Why I Boycott Products That Use PACE/iLok (and Why You Should, Too)
PACE is a form of copy protection used by many music software companies. It’s nearly ubiquitous in professional audio software. Unfortunately it is also invasive, prone to malfunction, expensive, and–like all forms of copy protection–ultimately ineffective. When I upgraded my music PC with a new motherboard, CPU, hard drive, and graphics card recently, I decided to make it a PACE-free computer. I’ve had so many problems with PACE over the years that I finally decided that it was time to stop using it: stop using any products I’d purchased which use PACE, and stop buying any products which use it. Unfortunately this rules out many fine products from companies whose work I admire, but so it goes. PACE has in the past rendered one of my hard drives permanently unusuable and on another occasion prevented me from using the product protected by it. (Those are just the most conspicous problems on a long list of mishaps.)
Fortunately I don’t depend upon many PACE-sullied products. I stopped using Max/MSP and Pluggo not long after I stopped working for Cycling ‘74. I had other PACE-bearing programs which fell by the wayside because of old age and neglect or abandonment by the makers.
The biggest inconvenience was that I had a small bundle of Waves plug-ins which I rather liked. This particular set of plug-ins was the same that became unusable because of a PACE malfunction on my previous music PC. In that instance, I put several hours of troubleshooting time, email exchanges, and ultimately a phone conversation with Waves’ technical support that culminated with the technician asking whether it would be “inconvenient” for me to reformat my entire hard drive. That was the end of that conversation, and the end of my dealings with Waves.
This points up the biggest problem with PACE: if something goes really wrong, the maker of the PACE-wrapped product can’t help you. They didn’t invent PACE, they can’t fix bugs in PACE, they often don’t even know enough about PACE to troubleshoot it (which is not so much a reflection of their ignorance but of the sheer arcane complexity of PACE and the amount of information about it which its makers do not release even to their customers). Their only recourse is to tell you to wipe your hard drive bare and start again. This is one of many reasons that Audio Damage doesn’t use PACE: we want to help our customers make music, and we don’t want to be in a position in which we have to say “sorry, can’t help you” if something goes wrong with one of our products. Of course, unlike Audio Damage, Waves doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee for their products, so in the end I was stuck with software I’d paid for but couldn’t use.
So, when I set up the new PC I sought replacements for the Waves compressors, equalizers, and other plug-ins I could no longer use. Fortunately there’s a youngish company called Sonalksis that makes excellent compressors and EQ plug-ins, and they don’t use PACE. Their products are top-notch and they’re generally great guys.
I didn’t have to look far for a replacement for the Waves Doubler: I knew that Audio Damage’s Discord 2, while not specifically a doubler per se does at least as good a job, if not better, of creating doubler effects. I know because I A/Bed them when I was coding Discord 2.
The one Waves plug-in for which I couldn’t find a good replacement was their SuperTap multi-tap delay. I used it quite often and, somewhat to my surprise, found that there just isn’t another good multi-tap delay plug-in on the market. I thought that PSP’s 608 MultiDelay might do the job, but sadly they too have gone over to the dark side and now use PACE on their products. (Too bad; I literally had their Vintage Warmer plug-in in my audiomidi.com shopping cart when I found this out. I deleted it from my cart.)
