ILOK seems to be a rip off.

[wagtunes]

I do see the other side of the coin here.

If I didn't have to worry about these things breaking, I'd wish I could put all my 100 synths on one of these so I didn't have to keep a record of all my serial numbers or whatever else I have to have written down to get my software working again.

But then, if everything is on one and it breaks, you essentially have nothing to do for 2 weeks. That's not something I'd be looking forward to.

[llze]

yea, the last good one was about an update of the control center messing with licenses i think. Was a good one

[llze]

I do see the other side of the coin here.

If I didn't have to worry about these things breaking, I'd wish I could put all my 100 synths on one of these so I didn't have to keep a record of all my serial numbers or whatever else I have to have written down to get my software working again.

But then, if everything is on one and it breaks, you essentially have nothing to do for 2 weeks. That's not something I'd be looking forward to.

hm, you actually cannot register just about anything on it. Only the synths that actually require or support ilok registration. If you want to save up all your serials and stuff i'd suggest a password manager like 1password for example. Thats quite convenient to save everything serial or password related imo.

[wagtunes]

I do see the other side of the coin here.

If I didn't have to worry about these things breaking, I'd wish I could put all my 100 synths on one of these so I didn't have to keep a record of all my serial numbers or whatever else I have to have written down to get my software working again.

But then, if everything is on one and it breaks, you essentially have nothing to do for 2 weeks. That's not something I'd be looking forward to.

hm, you actually cannot register just about anything on it. Only the synths that actually require or support ilok registration. If you want to save up all your serials and stuff i'd suggest a password manager like 1password for example. Thats quite convenient to save everything serial or password related imo.

I know I can't. I'm saying I wish I could IF I didn't have to worry about these things breaking.

As for my serial numbers, they are all in a folder and backed up on another drive called synth licenses. I estimate in the event of a computer crash it will take me anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks to restore everything.

Thus, I am finally thinking about what things I really don't need anymore and am considering selling the licenses, those I can sell.

[kbaccki]

So you can store your licenses "in the cloud", then download them to a new ilok. Which means... buh dum bum... iLok has your freaking licenses. And they know the serial of your physical key. All they have to do is require you to send back the old/broken key. They crack it open and read the little shiny hologram sticker (yes, a sticker with a hologram on it) affixed to the inside. They could even do something fancy with a barcode or something. It's the same number as the one registered in your account. Imagine that! They put the little key serial in their little database so nobody else can transfer licenses to that key serial (which they know when you're transferring licenses), then they allow you activate the licenses (which they have) on the new key (the serial of which they also know). Simple. $5-10 at most for you to mail it to them. If lost, stolen, eaten by dog or toddler, microwaved, dunked in a vat of acid, or otherwise severely damaged to the point where they can't read the little shiny hologram sticker on the inside of the dongle, you pay the full freight for replacement and recovery per usual. All they need to do is match the number on the shiny hologram sticker with the serial registered in your account. And if you can produce fake shiny hologram stickers, then that's pretty cool, but it's not going to help you register existing licenses on more than one duplicate key.

The whole thing is encrypted. Accessing your ilok account is encrypted. The keys on the dongle are encrypted. The transfer of data to/from the computer over USB is encrypted so you can't snoop the read/write protocols. Whatever "recovery process" they're charging for the basic "your crappy $10 disposable USB thingy just died" is a farce. Shiny hologram sticker will do it. And if you ARE a master hacker with access to a shiny hologram sticker maker machine, and if you are SOO UNLUCKY to need 5 dongle replacements in a year's time, then yeah you're probably up to no good.

And I should add: proud ilok owner here. Lots of licenses.

[plexuss]

I have some news. Here is the correspondence I had today with PACE. I asked about fees. My query and then their reply. So the recovery fee is included in the $50 RMA fee and according to this guy also includes the cost of the replacement iLok. you have to pay to have it shipped to you. so you pay:

cost to ship iLok to PACE + $50US + shipping of iLok back to you from PACE

Seems fair to me.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
Hi. I'd like to get specific information related to recovering from a broken iLok key. If my key stops working, what are the fees that I would need to pay to you? So far what I know is: 1. I pay to get the iLok to you at my own expense 2. I pay $50US to you for the RMA 3. I pay to you shipping and cost of a new iLok key if I want one from you. What I don't see covered is, are there any costs associated to recovering the licenses off key that are not covered by the $50 RMA fee? I do know about the $100 fee to expedited service. But are there any other costs for license recovery? thanks

Hello,
You got almost everything correct. The $50 RMA license recovery fee comes with a replacement iLok that is the same as the iLok you are sending in to RMA. This means you would receive an iLok2. You would need to pay for the shipping of the replacement iLok as well as the RMA license recovery fee.

