Ableton are a bunch of thieves!

[chromaform]

So I reformatted by laptop, installed new version of the OS, and now I'm greeted with this lovely message that Ableton must individually "approve" my license to use the software. I spent nearly $800 on the Live8 suite with the APC40 package and this is the treatment I get? I have formatted this laptop a few times before, and that's probably why I got that message, but seriously? I'm going to make it a point to let everyone know that Ableton are a bunch of thieves. That includes sweetwater.com where I purchased it from. Horrible way to conduct business. Ableton will never see another penny from me, or anyone I personally know who's in the market. What Ableton has done to me is called "theft" in my book. I don't care what anyone else says.

[crofter]

Calm down, you just need to Email Ableton with good reason and you will be given further activations.

[oddstep]

Unlike thieves, they'll give you back your licence once you unlock it again. I hope you didn't embark on your crusade against Ableton's copyright protection strategy.

[agent314]

Try paying for it next time

[[stm]]

Hi,

I am sorry to hear you're feeling this way. The message you received merely means that we'd like to ask you to get in touch with us so we can add unlocks to your license by request. The built-in unlock limit is only there to ensure a single license is not authorized an infinite number of times, I hope you understand why.

Cheers,
Stas

[jrathkopf]

To the poster: Did you even try to contact Ableton before starting a crusade to slander the company name?

Seriously, you seem like a weirdo.

[Tone Deft]

Seriously, you seem like a weirdo.

definitely a weirdo.


I can't wait for the OP's dissertation on Live's audio quality.

[ze2be]

Seriously, you guys..

Gasoline is not the best liquid to stop a fire, but it makes for a potentially great fire show!

[fazedup]

Chill dude, seriously!! it is a minor problem! email them and you will soon have some more unlocks. I have screwed my computer up so many times and they have always given me more. Think it would be better if you calmed down before mailing them. I personal don't have a problem with the unlock process. Rather have it like this than be stuck to a dongle.

[agent314]

Look at this thief. It's sort of embarrassing, really - I mean, so plainly using cracks and then having the audacity to blame the company when they stop working?

Shame...

[crumhorn]

Shouldn't the collective pronoun for thieves be "A gang of thieves" or "A den of thieves"?

After all you wouldn't talk about a herd of grapes.

[Khazul]

Totally agree with the OP - Live's protection system is a right pain in the arse if you get caught out and seems uniquely able to turn a really annoying reinstall into thoughts of tactical nuclear strike on abletons HQs for sucessfully pissing you off so much with ther damned week-day only manual approval system, or even questioning whether you should rely upon their software at all.

Last time I got screwed over by this I had previously emailed them to ask for the unlocks to be put back upto 3 to avoid getting screwed over and they didnt so they earned several utter hatred points for that.

If you need to rely upon Live and be 100% sure of having a functioning laptop for a gig - then you need to make other plans - extra pre-installed computers, fully tested HD clone+restore etc process etc (and remembering to retest whenever you need to remake the clone for eg because you added some essenial plugins you want on the clone) and remember to make rebuild notes so you can actually get up and running in a hurry without screwing it up because you forget something that needed to be done after the restore ... etc.

If you have never been caught out by this by finding out to you horror you only had one unlock when you needed two on a friday eve, then Im sure you find it all rosey and wonderful.

[MartinOM28V]

OP is either comic genius or emotionally a 12-year-old.

[hacktheplanet]

I've had to contact Ableton a total of three times for more unlocks. They've typically gotten back to me within 24 hours. Really, not a big deal. Do you reformat every 8 weeks or something? Good lord.

[ze2be]

I see one point: system breaks down one hour before an important concert. And its saturday.

But fear not! Just bring with you a fresh download of the Live demo, and it will work. Actually the license will work for two full weeks, which chould be helpfull if/when your out touring. And when it times out, just download it again. But by then you have got a new licence from the Abes anyway.