After trying and discarding a few freeware delay plug-ins, I started to feel somewhat resentful (again) that I couldn’t simply use the plug-in which I’d already bought. Eventually I caved in and decided to install my Waves plug-ins on my new PC. I went to the Waves website, logged in to my account, downloaded the latest installer, and retrieved my iLok from the shelf upon which it was gathering dust. I backed up my hard drive (”once bitten, twice shy” and I’ve been bitten way more than once by PACE), launched the installer, and held my breath. The installer almost immediately informed me that it had to restart my PC, so I let it. It launched itself automatically after the PC rebooted, started the installation process, and then my good faith and efforts were rewarded with this:
(If you’re lucky enough to have never seen this display, it’s what’s known as the Blue Screen Of Death. A PC running windows puts this up when something goes really, really wrong and the OS makes the unilateral decision to bring all proceedings to a halt in order to prevent further mishap. Seeing this screen is the computer equivalent of seeing your car deploy its airbags. Under normal circumstances it’s a very rare event.) I think that this is the first time this PC has put up a BSOD. I should state that there’s nothing particularly unusual about this machine from the standpoint of being a Waves customer. I use it exclusively for making music, so it doesn’t have much of anything installed on it that isn’t related to making music. It doesn’t have any development tools or debuggers, doesn’t have any desktop widgets or other gee-gaws, and doesn’t have any prior installations of PACE-burdened products. The only thing the machine has in common with the previous machine–that is, the one on which I had problems that the Waves support people couldn’t solve–is the case, keyboard, mouse, and monitors. It doesn’t even use the same CPU brand: the old machine had an AMD processor, the new one has an Intel. (I think that I even upgraded the power supply at some point.) I’m probably using a different version of the Waves installer, given the time that elapsed since the last time I tried to install these plug-ins and that I downloaded the current installer from the Waves website. In short, it’s a different machine, and yet in a completely straightforward, no-nonsense installation of a PACE-”protected” product, PACE caused the machine to crash hard.
Obviously I’m not going to waste my time trying to solve this issue. I’m not even sure whether Waves would attempt to help me if I asked. I haven’t been paying my WUP fees; that is, I haven’t been paying Waves again for products for which I’ve already paid them, just so that I can continue to receive the same incompetent support that I’ve received in the past. Instead I restored the entire hard drive to the state it was in prior to this latest PACE fiasco, thanks to that backup I made.
As an experiment, I took a quick look around the ‘net for pirated copies of the same Waves products that I’ve paid for. In less time than it took me to download the new Waves installer, run it, and have it crash my PC, I located three different sources from which I could download pirated copes of the same products as well as most of the rest of the Waves product line. (Maybe the entire product line–being an ex-Waves customer, I’m not particularly up on what their current offerings are.) PACE doesn’t stop piracy; any copy-protection system can, and will be, defeated. What PACE does do is prevent legitimate users of software products from using products which they’ve paid for.
This sorry state of affairs will persist for as long as the software-buying community tolerates it. Piracy is a given; it’s not going to go away. Draconian systems like PACE won’t stop it. Software vendors will justify their use of PACE by saying that it’s necessary to stop losses due to piracy, but this is a lie. There are many successful companies–Audio Damage included–that demonstrate that it is possible to succeed in today’s software business without resorting to customer-hostile practices like using PACE.
Think about it: by choosing to use PACE, a software company is in effect announcing this: “We don’t trust our customers. We believe that a majority of them will attempt to make illegal copies of our products, even after they’ve paid us for them. Hence we will force them to tolerate an invasive, error-prone protection mechanism. If this protection system fails to operate correctly and prevents them from using our products, we won’t be able to help them, since we don’t have the ability to fix PACE problems.” How interested are you in supporting companies that make this announcement?
Please note that I am not by any means advocating piracy. Don’t think that the rationalization “Waves uses PACE so they deserve to have their stuff pirated” is in any way valid. Using pirated software is stealing, plain and simple. If you use software, pay for it–but consider using and paying for software that doesn’t use PACE.
Vote with your dollars. Don’t buy products that use PACE. Ask companies whether they use PACE before you purchase their products, and if so, explain to them why you’re not giving them your business. (Be polite: Nobody likes to get angry, profanity-laden email. Be professional and explain your reasoning from your perspective as an honest customer.) Ask retailers the same thing before you buy something from them. Support companies that don’t use PACE by buying their products.
Or, if you prefer, keep doing business with companies that assume you’re a criminal and treat you as such. It’s your choice.
Posted: December 2nd, 2007 under Audio Damage.
Comments
Pingback from Stefan Goodchild » Blog Archive » Audio Damage’s Adam on PACE’s Suckiness
Time December 3, 2007 at 3:51 am
[...] coding brain behind the genuis that is Audio Damage has written a new blog item up explaining why he doesn’t do [...]
Comment from Martin
Time December 3, 2007 at 4:21 am
I totally agree. Personally staying away from PACE protecting software myself, but mainly because I think that USB ports should never be wasted, ie. the iLok should do something more than just ‘authorize’ a piece of software.
