marled
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!

Noel was very clear and the authentication process has not changed. Re-read his post

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
There is no "Gibson activation" site. Activation is handled both by the application and the Cakewalk webside back end.
BandLab have acquired all assets and that includes the website and back end. So nothing is going to happen to existing activation's during or after the transition to BandLab. If you choose the reinstall the software the same activation process with apply as before.
If we choose to change how this is done in the future of course we're going to make sure that existing customers are not affected so there is no need for needless worry.

What is happening now is a transition of customer data from a Cakewalk database to a BandLab database. The promise of an alternate method of activation is not based on a specific piece of hardware being decommissioned but a change to the activation process.

Bristol_Jonesey
The paranoia is rife tonight

Yeah, it is unfortunate that there was such a delay between the time Gibson shut down development and BandLab was able to announce their purchase. It has lead to a lot of FUD.

ch.huey
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?

Thanks for your comment.
But the only thing that worries me is that, concerning Sonar Platinum (and its activation) we have only a contract with Cakewalk and none with BandLab! So even if they run the activation servers now or soon, they will never be responsible to give us a permanent unlock when they decide to remove the Splat activation servers (for whatever reason)!

This is why it is important to create an account on BandLab. They own the SONAR activation process now and committed to keep the process the same or provide an alternate activation method.

scook
This is why it is important to create an account on BandLab. They own the SONAR activation process now and committed to keep the process the same or provide an alternate activation method.

Thanks scook! Your words in heavens hand!

after years of fully voice automating all functionality in Sonar to do whatever I need-  to queue up the instrument I was gonna lay down next so I could just sit with the instruments and make music  and not dick with the computer- it's magical how quickly I can create music - working with self created song templates that included extensively tweaked track and bus inserts, sidechains - lots of premastering included.  And now I'm so bummed   I was using cakewalk from the beginning when it was a dos midi only program - before microsoft had windows
 
I ordered cubase to take a look at, I love my german RME UFX interface so maybe the german Steinberg cubase will be ok

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 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)!

Cakewalk Inc is a separate entity, doesn't matter that it's a subsidiary company of Gibson. Who's gonna do the job  of making keys in a ghost company without workers ? Who's gonna deliver on it's promises ? Who's gonna keep the contract ? It's all gone man.
Presumably it's just a matter of months before the company is resolved, and with it  all it's obligations. I'm pretty sure it all perfectly legal. Thankfully BandLab is offering existing users to come along with the further development of the program, the alternative is a likely near term total loss and void.

marled

ch.huey
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?

Thanks for your comment.
But the only thing that worries me is that, concerning Sonar Platinum (and its activation) we have only a contract with Cakewalk and none with BandLab! So even if they run the activation servers now or soon, they will never be responsible to give us a permanent unlock when they decide to remove the Splat activation servers (for whatever reason)!

All of this is true. It is unfair from a certain perspective. I do believe that we should get the option that, at the end of life for Sonar Platinum, the option for a total unlock when it's no longer supported. But life isn't fair. We might not get that. In fact, we could be far worse off now than we are. But we're not. From another perspective, Bandlab really has no obligation to help us at all even with keeping Platinum alive. But they are as a show of good faith. There is more than one perspective here.
 
I think this is all the more reason to develop a healthy relationship with Bandlab and be patient. Don't expect a permanent unlock, whether or not you think you deserve it. Cakewalk owed it to you (or didn't), but Cakewalk can't give it anymore since Cakewalk isn't around, so it doesn't really matter. I truly believe that when that day comes, how we behave now, pushing and pushing or accepting that the sky didn't fall and things are good for the moment, may well determine whether they honor that obligation. They don't have to, but they may want to because we gave them time and space during a very hectic period for them, instead of breathing down their necks. They've shown good faith. I think if we return it, good things will come.
 
Again, we're not there yet, and they're not Cakewalk so it's kind of pointless to argue over the permanent unlock when we don't need it yet. I'm just happy nothing in my daily life is changing and I can keep on going without worrying about the activation.

 

Tacatta
Not sure if anyone can help me with this but here goes. I received the email from BandLab saying I should sign up with my original email, my problem is I am switching internet providers tomorrow and will have a new email address. I'm not sure if this will affect any emails I would need to get from Bandlab or anything else for that matter. I would have preferred to be able to change to my new email address now within sonar, but they are saying we must use the original email address.

This is from their facts page:
What if I have already made a BandLab account?
That’s great! We’re so glad to have you join the BandLab community – we know that thousands of you have already signed up!
 
So long as you signed up with the same email address as your Cakewalk account: you don’t need to do anything, we’ve already tagged your Cakewalk ID to your new BandLab account.
 
If you signed up with a different email address, please log in to either your BandLab or Cakewalk account and change the email address so the two match.

It was really decent of the Cakewalk folks to offer offline activation keys and I appreciate the spirit in which it was offered, but really, they had no obligation (contractual or otherwise) to do so once the doors closed, and if the truth were to be told, I really didn't expect to ever see any of those keys. That's not to say I doubted their word or intent, but I know how fluid things can be when things turn turtle on you.
 
So I'm more than good with BandLab's assurances. They aren't under any obligation (moral or otherwise) to carry out the late Cakewalk's promises, and it shows a lot of class that they are looking at ways to do so. More to the point, as far as Sonar is concerned they are the only game in town right now, right?
 
So I'm still using Sonar Platinum and I'm gonna keep on using it as long as it will run, and whatever BandLab comes up with will get a serious look-see from me. Noel's involvement is just the cherry on top.
 
Look on the bright side. Magix could have picked up Sonar. As far as I'm concerned (and this is just my opinion), Magix is the place where software goes to die.