Pal... I completely agree
The only thing I can think to say in response...
How much piracy is abetted by using iLok... period? 
iLok doesn't prevent piracy... it's only an inconvenience to legit users.
That said... If you refuse to use iLok (on principal), you take a lot of nice plugins off the table.
Sic irony...  

have you looked into softliesencer or am i just not making my point..as a coustomer..and i say a paying customer there obligation is to sell you a product you can use..no what if for insyance for some odd reason you can get the ilok to work..i know it will but.if you get upset enough like i did..they have an obligation to help you..this is what idid..i wrote a strong letter stating i wasnt able to get this eliecncer to work and if it wont then i want my money back..well guess what..they sent me detailed instructions then i called and they walked me through the whole process of creating a soft lisence..no ilok friends.like jim said piracy will happen maybe this is why they were hesitant to show me how to do this i dont know..im not smart enought to figure out how to use something without an ilok never mind with it.
 
ps..i speak fluent english and was born and raised here..but my keyboard was not..sorry about all the mis prints.

Jim Roseberry

How much piracy is abetted by having a singular working backup iLok??

 
Ol Pal... I completely agree
The only thing I can think to say in response...
How much piracy is abetted by using iLok... period? 
iLok doesn't prevent piracy... it's only an inconvenience to legit users.
That said... If you refuse to use iLok (on principal), you take a lot of nice plugins off the table.
Sic irony...  

True.

And those who are dead set against using an iLok are really missing out on some wonderful recording software.

Ivory for example...

Not being able to back up (for free, without some goofy service that costs money to back up an unwanted 'service' that costs money to guarantee the use of software that costs money that I paid) was one of the primary reasons I ditched anything with an external dongle of any kind.

Back when I was using Cubase (versions 2 & 3), I saw FAR too many threads about lost/stolen/broken dongles ending with the reality of the person needing to re-purchase software. Really? No way.

This is apparently better now in some ways... for now... but I honestly disagree that you're necessarily "missing out" if you give them up. For some that may be true, but I have zero dongles now, and rarely ever feel like I'm missing out on anything.

Now, internal dongles don't bother me as much. Take, for instance, UAD plugs... the cards in some sense are effectively dongles in that if you don't have the card, you don't have the plug... but at least in that case:
- the dongle actually does something
- you're not likely to lose or break it, since it's connected to the machine in a more forceful way than USB
- it's not as likely to be stolen stand-alone

But regular iLok style dongles make me nervous. I've lost them before. They turned up, eventually, but for that month's-long WTF period of literally needing to re-buy something I've rightfully purchased... sucked. I don't have another $600, and I'm a registered user, so... help me out here: NO.

Of all the copy protection schemes, a singular piece of hardware that theoretically might have thousands of dollars of stuff on it, and is little, and brittle... no way.

If they allowed back-ups, and/or stepped into the 21st century and had a way to de-authorize for a purchasing user FOR FREE, I'd think differently about them.

- zevo

iLok allow you to have one iLok backup, for some licenses, software publishers may crave their approval prior to the separate transfer. Licenses that require an approval are so marked once you select your iLok in step one of the transfer process and click next.

musicman100

Jim Roseberry

And why can´t you delete licenses you don´t need? Strange.

Yeah... that annoys me (especially demos)

I haven't tried or read about transferring licenses to a new ILOK(like vcc would require) can you pick and choose the licenses to transfer? Just dont transfer the demos?

Yes ...you can transfer licenses from one Ilok to another, and you can pick and choose if you have 2.  
You can transfer licenses to another individuals Ilok for $25.
Ilok also offers an Online backup service to back up your licenses.

My question is why should I pay a thrid party to back-up and retrieve my licenses, I own them and I don't think it's right. I would rather pay the licensing company.

Only good thing with Ilok is you are protected and don't got type serial number every time.

I reluctantly sucummbed to the iLok so that I could use Pro Tools in addition to Sonar, which I now happily do. I know also now have a few Antares licences on it too. 

I'm totally against the Zero Downtime idea and won't pay for this. As a customer of the said products, I should have Zero Downtime as an intrinsic right, having bought the product licences. To have to do without access to these programs while a broken iLok is sent away is, in my opinion, unacceptable but obviously something I'm now prepared to grudgingly endure given that I have chosen to use an iLok.

Whilst I understand that piracy is a big issue, a paying customer should not be penalised for a company's anti-piracy measures. If there's a way to ensure a customer can remain up and running in the midst of an iLok failure, which Zero Downtime appears to be, then it should be free. Charging for this is a con in my opinion. Pace's decision to offer customers an opportunity to insure 'their' product against failure is dubious at best. It appears that it's bascially 'their way or the highway'. However, the highway need not be too baron.

Like Bitflipper says, there are plenty of alternatives out there.

Unlike some others who earn their living from recording, I'm fortunate enough to be able to endure a little downtime. However, my biggest fear, should I happen to have a broken iLok, is that it goes missing enroute in the mail despite sending it recorded and insured (additional cost alert!!). What then? Do I lose everything I bought? What is Pace's actual policy on this? Anyone know?

My understanding is that Waves enable you to recover licences of a broken USB stick? If so, why can't iLok do the same?

In short, I guess it depends on customers' preparedness to endure anti-piracy measures, up to a point, in order to ensure that companies continue to find it financially viable to develop and sell the software customers wish to use. There does, however, appear to be a fine line of unacceptability which prevents some people joining the party and I tip my hat to them for maintaining their stance on this.   

Regarding broken iLoks. I came across this. However, I'm unsure if the instances of broken iLoks you generally hear about are due to physical trauma. Any thoughts?
http://www.roklocker.com/Roklocker/Roklocker.html

jma


I'm curious to know if I'm the last person on the planet who absolutely refuses to spend an additional $35 just to be able to run my software. (Never mind that the gizmo probably costs 10 cents to make.) I was all set to buy the Antares Mutator Evo until I saw it required an ilok. Call me hard-headed, but I'm not gonna do it. Not now, not ever.

Nope not the last. I shall never do the iLok dance for any reason whatsoever

Q: Why doesn't iLok (and the companies they protect) allow you to have one iLok backup?


Because iLok sucks! Just the name refers to Macs---> i-stop, i-can't, i-crash, i-tune, i-plague, i-phones with no flash... i-sucks