Recently bought a TC Konnekt 24… which has built in DSP in order to run a TC reverb and compressor. Now that is a ‘useful’ dongle.
cheers
Comment from adam
Time December 3, 2007 at 10:08 am
I have two Syncrosoft dongles, between them containing registration for 4-5 products. I’ve had only one problem with them, and that turned out to be my own mistake and was easily corrected.
Your point about the iLok being a component common to the two systems is a good one, but it’s not valid: the iLok wasn’t connected to the PC when I ran the installer, and has never been connected to that PC. Yes, there’s no way you could have known this from my description.
Max/MSP uses PACE. Challenge/response is–or can be–a form of PACE. It was the standard mechanism for PACE prior to the introduction of the iLok. There are challenge/response CP systems that aren’t made by PACE, but if a product can use an iLok as its validation mechanism, chances are its challenge/response mechanism is PACE also.
Comment from robbneu
Time December 3, 2007 at 10:41 am
I stumbled into the whole iLok stuff a while back, trying to get a *demo* of a plug-in working, and it hosed Logic on my computer. The guy I emailed at iLok was less than helpful in resolving the matter, but after removing the iLok stuff, everything worked fine again. I decided that I wouldn’t mess with iLok again after that. I just didn’t think it was worth the hassle just to try out a demo.
There’s a really fine line between protection schemes and handcuffs. I pay for the software I use, just like I pay for the music I own. Given that I’m honest, I don’t have a lot of patience for the hoops I need to jump through when a company just assumes I’m trying to somehow cheat them, and I choose not to support those companies that have that mentality. Some copy protection is fine. I have no problem with companies protecting their hard work, but iLok is above and beyond that. At least, in my mind.
For what its worth, you have the option with PSP stuff to use either iLok or a “key” which is an authorization key that uses “native authorization” according to their web site. When I upgraded to Vintage Warmer 2 from 1, I went the native authorization route. I’m assuming it’ll cause some headaches when/if I upgrade my computer, but for now, I’m still proudly iLok free on my MBP.
Great blog!
Comment from robbneu
Time December 3, 2007 at 10:58 am
I should have read the comments more carefully before posting. It sounds like maybe Vintage Warmer *is* using PACE, then, given your description of the whole challenge/response thing.
That’s really disappointing. Vintage Warmer is one of those “can’t live without” plug-ins for me. While it seems to be working just fine, I worry about the future.
Comment from idiotboy
Time December 3, 2007 at 11:05 am
PACE sucks. Also, I’m a big Ohmboyz fan–try their delay.
Comment from synthetic
Time December 3, 2007 at 11:09 am
It’s a shame that 90-95% of music software is pirated, if not then we wouldn’t need copy protection at all. It seems that most companies selling music software are just scraping by. The only ones that are very successful use hardware for copy protection: Digidesign (buy our overpriced hardware and we don’t care what software you steal) and Apple (ditto). I guess you could add Waves to that list with the iLok. Apple’s price drop of $499 for Logic Pro is going to scale down the price of all music software and make things even tougher.
Comment from CarlLofgren
Time December 3, 2007 at 11:33 am
Why does PACE suck? Of course different manufacturers make things differently, but I am so surprised about the dongle situation on Cubase.net. I just don’t get it. It actually works without problems – so why are the lot complaining about it all the time? Well… if you lose the bloody thing – then it’s a quite different matter. As it should be considered that Cubase.net is the most moaning and negative community I’ve ever joined. But seriously. Why does PACE suck? From your C74 days I’m sure you got a better insight than most (and equally sure you signed agreements to keep your mouth shut).
Comment from Chris Randall
Time December 3, 2007 at 12:41 pm
I dunno ’bout “scraping by,” Jeff. Of the group we’re in (PSP, Ohmboyz, Sonalksis, et al) we all seem to be doing pretty well, and of that tier, we’re smaller than most of them. I make a pretty good living, all other things being equal. I mean, I don’t own a house or have 3 cars or anything, but I can pay my rent and keep my wife clothed and fed.
In any event, I also use Synchrosoft, obviously for Cubase, for Giga VSTi, and for one other thing, I forget what. It is actually relatively problem-free, other than some minor issues with not being that happy about Vista when it first came out. So it’s certainly possible to have a nearly transparent dongle process.
