anydmusic
Steinberg do offer a solution to the single point of failure on the USB ELicenser but it requires you owning a second USB ELicenser. One license, one active USB and one spare.
https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/206532304

Hmm...

In case of emergency, each USB-eLicenser registered on MySteinberg permits you to submit one online request for a Steinberg Zero Downtime license

The text can be interpreted several ways, but in the video, at 0:40 there are only 2 choices why you are asking for the code: "Broken eLicenser" or "Lost eLicenser".
And so it looks like the solution is what to do AFTER you have a problem, to have a possibility to (more or less) quick continue to work (go online, fill the form, receive email, put the code on the dongle... "Zero" Downtime?).
I mean there is no statement "you can put spare license on the second dongle to switch immediately when the first one is broken". Do I miss something?

It says that they give you a license that lasts for 25 hours to use while you organise a permanent replacement from support.

Not sure how it works and how they actually issue the permanent licence within 25 hours at the weekend or public holidays.

But they have clearly given some thought to the issue even if the solution is not perfect.

JohanSebatianGremlin
Probably a much better defense would be this. You can claim that their choice to use hardware in their licensing is absolutely useless all you want. But the fact remains that Sonar gave up due to lack of sales and Cubase is still a viable product. We can speculate about how much piracy played a role all we want and we'd still only be speculating, but the fact remains, one was easier to pirate than the other and that one is no longer a product.

Cakewalk had online authorization since 2015.
The discussion what is harder to pirate, online authorization of CW or dongle from Steinberg, will violate the rules of this forum. So please do not use "illegal fact"

azslow3
The discussion what is harder to pirate, online authorization of CW or dongle from Steinberg, will violate the rules of this forum. So please do not use "illegal fact"

What?

JohanSebatianGremlin

azslow3
The discussion what is harder to pirate, online authorization of CW or dongle from Steinberg, will violate the rules of this forum. So please do not use "illegal fact"

What?

JohanSebatianGremlin
but the fact remains, one was easier to pirate than the other.

Comparison of difficulty to hack protections, claiming one is easier to do

The East West sound sample programs require an iLok. I bought Goliath this last week and registered it with the ilok key I already have. The whole process took me about 3 minutes, and has been working fine ever since. It was actually pretty easy. It's one of those things that once you figure it out, it's gravy.

azslow3
Comparison of difficulty to hack protections, claiming one is easier to do

No, that part was simple enough to follow. I was more questioning the 'illegal facts' thing. Is that another one of those things where you're using your own personal definition of it?

bdickens
Why are hardware dongles (ilok, etc.) so bad?
I keep seeing people complain about them and / or swear they will never use any software that requires them.

I know, it comes up a lot. I for one, actually really like the iLok. I've (touch wood) never had a problem with it in over a decade, and I like that I can install plugins and software on multiple machines that I switch back and forth between, whether those machines are online or not.
What grinds my gears is that every tom dick and harry seems to be trying to make their own version, so now I need a usb port for an iLok, a Waves USB Key, a Merging dongle, and so on and so forth. 
 
Another thing I wish the iLok would have done from it's inception, is to be able to install your plugins to the ilok, to make it truly portable.
Say I go to work in a studio with protools, it would be really neat if I plugged in my iLok, opened protools, and I could use all the protools plugins on my dongle without having to install them on the studio's machine.
Go to another studio running, say, reaper, stick in the iLok, open Reaper, and all my VST plugins are available without having to install.

I will add another perspective, Before I retired I was responsible for managing various technical software licences. We had around 60 dongles for one particular piece of software distributed over may countries. Licences got moved around the world as required. While this meant physical shipping they still caused far less issues than other means of licencing.
 
Over around ten year I think we lost (stolen?) two which were gone for ever and broke one which was replaced.
 
People using multiple dongles on a laptop (some times as many as four) often used a small hub mounted a small piece of wood or similar which kept it all together.
 
I have had an eLicencer for several years and its not given me any issues. I am considering getting an iLok as I have a growing number of products using iLok PC based licencing.

ooblecaboodle
What grinds my gears is that every tom dick and harry seems to be trying to make their own version, so now I need a usb port for an iLok, a Waves USB Key, a Merging dongle, and so on and so forth. 
 
 

Further, you're at the mercy of every one of those to maintain the dongle solution and how they apply it to software releases.  Dongle A works for Version A, then a few years down the line Version A is no longer supported and they have developed a new dongle B to work with Version B, and "unfortunately" dongle A isn't supported either since it goes with Version A software...dongle A breaks and...you're done.  But no worries - just buy their new Software Version B!  
 
I see dongles becoming a new layer to screw customers as more and more people accept the idea.  The more dongles become normalized, the more of a screwing customers will take as a result of it.  Constantly inventing a new dongle platform and style, and linking it to software support.  
 
I'm still using windows XP Home Studio II and X1.  This machine will run for another 5 to 10 years, easy.  Yet, XP is no longer supported by Microsoft, and Cakewalk is over.  If both of those took a dongle, and either of them broke, I would be out of luck.  Yet, this "recording box" is perfect.  Nothing wrong with it at all.  
 
I just can't really contemplate the rage that would overcome my self control when faced with perfectly working software and hardware...but I'm out of business over a freakin dongle that was never in my interest in the first place.