Beam by Lunacy Audio - Multi Effect plugin

[Sampleconstruct]

Thanks for confirming, so it seems that the copy protection they're using for Beam is simply crap.

Imagine if you were on a deadline.

Exactly, or just before a live gig, or during a live gig.

Here is the reply from their support:

Thanks for contacting Lunacy Support! We're very sorry to hear about our login issues.

We are making some adjustments to our server and hope to have everything up and running as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and will let you know when it's ready.

[morphex]

I feel like the responsible, courteous thing to do would be to warn customers through email BEFORE tweaking things that could disrupt the use of the plug-in.

I’ve been working with BEAM everyday for the last week to complete a project for a client. Now I’ve learned another painful lesson as a freelance sound designer... bounce everything down to audio before quitting my DAW.

Well, it’s a good thing that I work well under pressure. It’s going to be a looong day and night to meet my deadline. I’ve got this. I can sleep when I’m dead. Womp womp

[adl]

Wow, so basically you can´t use Beam offline/without internet connection, cause it seems to call home every time you open it to check your license? That´s bad.

[Sampleconstruct]

Support just wrote: issue solved, I'm not in the studio so will check again tomorrow during the next server downtime.

[Sampleconstruct]

In the thread on VI Control they explained that a new Cloudways firewall caused the issue and that the plugin occasionally calls home to prevent piracy.

[Lunacy Audio]

Hi all! We are deeply sorry for the server issues this morning. As a company founded by composers and producers, we know how important it is for your software to work at every moment, especially when on deadlines. We've resolved the issue and you should now be able to log in normally.

As Sampleconstruct mentioned, this server issue was caused by our site host, Cloudways, and affected a lot of small businesses today. Cloudways added a new firewall to their servers without our knowledge or any advanced notice, and this was preventing our standard login requests from CUBE and BEAM.

To clarify our copy protection, CUBE and BEAM do not check our server every time you open the plugin, but there are occasional periodic checks to curb piracy.

We appreciate your understanding and are committed to improving the user experience in the future!

[morphex]

Hi all! We are deeply sorry for the server issues this morning. As a company founded by composers and producers, we know how important it is for your software to work at every moment, especially when on deadlines. We've resolved the issue and you should now be able to log in normally.

As Sampleconstruct mentioned, this server issue was caused by our site host, Cloudways, and affected a lot of small businesses today. Cloudways added a new firewall to their servers without our knowledge or any advanced notice, and this was preventing our standard login requests from CUBE and BEAM.

To clarify our copy protection, CUBE and BEAM do not check our server every time you open the plugin, but there are occasional periodic checks to curb piracy.

We appreciate your understanding and are committed to improving the user experience in the future!

^ I really appreciate you taking the time to explain what happened. I really do. I wish more companies would simply be upfront and honest with their customers anytime a little snag happens. That communication is crucial. I was just about to send a message to support, but I can confirm that BEAM is working again (thank you, thank you, thank you).

I was frustrated earlier when I wrote my previous comments. I had spent so many hours using BEAM to finish an important project that’s due on Monday. I thought that I needed to redo all of the parts that my client was happy with using a different plug-in.

So I am very relieved that it was sorted out so quickly, and I understand now that it wasn’t your fault. I have nothing but good things to say about this gorgeous piece of software. The addition of the Time module has opened up some inspiring capabilities, and I can’t wait to see what your team comes up with next. Peace!!

[Dirtgrain]

Wow, so basically you can´t use Beam offline/without internet connection, cause it seems to call home every time you open it to check your license? That´s bad.

I see Lunacy Audio has pointed out the checks via internet are periodic. UAD, on the other hand, has immediately stopped working for me when the internet went down. So, it could be worse. I don't know what protection system is best for customer and developer combined.

That said, there is this wonderful plugin Beam to talk about. It's pretty tasty.

[MrJubbly]

Thanks for confirming, so it seems that the copy protection they're using for Beam is simply crap.

Can you give a brief overview of how their copy protection operates?

Surely, once you have activated it once on a device, you're golden, no?

Don't tell me it somehow has to be reliant upon some working internet server gubbins, or suchlike just to be able to use it? What about users who want to go offline after activation? Surely, they would have considered that for customers?

[pchase]

Don't tell me it somehow has to be reliant upon some working internet server gubbins, or suchlike just to be able to use it?

Clearly yes, even though the manual clearly states that an internet connection is only needed for activation: https://lunacy-audio.notion.site/Produc ... 7f595618d1

[Dirtgrain]

^ Well, you added the word "only," right?