Personally, of all the big companies, I find Native Instruments’ copy protection scheme to be the most pleasant, other than the fact that I can never remember where to drill to get the downloads. I like the little app that does the authorizing and keeps track of what I need to update and shit. It’s really just a slightly more sophisticated version of what Audio Damage does with our website.
As for buying software then using the cracked version, that’s just gay. Not only are you supporting the company that chooses to use PACE, thus enabling them, but you’re supporting the cracking of software, thus enabling piracy. You’re like Typhoid Mary at that point.
Comment from adam
Time December 3, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I do not know whether PSP’s non-iLok authorization method is PACE challenge/response or not. I do know that they intend to use iLok more widely than they currently do; see for example this post on their forum: http://www.pspaudioware.com/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=000133#000000
But they do business with PACE, so sadly I can’t do business with them.
There’s no simple answer to the question of why PACE sucks, aside from the observation that it’s a very complex product that attempts to solve a very difficult, and ultimately unsolvable, problem.
Why not buy the product and use a cracked copy? What Chris said, in short. Also there’s the problem of obtaining a clean crack without also obtaining a whole raft of viruses, spyware, etc. in the process. It’s also entirely possible that a cracked program will be damaged in some manner that makes it less reliable than it would be under normal circumstances.
–Adam
Comment from adam
Time December 3, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Ohmboyz do nice work, but their delay isn’t really what I’m looking for.
Comment from CarlLofgren
Time December 3, 2007 at 3:33 pm
“I find Native Instruments’ copy protection scheme to be the most pleasant, other than the fact that I can never remember where to drill to get the downloads. I like the little app that does the authorizing and keeps track of what I need to update and shit.”
It’s neat, I agree. It’s also a step forward in their copy protection. I read about this guy over at the NI forums, who started ranting about some software he bought wouldn’t install on his computer. Reason why, was because he had Traktor (or whatever) with an invalid serial installed as well. But they (NI) were quite cool about it. Uninstall it and all will be fine.
Pingback from Create Digital Music » Developer to Users: Boycott iLok and PACE
Time December 3, 2007 at 8:06 pm
[...] Why I Boycott Products That Use PACE/iLok (and Why You Should, Too) [...]
Comment from nooga
Time December 3, 2007 at 8:52 pm
I’m also trying to stay ilok, and Pace free. I don’t even like using authorization/registration schemes, it’s a PITA backing up, or relying on a company ’s server or tech support to be open in order to use the software you paid for.
My favorite type of software protection is watermarking… as used by soniccharge in microtonic, or Devine-Machine’s Lucifer.
Pingback from Should copy protection schemes like iLok and PACE be boycotted?
Time December 4, 2007 at 5:31 am
[...] writes on his blog: PACE doesn’t stop piracy; any copy-protection system can, and will be, defeated. What PACE does [...]
Comment from From a Mac Lover to a Mac hater
Time December 4, 2007 at 8:36 am
Ehm…. This is why I boycott computers that use Windows (and why you should, too)!
))
Seriously, I feel your pain, but I have to say that with AudioEase, Celemony, Soundtoys, Antares products and iLok I haven’t got a problem, on my Macs.
It’s known that Waves has its own way of implementing the Pace stuff, unfortunately. I prefer not using Waves stuff anyway.
Comment from Anonymous
Time December 4, 2007 at 8:45 am
There is actually a good case for picking up a crack for stuff you own. What if the company goes out of business or for any other reason decides not to authorize the plugins? In this case you are SOL without a crack. Users who pay good money have a right to do what is necessary to protect their investment. Maybe if the developers trusted paying customers more this wouldn’t be necessary.
Comment from adam
Time December 4, 2007 at 8:54 am
Um, nice try, but most of my history with PACE happened on Macs rather than on Windows machines, because most of my history with music software happened on Macs. The incident I referenced in my first paragraph, “PACE has in the past rendered one of my hard drives permanently unusuable,” happened on a Mac.
Comment from Patrik Rydberg
Time December 4, 2007 at 9:04 am
I have a copy of Motu Mach5 that I can’t use. For some reason, on win XP sp2, I get BSOD:s every now and again, having to do with the pace driver. I have been in contact with both Motu and pace, and they both blame each other.
