Abletons Unprofessional Authorisation system-Online/Offline

[luddy]

I think Ableton's authorization policy and implementation are head and shoulders better than most other software vendors whose products I own. Ableton has been really helpful to me in a couple of pinches involving live shows etc.

The fact that Live can run full-featured in demo mode is fantastic IMO. I've run live shows in this mode before. It's a drag if you suffer a crash, because you can't save the mixer state etc., but otherwise it's unbelievably useful.

-Luddy

[rasputin]

rrright.. Reaper only costs 40,- or 150,-.. imo that's the real reason is has no protection because people are likely willing to pay for it..

That's what I did. Love Reaper to death. Sometimes I use it ReWired into Live strictly to get the big time display.

Someone commented "what if the company goes out of business?" This did happen in the 90s. I loved this Macintosh MIDI software called Opcode Vision. Opcode got bought by Gibson which promptly fired all the Opcode employees. Vision used an authorization system dependent on a 3.5: floppy disk.

After a couple years and a lot of serious anguished screaming by users, Gibson released the last version of Vision with copy protection removed.

I'm aware that something could happen to Ableton and I might never be able to use Live again. That's just the risk of non-open-source software.

Copy protection: since live 2.03 when I started, over several different Macs and PCs, I've never had a problem with them. But of course I'm just a hobbyist...

[Hermanus]

I don't understand the reason of such a thread.

Come on! when you save the unlock file, there's no problem with authorizations at all for further reinstall.

/me go back to making music, much more efficient than yadayadaing on the abe forum/

[friend_kami]

i was pretty stumped some days ago trying to authorize live. see, my computer just died so i am currently borrowing my girlfriends computer. shes running windows 7 so i had to authorize, then testdrive live to see if it worked properly on win7. problem is that each compability testrun requires a new authorisation. so the last one didnt go through, had to email them and now i got two extra unlocks. one is for my girlfriends computer, and the other one is for my replacement laptop which i should be getting pretty soon. im gonna uninstall it on my girlfriends computer when i get my replacement because she doesnt need it, still i have to beg ableton in order to be able to use the software i bought from them on a dualboot system, because i dont have any more unlocks.

int he past i have had to beg for more unlocks too, having upgraded computers, switching os's and so on and so fourth.
its shit annoying -.-

[3phase]

i was pretty stumped some days ago trying to authorize live. see, my computer just died so i am currently borrowing my girlfriends computer. shes running windows 7 so i had to authorize, then testdrive live to see if it worked properly on win7. problem is that each compability testrun requires a new authorisation. so the last one didnt go through, had to email them and now i got two extra unlocks. one is for my girlfriends computer, and the other one is for my replacement laptop which i should be getting pretty soon. im gonna uninstall it on my girlfriends computer when i get my replacement because she doesnt need it, still i have to beg ableton in order to be able to use the software i bought from them on a dualboot system, because i dont have any more unlocks.

int he past i have had to beg for more unlocks too, having upgraded computers, switching os's and so on and so fourth.
its shit annoying -.-

as long the "begging" is not really necessary and they are relaxed about it and dont get nasty and picky i wouldnt see a reason to complain.. would be however good to be able to get the authorisations count reset somehow as you can do with NI.. in the moment i run life only on one computer but had athorisations on my external drive in the crashtimes and probably still the rusty pc authorized that stays canibalized in the cellar.. so i might run into the problem aswell as soon i get a new laptop and want to start wright away.

[Mister36]

I ran out of unlocks yesterday. I didn't need another one immediately but thought I would request more for the future. I followed the link and did this and two unlocks were added to my account within five minutes.

I did not beg, just gave a simple reason for needing them (I'd run out and wanted more in case I needed them in the future) and they were not granted, they were added.

I don't see this system as being any worse or more infuriating than any other personally. It's especially preferable to a dongle too. Ableton alert you when you've run out, allowing you to immediately "top up" your unlocks for the future and, if the worst happened, you could just use the demo, surely?

I think of all the things that this is a bit of a non-issue. But that's just my opinion.

[3phase]

I think of all the things that this is a bit of a non-issue. But that's just my opinion.

true, and its defenetly false to call the system unprofessional.

even safe disabled demos are standard.
but on music software a not so good idea. on data processing software ok.. where the software does the work for you.. but on creativity tools?
I really have a policy to dont run safe disabled demos because i dont like to loose material created in the demo time... is pretty much the same as loosing good material in a nasty crash and creates the same set of emotions. not a sales argument at all IMO.

[Poster]

even safe disabled demos are standard.
but on music software a not so good idea. on data processing software ok.. where the software does the work for you.. but on creativity tools?
I really have a policy to dont run safe disabled demos because i dont like to loose material created in the demo time... is pretty much the same as loosing good material in a nasty crash and creates the same set of emotions. not a sales argument at all IMO.

as I said previously: you're not going to lose work done with the Live demo..

I think of all the things that this is a bit of a non-issue

+1

[friend_kami]

I think of all the things that this is a bit of a non-issue. But that's just my opinion.

true, and its defenetly false to call the system unprofessional.

even safe disabled demos are standard.
but on music software a not so good idea. on data processing software ok.. where the software does the work for you.. but on creativity tools?
I really have a policy to dont run safe disabled demos because i dont like to loose material created in the demo time... is pretty much the same as loosing good material in a nasty crash and creates the same set of emotions. not a sales argument at all IMO.

but it IS begging when you are emailing the company you bought a product from and ask them "hi, can i get a new authorisation because <insert reason here>". they coul djust aswell decide that no, youve had enough authorisations and leave you out to dry. so yeah, it is begging. its just annoying having to ask for permissions ot use a product you bought because you have installed a new os, are testing out different configurations etc. not everyone gets a computer and sticks with it; i try out different os's, change computer setups etc as much as i can. why? because thats my other hobby; computers. having to ask for permissions everytime is reallly annoying, no matter if they give you one or not; doesnt matter. its still annoying and should be fixed.

if you lock to hardware atleast then you wouldnt have to need a new one everytime you change os, or try out a compability mode or whatever. also makes it a bit easier to keep tabs of whos installing it in several devices; if you beg for an unlock means that you are installing it outside your normal useage computer, and THEN youd need to explain why (i need to do this soon when i get my replacement computer), and then ableton can assess the situation accordingly. doesnt solve the problem but it makes it a bit less annoying anyways; figuring out a protection scheme that doesnt require challenge/response, or the way we have now simply isnt possible without a dongle, most likely.