I looked at your iLok in your account and it is new enough to be covered under the 2 year limited warranty. This means that as long as your iLok was not physically broken then the RMA fee and the shipping cost of the replacement iLok would be waived. This would mean that the only cost to you would be shipping the broken iLok to us.

The expediency fee is only related to temporary licenses. When submitting the RMA, since your iLok does not have Zero Downtime (ZDT) on it already you would need to wait 1 week before you would receive temporary licenses that you could use if you buy the $30 ZDT right before the RMA. The $100 expediency fee removes this 1 week period so that the temporary licenses are issued immediately. Note that you do need another iLok to activate any temporary licenses to.

Other than what was mentioned above, there are no other costs or fees related to a broken iLok RMA. If you are having trouble with your iLok I would recommend manually synchronizing it with iLok License Manager. To do this you need to log into iLok License Manager with the iLok plugged in. You would then just need to right click on the iLok and select to synchronize it. This can fix most small errors that the iLok may have.

If you have any more questions on anything, please feel free to ask.

Best Regards,
iLok.com Technical Support

[wagtunes]

I have some news. Here is the correspondence I had today with PACE. I asked about fees. My query and then their reply. So the recovery fee is included in the $50 RMA fee and according to this guy also includes the cost of the replacement iLok. you have to pay to have it shipped to you. so you pay:

cost to ship iLok to PACE + $50US + shipping of iLok back to you from PACE

Seems fair to me.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:
Hi. I'd like to get specific information related to recovering from a broken iLok key. If my key stops working, what are the fees that I would need to pay to you? So far what I know is: 1. I pay to get the iLok to you at my own expense 2. I pay $50US to you for the RMA 3. I pay to you shipping and cost of a new iLok key if I want one from you. What I don't see covered is, are there any costs associated to recovering the licenses off key that are not covered by the $50 RMA fee? I do know about the $100 fee to expedited service. But are there any other costs for license recovery? thanks

Hello,
You got almost everything correct. The $50 RMA license recovery fee comes with a replacement iLok that is the same as the iLok you are sending in to RMA. This means you would receive an iLok2. You would need to pay for the shipping of the replacement iLok as well as the RMA license recovery fee.

I looked at your iLok in your account and it is new enough to be covered under the 2 year limited warranty. This means that as long as your iLok was not physically broken then the RMA fee and the shipping cost of the replacement iLok would be waived. This would mean that the only cost to you would be shipping the broken iLok to us.

The expediency fee is only related to temporary licenses. When submitting the RMA, since your iLok does not have Zero Downtime (ZDT) on it already you would need to wait 1 week before you would receive temporary licenses that you could use if you buy the $30 ZDT right before the RMA. The $100 expediency fee removes this 1 week period so that the temporary licenses are issued immediately. Note that you do need another iLok to activate any temporary licenses to.

Other than what was mentioned above, there are no other costs or fees related to a broken iLok RMA. If you are having trouble with your iLok I would recommend manually synchronizing it with iLok License Manager. To do this you need to log into iLok License Manager with the iLok plugged in. You would then just need to right click on the iLok and select to synchronize it. This can fix most small errors that the iLok may have.

If you have any more questions on anything, please feel free to ask.

Best Regards,
iLok.com Technical Support

Okay, how does this work if you already have a spare iLok 2, which I have? Do you still have to pay the $50 fee for an iLok 2 that I don't need?

[plexuss]

Okay, how does this work if you already have a spare iLok 2, which I have? Do you still have to pay the $50 fee for an iLok 2 that I don't need?

No, I think that if you have an iLok and its free and clear you can use it. I would imagine that you would tell PACE you have one and they would want you to register it to your account. In fact, when they restore your licenses they put them in the cloud. so you can transfer them to your other iLok.

For me, my iLok is still under warranty. so I would get an iLok for free and I would have to pay shipping. so if shipping was $40US that would be worth it from what I have seen on amazon and ebay. Unless you luck out (like I did with my current iLok - 30 Canadian!)

