Cracked

[discoDSP]

Maybe my next plugin should have two separate builds (i.e. free and paid), but isn't is just a matter of time before someone leaks the paid version?

Yes, probably having to deal with a purchase using a stolen credit card and chargeback fees.

[noiseresearch]

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[davidguda]

random_id: I share a similar story to yours. I have my plugin on more crack sites than I have sold licenses. The way I see it is that is not worth the effort to make it more secure.
The follow up that I'm working on now though kinda makes having a license more worth while by loading and saving presets "in the cloud" as the kids call it.

[osiris]

That's why I support Tone2's authentication style. Watermarked keygen copy. If it's uploaded to a share site, they can tell who it came from. Their demo's come with limited presets/features/knobs disabled. That way, even if a demo is cracked, you don't get the whole product.
You know, I'd like to stick hot ILok's up every crackers a&&, and tell them what I think about what they've done.
Same goes with hackers...

[davidguda]

That kind of watermarking might be part of a solution but still adds some development complexity.

[discoDSP]

It's not a solution if customer uses a stolen credit card.

[noiseresearch]

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[noiseresearch]

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[Aloysius]

That's why I support Tone2's authentication style. Watermarked keygen copy. If it's uploaded to a share site, they can tell who it came from. Their demo's come with limited presets/features/knobs disabled. That way, even if a demo is cracked, you don't get the whole product.
You know, I'd like to stick hot ILok's up every crackers a&&, and tell them what I think about what they've done.
Same goes with hackers...

I don't buy from Tone2 anymore because of their bad attitude to paying customers (I've personally had such an experience) and their questionable copy protection which has been alleged to go a lot further than would be acceptable to ordinary people. Quite invasive and arrogant imho. Google is your friend here, if you want to investigate further.

I don't believe that crackers force people to download illegal product. So to blame them for what people choose to do with the choice is not the whole story.

Developers who spend way too much time pandering to crackers etc really piss me off. If I pay for your product, give me your attention. Don't be spending all of your time and energy on people who have no respect for you to begin with.

My 2C.

Good luck with your product. I'll be sure to try out the Legally available DEMO at some point.

[discoDSP]

Do you know that this ever happened? It seems for me a big effort for some VST Plugins or?

It has happened several times to us over the years. And gets better: chargeback notification can take weeks.

As said, you could survive as long as you provide good support, good software and good price/quality ratios.

[random_id]

Is this a SM creation? If so, did you use their copy protection? If possible, I'd use a 3rd party one next time.
Sorry to hear about this. It's ridiculous someone would crack an $11 plugin.

No, this isn't SM. It is C++ with the help of Cockos, IPlug/WDL, and Oli Larkin's great WDL-OL https://github.com/olilarkin/wdl-ol (actually, thanks to everyone that has a part of WDL and the support thread http://forum.cockos.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32).

I agree that it probably wasn't much of a challenge to crack. I also agree that my plugin is not nearly as complex as all of the crazy synths and effects people on this forum have created. It is slighlty painful that my cheap plugin was cracked, I can't imagine what people do when their $100+ plugins get pirated.

[noiseresearch]

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[hibrasil]

the thing that bugs me the most is not that it's cracked but that the crack sites have good SEO, and rank very highly. If you search for my plugin, the first page of results is full of pirated copies. The people who make these sites are laughing - making a lot of money from ad revenue, (possibly) at the expense of people who make things.

[DuX]

If it's of any comfort, I can bet majority of the traffic that happened on your website came from downloading the v1 plugin. I myself, when I saw you released v2 went to your website and downloaded free v1 plugin to test it and see if maybe v2 could be worth it.

Also, you and your plugins are very new to the scene. Have a little patience and don't proclaim disaster just yet. A good product is an advertisement in itself. Keep doing the great work, and you'll see what happens months from now. Of course, there is also a possibility of not having any success for a few reasons. First, there's a plethora of brilliant limiters available. Some of them freeware. I personally use a freeware limiter often [when I don't use the Fabrik C in Konnekt 48] because... and that brings me to the second point - limiting is not as popular as it was, and it will only get better. Yes - better, since people are finally figuring out how destructive to the audio limiters are. I personally limit my stuff just a few dBs, and just about any limiter can do it transparently, not to mention Fabrik C. So I think the time of limiters has passed. Try making something else. An "Unlimiter" would be a far better choice, like something SPL Dynamaxx "hardware plugin" is capable of. Try to be more innovative. Making a hamburger is not.

Cheers!

[Crackbaby]

I see this as more of a sound design tool than a limiter Lately i've been creating drumsounds and this has been used on every one of them!