[Gamma-UT]

^ Well, you added the word "only," right?

I would interpret that ‘just’ wording the same way. The manual implies a one-off C/R cycle after each install, not repeated cycles during use.

In any case, an authorisation system that has a valid code in place but which craps out on a single bad connection is not a good design choice. At bare minimum, a system like this should really have some kind of delay in there that sets a flag for subsequent retries after a few days but doesn’t disable the plug-in immediately, and that’s assuming a max-paranoid CP system is a good idea in the first place.

In the case of UAD, a dongle auth is possible.

[plexuss]

Hi all! We are deeply sorry for the server issues this morning. As a company founded by composers and producers, we know how important it is for your software to work at every moment, especially when on deadlines. We've resolved the issue and you should now be able to log in normally.

As Sampleconstruct mentioned, this server issue was caused by our site host, Cloudways, and affected a lot of small businesses today. Cloudways added a new firewall to their servers without our knowledge or any advanced notice, and this was preventing our standard login requests from CUBE and BEAM.

To clarify our copy protection, CUBE and BEAM do not check our server every time you open the plugin, but there are occasional periodic checks to curb piracy.

We appreciate your understanding and are committed to improving the user experience in the future!

I sent you a support ticket and did not get a reply. For some reason you have PMs turned off here. Can you please address this question:

Can you describe in detail the requirements of your online authentication system? How often does it "call home"? If it's not working will it immediately de-authorize the pluigin? Is there an option for offline authorization? I am within the 15 day refund period and I need to make a decision about Beam.

[Lunacy Audio]

I sent you a support ticket and did not get a reply. For some reason you have PMs turned off here. Can you please address this question:

Can you describe in detail the requirements of your online authentication system? How often does it "call home"? If it's not working will it immediately de-authorize the pluigin? Is there an option for offline authorization? I am within the 15 day refund period and I need to make a decision about Beam.

Hey there! We're not sure which support ticket is yours, but we typically reply to all tickets within 24 hours and have already replied to yours if you submitted it yesterday.

For security reasons, we can't explain the exact mechanics of our authentication system, but we can provide some simple details. With all copy protection, we try to strike a balance between convenience and security, and we've thought quite a bit about how to achieve this without it being a nuisance to paying customers. Having no copy protection or license rechecks would be a giant risk for us as a small business, but we also don't believe in a dongle system or aggressive license checks either. What we landed on is a healthy balance between the two extremes, and 99% of users will never notice the license checks because they run seamlessly in the background.

Here's the gist: The license checks for BEAM will happen each time you install a new update for BEAM and also periodically each month. If you're connected to the internet during this check, BEAM will automatically confirm the license keys in the background. If you're not connected to the internet during this check, BEAM will prompt you to revalidate your license keys.

One really important note: The plugin will still process audio and work normally even when the license check fails. You are only locked out of the interface, so none of your sessions will break if you are prompted to log in again. All automation and processing will continue to work, and the state of the plugin is exactly the same as you had before.

Do we offer offline authorization?
There is no offline authorization at this time. As much as we'd love to support every edge case of authentication, it's not realistic and the overwhelming majority of users work with an active internet connection. We think a simple license recheck every so often is not too much to ask of users, especially since it's required for new BEAM preset packs or effects, and also allows us to offer our flexible return policy.

We hope that makes sense!

[plexuss]

Here's the gist: The license checks for BEAM will happen each time you install a new update for BEAM and also periodically each month. If you're connected to the internet during this check, BEAM will automatically confirm the license keys in the background. If you're not connected to the internet during this check, BEAM will prompt you to revalidate your license keys.

One really important note: The plugin will still process audio and work normally even when the license check fails. You are only locked out of the interface, so none of your sessions will break if you are prompted to log in again. All automation and processing will continue to work, and the state of the plugin is exactly the same as you had before.

Do we offer offline authorization?
There is no offline authorization at this time. As much as we'd love to support every edge case of authentication, it's not realistic and the overwhelming majority of users work with an active internet connection. We think a simple license recheck every so often is not too much to ask of users, especially since it's required for new BEAM preset packs or effects, and also allows us to offer our flexible return policy.

We hope that makes sense!

Thanks for the details! Another question: Have you thought about what you will do regarding licensing if you cease operation? Will you somehow allow customers to still use Beam somehow or just abandon the product and customers? This is an important question for products linke yours that require active online authorization. Thanks!