Well, no more Pace/iLok for me. Also, in general, I think really hard before buying software with any kind of copy protection. I do sometimes, but never Pace, and not unless the software is quite a bit above what I can find without.
Comment from Anonymous
Time December 4, 2007 at 10:05 am
Patrik, there is a crack of Mach5. I recommend picking this up if you can’t sell Mach5 so you can at least continue to use what you payed for in a stable fashion.
Pingback from Slapdelay » Why I don’t boycott PACE/iLok
Time December 4, 2007 at 1:18 pm
[...] came across this article via a post on Create Digital Music. The title of the 0article suggests we all boycott PACE/iLok. [...]
Comment from Justin Frankel
Time December 4, 2007 at 11:27 pm
I completely agree, and we do not have any dongle or invasive copy protection in our DAW, REAPER.
Speaking of which, we’ve just updated our ReaPlugs VST suite (which include some of REAPER’s built in FX, made available for other hosts), to include ReaDelay, our multi-tap delay. You might wish to try this. These plug-ins are free, and available here: http://reaper.fm/files/reaplugs.zip
-Justin
Comment from Justin Frankel
Time December 5, 2007 at 12:53 am
Actually (sorry to update), here’s the new website for reaplugs:
Pingback from Entwickler an User: Boycott Pace und Ilok | DIGITAL AUDIO SERVICE
Time December 5, 2007 at 4:53 am
[...] CDM berichtet, Adam von Audio Damage hat einen Aufruf zum Boycott von PACE und ILok an seine Softwareschmiedekollegen [...]
Comment from genie
Time December 5, 2007 at 6:23 pm
PACE/iLok invasion is going to be a problem for both music industries and consumers.
Pingback from MusoTalk>Music-&Soundproduction Magazin » Blog Archive » MusoTalk 105 – Der VST Stammtisch – Jack the Reaper
Time December 7, 2007 at 12:01 pm
[...] reden über: den neue Geheimtip am Softwarehimmel: REAPER, den Aufruf zum Kopierschutzboykott, die Apple Polizei und warum Musik wichtiger als Sex ist. Dabei Kai [...]
Comment from Mike
Time December 8, 2007 at 2:16 am
Maybe your iLok is broken?
And yes, bluescreens appear more often than you may think. 
I’m using PACE iLok and Syncrosoft Keys on my PC with Digi 003 Rack Hardware and two UAD1 Express Cards and Cubase Studio 4. I NEVER ever had any troubles with my “overloaded” System. BUT! I don’t use Waves Stuff, and i never will use any Waves Stuff. There are many reasons why… (but not because they use iLok)
So, don’t blame it all on iLok. Because other great Software works perfectly with it iE U.R.S. or McDSP Stuff.
And NO, i wont stop using great Software because of it’s copyprotection.
So, send in you iLok to PACE to check if it is broken or not. Let somebody check your PC System who knows what he does.(check for BIOS settings and Updates)
SOLVE PROBLEMS INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING ABOUT IT!!
Sorry, but i can’t agree with your way of solving problems.
Comment from Adam
Time December 8, 2007 at 10:05 am
Mike: if you’d bothered to read my comments, you would see that the iLok itself has been ruled out as the source of the problem.
You’re right that it could be the Waves installer itself, but this is far from the first time I’ve had trouble with PACE-protected products.
Regarding your suggestion to “Let somebody check your PC System[sic] who knows what he does. [sic] (check for BIOS settings and Updates[sic])” you clearly have no clue whatsoever who you’re talking to or how much experience I have with PCs.
As far as solving problems instead of complaining about them, that’s exactly why my company does not use PACE.
Comment from corecode
Time January 8, 2008 at 9:17 am
Citing from wiki about iLok and PACE:
Criticisms
* The PACE iLok is often found responsible for computer software problems, including boot failures, shutdown failures as well as hardware malfunction. Such problems are not easily resolved due to the fact that additional “Copy Protection Drivers” (TPKD.SYS and similar) are not uninstalled when associated product is being uninstalled.
* Due to the problems that the protection introduces to legal costumers, companies such as Prosoniq and Audio Damage had to stop using it.