It's that simple. I inferred all this anyway based on what is on their site. I looked before I bought. But if you need spelled out, there it is...

[wagtunes]

Okay, how does this work if you already have a spare iLok 2, which I have? Do you still have to pay the $50 fee for an iLok 2 that I don't need?

No, I think that if you have an iLok and its free and clear you can use it. I would imagine that you would tell PACE you have one and they would want you to register it to your account. In fact, when they restore your licenses they put them in the cloud. so you can transfer them to your other iLok.

For me, my iLok is still under warranty. so I would get an iLok for free and I would have to pay shipping. so if shipping was $40US that would be worth it from what I have seen on amazon and ebay. Unless you luck out (like I did with my current iLok - 30 Canadian!)

It's that simple. I inferred all this anyway based on what is on their site. I looked before I bought. But if you need spelled out, there it is...

Well, then in that case, this isn't all that bad. I think somebody's idea (forget who it was) to get a new iLok every few years isn't a bad idea either. This way you always have a spare and with the downtime protection (I did get it today) you're never down for long at all. Running a business, that's something I can't really afford.

Okay, not the most ideal copy protection in the world as far as convenience but not the end of the world either.

This I can live with.

[Touch The Universe]

I have 3 USB soundbanks on ilok and they need to charge me 25$ for EACH of the soundbanks to be transferred to a soft ilok version. I have to pay 75 dollars to not use a dongle

I'm just done with ilok. Period! Going to get rid of everything thats on a dongle and not think twice about or look back. Whatever the bank, vsti, effect, no matter what, is irrelevant -- just not worth putting up with the greed that is ilok. Why have to deal with something about them every few months that just seems to piss me off

[Fleer]

This is my iLok approach. I keep 100+ licenses in my iLok (cloud) account and only transfer them to one of two iLok dongles when needed. Afterwards, they go back to the cloud.

[wagtunes]

This is my iLok approach. I keep 100+ licenses in my iLok (cloud) account and only transfer them to one of two iLok dongles when needed. Afterwards, they go back to the cloud.

I guess the benefit of that is if your iLok breaks you're not up the creek?

[ghettosynth]

I have 3 USB soundbanks on ilok and they need to charge me 25$ for EACH of the soundbanks to be transferred to a soft ilok version. I have to pay 75 dollars to not use a dongle

I'm just done with ilok. Period! Going to get rid of everything thats on a dongle and not think twice about or look back. Whatever the bank, vsti, effect, no matter what, is irrelevant -- just not worth putting up with the greed that is ilok. Why have to deal with something about them every few months that just seems to piss me off

I don't think that this is correct. The software allows you to transfer license between your computer and your iLok dongles. There is a fee to sell your licenses, which, I agree is too high, but, what you're saying doesn't seem right.

Now, if the "soft iLok" isn't iLok at all, but, something like iZotope's alternative C/R, that may be the case, I don't know.

Wags, I know that you're not all that sensitive to buying a new thing or two, so, definitely check out the version 3 iloks, they are MUCH more physically robust.

[wagtunes]

I have 3 USB soundbanks on ilok and they need to charge me 25$ for EACH of the soundbanks to be transferred to a soft ilok version. I have to pay 75 dollars to not use a dongle

I'm just done with ilok. Period! Going to get rid of everything thats on a dongle and not think twice about or look back. Whatever the bank, vsti, effect, no matter what, is irrelevant -- just not worth putting up with the greed that is ilok. Why have to deal with something about them every few months that just seems to piss me off

I don't think that this is correct. The software allows you to transfer license between your computer and your iLok dongles. There is a fee to sell your licenses, which, I agree is too high, but, what you're saying doesn't seem right.

Now, if the "soft iLok" isn't iLok at all, but, something like iZotope's alternative C/R, that may be the case, I don't know.

Wags, I know that you're not all that sensitive to buying a new thing or two, so, definitely check out the version 3 iloks, they are MUCH more physically robust.

They're built better than the iLok 2s?

[ghettosynth]

Wags, I know that you're not all that sensitive to buying a new thing or two, so, definitely check out the version 3 iloks, they are MUCH more physically robust.

They're built better than the iLok 2s?

They're metal and narrower so fit more cleanly side by side with other dongles. They are supposedly faster as well, but, TBH, I can't tell. Scan speed seems to way more variable by vendor than it does by copy protection method or iLok key version, but, they might be.