When it comes to hardware support anything is possible but some things are more likely that others. Expecting BandLab to purchase IP from Roland to support hardware that Roland no longer manufacturers or supports falls into the unlikely category. Expecting better integration with currently manufactured and support devices is more likely but would have to be prioritized along with other feature requests. My guess is the priority right now is completing the transition and rolling out the successor to SONAR.

Wookiee
There is an element of wandering here please keep on track with the original post and updates.

Licencing is subject to change, as Bandlab have only purchased the intellectual property and code base of Cakewalk Inc. and Not Cakewalk Inc.

But this is exactly the problem! Even if BandLab kept the activation servers running for the former Cakewalk products under their hood, there would be no guaranty for a longer period, because they are legally not obliged to do so. IMHO it is now the case, there must be delivered the promised local activation key for Sonar Platinum, because the Cakewalk company is closed, their servers will be stopped soon and BandLab have not bought Cakewalk, only their assets. Thus the whole deal (selling the assets only and closing Cakewalk) is only legal if Gibson gives us the key to activate our software that we own for lifetime (as they have written in several documents)!

MandolinPicker
[...]
You have license to use the software. You don't own it - no matter how much you paid for it. Doesn't matter if your livelihood depends on it. Doesn't matter if you are a hobbyist. Any company that owns the software can shut down any of their servers at any time, even if it is required for your licensed software to run. They can do this and it is perfectly legal. They own it - not you.

This sounds like nonsense. If you sell perpetual licenses of your software, and then cancel the means of authorizing it ... you most likely would be obliged to refund the licencee monetarily. So yes, they can in theory do it ... but it will have a price ... it's not that easy to get out of your obligations. And Cakewalk Inc is still a legal entity.

BandLab Senior Management has stated without reservation that the authentication process for SONAR will continue unchanged. If you feel you have an issue with Gibson, take it up with them. BandLab have stated their plans.

Zo
So if the vs 700 is a taboo , then can we expect a dedicated surface for sonar ? Or deeper integration with avod artist serie for exemple ?

There already is the MCU and it's many compatibles. I think there are more important things to spend time on.

scook
BandLab Senior Management has stated without reservation that the authentication process for SONAR will continue unchanged. If you feel you have an issue with Gibson, take it up with them. BandLab have stated their plans.

I understand. But I feel somehow fooled. Noel promised that if the servers went down we would get a personal activation key. IMO the move of the servers to BandLab and/or the generous crossgrade offer DO NOT replace that, since they are not the successor of the Cakewalk company!

scook
BandLab Senior Management has stated without reservation that the authentication process for SONAR will continue unchanged. If you feel you have an issue with Gibson, take it up with them. BandLab have stated their plans.

This is in fact how I understand it, however, my concern remains that I want/need/think I deserve an authentication key for my Sonar platinum in its current state, so I can run it alongside the expectant BandLab version and for a myriad of reasons. One line of coding goes pear shaped and a decade of archives/assets become stranded. While I do remain optimistic, it's really a wait and see process. Also, for those folks who have had a gut full of vacated company commitments and unfulfilled promises that choose not to migrate over to BandLab, they too deserve a means of off line Sonar authorisation before the pin gets pulled on the servers.

marled

scook
BandLab Senior Management has stated without reservation that the authentication process for SONAR will continue unchanged. If you feel you have an issue with Gibson, take it up with them. BandLab have stated their plans.

I understand. Noel promised that if the servers went down we would get a personal activation key. IMO the move of the servers to BandLab and/or the generous crossgrade offer DO NOT replace that

Yes. And it's a more important detail than those who seem to know better are kind of skimming over, and regardless of what BandLab has articulated on the subject, there is no clear explanation on the topic. Once it's all been done and dusted is a bit late.

marled

Wookiee
There is an element of wandering here please keep on track with the original post and updates.

Licencing is subject to change, as Bandlab have only purchased the intellectual property and code base of Cakewalk Inc. and Not Cakewalk Inc.

But this is exactly the problem! Even if BandLab kept the activation servers running for the former Cakewalk products under their hood, there would be no guaranty for a longer period, because they are legally not obliged to do so. IMHO it is no the case, there must be delivered the promised local activation key for Sonar Platinum, because the Cakewalk company is closed, their servers will be stopped soon and BandLab have not bought Cakewalk, only their assets. Thus the whole deal (selling the assets only and closing Cakewalk) is only legal if Gibson gives us the key to activate our software that we own for lifetime (as they have written in several documents)!

Marled, I actually agree with you on this. But let's put this in perspective a little bit.
 
Gibson stopped active development on Cakewalk with little to no notice half a year ago or so. In the meantime, it's gone from looking like the entire platform and program was going to just wither and die on the vine, emergency activation measures possibly released by Cakewalk just so we don't get screwed. Now it's been picked up by Bandlab, a company that so far has said it will continue to keep the servers for activation online, if relocated (which they legally didn't have to do I think), and also but not only, wait for it, are coming out with a new version of Sonar that's NotSonar but based on Sonar, and taking some Sonar staff along with them. Meng has come across as very transparent, friendly and most importantly, respectful of how good the program is.
 
Let the dust settle for a while. I was freaking out over whether or not the servers for Sonar Platinum will be relocated - they are, so for the immediate future, nothing will change. Same Cakewalk Command Center. They are handling account migration, with a future new DAW. This is probably one of the best outcomes possible given what happened. A future and a present.
 
Whether or not we own the program - I had reservations before buying and I checked my emails earlier today. I'm old enough to remember when you bought software, you got it on a CD/DVD and had a serial, and it was yours, yours and yours. I was assured by Cakewalk that whether or not I purchased it outright or paid in monthly installments, that after that point, it was mine, the same as if I'd had a DVD with a serial in the old days. They would not take it away, or disable my ability to use it. This implies to me, and I did push them a little, that should it ever go belly up, they'd make sure I wasn't locked out. Call it what you want, but once it looked like it might, Cakewalk DID mention an unlock for all users who paid. But that was Cakewalk, not Bandlab.
 
Bandlab is keeping the servers active. They're developing a new DAW based off of Sonar Platinum. At some point this may come up, but right now, they have said they will keep the activation servers for Sonar Platinum online.
 
At some point they may have to deal with this issue of permanently unlocking it, but they aren't Cakewalk. Cakewalk is gone, and if you want to argue with Gibson via a lawsuit, get in line. Bandlab is treating the existing customers with respect right now, and support for what we bought from a company they didn't fully buy out.
 
How about we give them some breathing room while they figure out what is what? The activation servers will stay online, so nothing really changed in every day usage other than rolling updates (which stopped last year), and at some point the software will most likely become old enough to be legacy, and this conversation should wait until then. We're not there yet. I have a feeling that if it comes to that, given how Bandlab is behaving, that they won't pull a 180 and decide to just screw us all by dropping it one day with no future unlock if they decide to take the activation servers offline. They've barely had time to get up to speed on anything, and they don't really have any legal reason to do the good things they're already doing.
 
They're showing us the respect by showing us they aren't just going to drop the Sonar Platinum users by transferring the activation servers and keeping them online. Let's show them respect by not jumping the gun on demanding an unlock code since they're already doing more than one could argue they legally have to by keeping the authorization servers for Sonar Platinum online.
 
The day for the conversation about a permanent unlock for users who bought the program isn't here yet since there's no need at the moment, since the activation servers are online and the program still runs unchanged. They haven't set a deadline. Perhaps wait for that conversation when they do, since Cakewalk wasn't willing to give anyone a permanent unlock either while the authorization servers were up and running?

 

The paranoia is rife tonight