* The iLok often comes under fire in software user groups since the user must purchase the physical key itself in addition to whatever software the user is licensing. Software manufacturers have the option of providing the physical key to their users as well and some companies such as MOTU do include the key with their software. Additionally, there is a per license charge that the software vendor must pay to the iLok manufacturer which would have to be included in the software purchase price.
* Some software covered by InterLok requiring an iLok has been cracked by several different cracking groups.
* Some users of the software it restricts question the point of having a restriction which can make legal customers suffer while illegal users can use the software it covers.
* The PACE protection scheme is sometimes viewed as malware, as it installs itself to a kernel driver level unknowingly to a software user, does not uninstall along with the associated product, and contains many mechanisms that cause the computer system to misbehave. It is even stated on the official PACE website that it might sometimes cause random comuter reboots or halts whenever the iLok drivers detect certain debuggers or similar software running.
* Due to its physical size, the iLok can be a burden to users having a limited number of USB ports. This is particularly true for users of notebook PCs, where space between ports is limited, and USB devices are frequently being swapped.
* Some applications will crash or behave erratically if launched accidentally while the iLok is not present.
* The whole protection relies on the fact that it continuously monitors all computer activites at all times, even while “protected” software is not running or is uninstalled, and to crash, reboot or halt the computer whenever it detects a threat such as a debugger, analyzer or memory monitor tool being run. This significantly slows down the operation on any computer environment, and makes computers crash on various unrelated occasions. However, for PACE to be an effective protection, it requires hackers to have only one computer running all tools and software being hacked on, what is completely absurd. Even computer science students for hacking experiments use two computers – one clean with the software in question, and another one – with all the necessary dissasembly tools. Computer with software in question gets hibernated at the interesting points, and the harddrive with hiberfile is connected via USB to another computer to collect and analize memory dumps.
* PACE is not compatible with products restricted by rival method ASProtect. ASProtect has been used with certain pro-audio products including those from Alien Connections.
~~~~~~ end of citation
Enough information for avoiding this yet-another-unstoppable-unbreakable-copy-protection-revenue-improving technology
Comment from Imaxian
Time February 18, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I have similar problem… but in my case, I can’t install any waves application in my new pc…(no matter it’s a demo, or the full version I bought years ago, which run perfectly in my old machine) I was switching all my music software (sonar, audition.. bla bla bla) to the new pc for thousand reason, hoping it will run Waves plugin like my old pc did…
no matter how many times I have tried, (whether with the ilok plugged or not) , that during the first few mins. of installation, the machine reboot automatically……
Comment from Mitchell
Time February 23, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I’m with you.
I am finding out if the challenge/response of wayoutware and PSP are PACE’d…
iZotope is great in this regard. You can use an iLok or C/R, but the C/R is NOT PACE. It’s THIER OWN SYSTEM.
Comment from adam
Time February 23, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Let me know what you find out. I’m pretty sure that WayOutware (WayOutWare? whatever) uses PACE. I don’t know about PSP except that there’s a posting from them on one of their forums that suggests that they’re shifting all of their products to PACE.
I thought iZotope’s C/R was not PACE; thanks for the confirmation. It just doesn’t “feel” like PACE.
Comment from Peregrine
Time April 11, 2008 at 4:08 am
It’s a shame that you feel this way against PACE/iLok. Although, I can empathize, but not on the same wavelength. I’ve had my share of hardware/software problems, but none yet to speak of with the iLok. It’s currently running error free on 3 different computers, running 3 different operating systems, with 3 very different hardware configurations. All 3 that I use daily. They’re all in use for protools, and I’ve yet to see why a company should have any aversion to copy protection of this level.
YES, I will 100% wholeheartedly agree that no copy protection is foolproof, and there will always be ways around it. However, that makes it all the more reason for there to be more securities. Music software isn’t the only thing using keys nowadays. AutoCAD, and Lightwave have also key-based security systems. And, of course, there are cracked versions of the same software.
Here’s the kicker.
A home user, who wants to mess around with AutoCAD, or Protools, or whatnot, isn’t going to spend the hundreds or thousands that this software costs, because he isn’t using it professionally.
But if you go to a school or business, I guarantee every computer you see running high end software has whatever legitimate hardware that goes with it. Why? Because a company must have legitimate software to make money, especially a respectable one, or it can be SUED MANY THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. It’s happened.
