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08-12-2011, 09:54 PM
I think it's the fact that software is tied to hardware, introducing a massive point of critical failure which can cripple a business. And to add insult to injury, it doesn't need to exist and - as proven by the massive amount of cracks available - is pretty much pointless in the first place.Originally Posted by Adam Eden
08-20-2011, 11:19 AM
how...where?
08-20-2011, 12:43 PM
Well, I don't see a problem with smoking dope in public. That doesn't change the fact that you can still be arrested for it.
You don't get to make up your own rules when you've bought something that is sold to you with a license agreement that clearly spells out what you can and cannot legally do with that software. You don't own the software, Blackmagic does. They sell you a license to use it, and that license contains certain conditions that they get to set, not you. If you don't like it, you shouldn't do business with them. I can't tell you not to do what you're going to do anyway. But I don't think it's either fair or right to state that you somehow have the right to either ignore or rewrite a license agreement that you agreed to when you bought the software - if you bought it. This isn't about moral judgements, this is about legal rights that they have and you don't.
08-20-2011, 12:48 PM
Whoa, calm down here, i haven't dpne anything yet...i started this thread because i lost my dongle......and tried to get some support from BMD which was not forthcoming, have you read the whole thread.?
08-20-2011, 12:56 PM
My reply was not to you. It was to the poster who suggested that removing copy protection is OK. I don't happen to agree.
08-20-2011, 01:21 PM
How do you feel about a dongle to protect software? do you think it is any more or less effective, is it easier for you as a user not to have to use and manage dongles? i know you use a fair bit of software yourself.
08-20-2011, 01:24 PM
Also consider that the dongle is what you are specifically purchasing. It is your license and key to operate the software. Anyone can freely download the software from the BMD web site. But as is specified in their EULA, you must have a valid license and key to operate it. You are not buying the software, you do not own the software, you do not own a copy of it, etc.. You have paid for the license to operate it when attached to that key. You lose the key, too bad, you're F'd.
...Which leads us back to the earlier posts in this thread. There are newer and better ways to license, key and protect software these days. Dongles are not the only answer, nor are they the best solution. Especially in a one-size-fits-all solution, which is what we have here. Yeah, it sucks you lost your dongle. And yeah, I wish BMD would step into the current decade and leave dongles behind. But it doesn't change the fact of how it is now. Sorry for your loss, I feel your pain. I've had dongles go AWOL over the years and it hurts.
The advocacy for software piracy is not something I view in good light either. I make most of my money from my software development ventures and IT business, not from shooting RED or doing post workflow, even though that may be where my stronger interests are. Most of my video production / RED or animation projects over the past few years tend to go hand in hand with some piece of software. And the notion that professional studios or whoever are buying software then locking away the dongles only to run cracked / pirate versions, is absurd. I'm sure there are some who do this because they're so afraid and mistrustful of their own employees or of dongles simply getting lost. But let's face it, that's giving in to irrational fear and paranoia. And tends to be a veiled excuse to operate the same software on multiple workstations. If someone ever questions, they can say "oh, no. we purchased it legally, see, here's my dongle". Any time you start running cracked software, you're in violation of the software EULA. In violation of the law in many places. You take the risk of running software modified by an unknown person, which could subsequently contain a virus or malware. But in most situations it simply may just not work 100%. Do you really want to be running software that my have a potential issue? Then if an issue is identified, you have to wipe that software, reinstall the legit version with hardware key, see if the issue is still there before calling support. Updates come out and you have to wait for someone to crack the update, then hope it works 100%. Come on, this is stupid. Sure you could crack the software yourself, it's not that difficult in most situations. But it still takes time to learn how and to put it into practice. Once again, it still takes some work to get it 100%, it takes time. My time is worth more than that most of the time.
I think I said it above in this thread, but real hackers and software hounds run dongle emulators, rather than monkeying around with modifying or cracking the actual software. But that still doesn't make it right. Best thing to do is to run the software with the appropriate hardware key. Take proper means to secure those hardware keys in whatever environment they're in. Even if it means placing them on internal USB headers and welding the system case shut. Yeah, been there, done that.
08-20-2011, 01:27 PM
1. Don't be so certain of your legal grounds here; your rights will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and in some places some clauses in such license agreements aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
2. If it ever comes to court, the software company would have to quantify their losses, since that's what they would be suing for. That could prove interesting...
3. I agree with your 'don't do business with them' suggestion; that's my attitude too.
4. If your business is critically dependent on software you don't have unfettered rights to, you don't own your business: 'they' do. IBM, through their mainframe software, 'own' the US government and most of the Fortune 500. Software license cancelled, withdrawn, or refused renewal? No more Ford or GM. No more US government. 'The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it' - Frank Herbert, Dune. That's one of the reasons I'm a tireless proponent of open source.
Mike (who made his living writing, testing & selling software for too many years)
08-20-2011, 01:35 PM
Thanks for the input mike.
08-20-2011, 01:42 PM
Jeff, it would be cool if we could be offered an option of having either dongle protected software or Key-code protected on purchase, i'm just about to purchase storm as well, sounds like what they are coming out with next is going to be very exciting. As for me, i just booked myself on the davinci Resolve training coarse this friday, here in london. So i'll probably end up buying Resolve AGAIN on friday....but i'll push for a good discount.. ;-)
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