Think about it. A company using software to make money… that they didn’t even pay for. Messy. So of course, measures are taken to make sure software is secure. Besides, without properly registering a good high-end piece of software, you forfeit all support and upgrades. Especially since a lot of companies will render the last round of cracks inoperable, so you have to constantly stay a step or two behind.
Either way, its easy to be biased when you’ve had personal problems with the system; but at the same time, if steps weren’t being taken, it would be a LOT harder for these software companies to make any money at all.
Comment from Adam
Time April 11, 2008 at 8:31 am
Thanks for your comments, but I’m afraid that you’re dead wrong about something:
“But if you go to a school or business, I guarantee every computer you see running high end software has whatever legitimate hardware that goes with it. ”
This is simply not the case. Universities in particular are notorious for buying one copy of a program and installing it on dozens of lab machines. Academics often use the rationalization that educational institutions have some sort of special priviledge that makes this acceptable. Businesses commonly do the same thing. Do some googling if you don’t believe me. Here’s one headline I found within a few seconds: “2005 saw nearly 300 investigations of corporate software piracy”.
There are plenty of companies making money selling software without using PACE, mine included.
Comment from Peregrine
Time April 12, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Well, as I said, every “respectable” business. That headline implies that those businesses were caught. I’m not saying “every” business has legit software, I even know of a few personally that don’t. However, I wouldn’t pay someone money to use professional software they didn’t pay for. How do I know that this person is even a professional in their trade if they won’t even support the technology that allows them their trade in the first place?
My point is, if a business wants to appear professional, they have everything tied off, dongle and all. The school I went to, had all the hardware, and even gave us the low-down on iLok keys. Every studio I’ve ever been to that runs Protools, runs iLok. Every animation studio, has their dongles, same with design labs. Clearly, if the businesses doing it are getting caught, then something is working right.
I’m also not talking about basement studios, or home businesses. Of course people working out of home are going to cut costs by pirating software.
As for schools, they usually have special copies of certain software that either bypass securities, or negate them altogether, but thats all the discretion of the software company, and not the school itself.
Lastly, all I’m saying is, how do we expect to continue to use software if everyone expects to use it for free? Especially software designed to MAKE you money. There’s a reason why it costs hundreds, up to thousands of dollars. They expect you to make it back, so the cost of the software, and the means to keep it safe shouldn’t even be an issue to those who are serious about their profession.
Boycotting iLok is simply boycotting all those softwares that wish to keep their product as safe as possible, which just seems silly to me. I’m not going to boycott some of the best made software in the world because I think it’s protection system is shoddy. Even if that were the case, unless it was actually affecting my productivity, I’d still have to make a pretty drastic decision. I didn’t get certification in Protools because I like the dongle.
Once again, I empathize with your personal issues with the hardware/software, but I have yet to experience any issues with anything specifically related to PACE or iLok. I’m also not asking you to change your mind, either. I’m simply hoping you’ll realize that not everyone shares your issues, and that iLok isn’t a ball and chain, it’s but a key.
Comment from adam
Time April 12, 2008 at 3:35 pm
“Lastly, all I’m saying is, how do we expect to continue to use software if everyone expects to use it for free?”
If that’s all you’re saying, you’re making no sense whatsoever within the context of my original posting. Where did I say anything about using software for free? I make my living writing and selling software? Why would I advocate piracy?
I’m closing the comments on this post. I’m really tired of being mis-quoted, mis-interpreted, and overhyped by editors of other blogs (naming no names).
Comment from CarlLofgren
Time December 3, 2007 at 2:02 am
Interesting & sad. The weird thing is I’ve been using Syncrosofts dongle for I don’t know how many years, and I never had any weird problems with it. But that’s besides the point. My reflection was that when you said you had changed all components since last time – that is obviously not entirely correct. The dongle is the same. Whether this could have anything to do with the f-ckups I don’t know – but personally I would be highly suspicious of that thing.
Re. Max/MSP. After we spoke about it on the AI blog, I’ve downloaded it and I sort of like it. It will take some months to get my brain into logical thinking mode again, but anyway. That is also besides the point. Max/MSP use iLok alright. But it’s not written in stone as far as I understand. You can use normal challenge/response codes as well.