What's so bad about this iLok thing?

[Ildon]

The MOTU Symphonic Instrument uses iLok for its copy protection. What's so bad about it? I see a lot of people complain about it. It doesn't seem too bad, but I'm probably missing something.

[bduffy]

You have to pay more for it, for one thing.

[AndrewSimon]

It's wasting computer resources.
It forces me to raise my latency from 64 samples to 128 samples because the USB dongle is hogging the PCI bus.
OK so 1 software no big problem but what happens when we start giving into these dongles and every manufacturer will start adopting them?
How would you like to have 25 of these on your computer?
What will happen to computer resources when not 1 but 25 plugs need to communicate back and forth with their dongles?
True some of these are more or less universal and you can put several licenses on one key but that is a very dangerous thing to do.
If the key breaks the developers will only issue a replacement authorization if you send in the bad key.
Note this has to be the specific key(they have serial number) that the plug is authorized to and you can only authorize it to one key at a time.
But if you only have one key what do you do?
You can only send it to one developer.
You are basically out of luck and you lost your plugs. (most developers suggest you insure the key to cover this loss.... yeah you heard it right)

There is also a new tendency not to include these keys with the products.
An I-Lok cost $40.
If I want to be on the safe side I will have to buy a key for each plug (and a very large USB hub)
So $40 x 25 ...... yeah it gets expensive.

And all this for what? To prevent piracy?
But guess what? they pirate them no matter what.
So here I am, a paying customer, frustrated because my computer is choking from endless dongles while my neighbor the "pirate customer" has no choking problems and his computer is flying as fast as ever.
He also paid "much less" then I did for his setup.

I understand developers need to protect their investment, it's just that they need to come up with a better system that doesn't choke my resources.

[Stupid American Pig]

Well put Andrew. For the odd plugin its not a big deal(in most cases), but there just *has* to be a better way. To add to what andrew said- In many ways it is a punishment to paying customers and if they go out of bizness, what do you do if you need another authorization for a new PC or you lose/break yer ilok?

Currently, Cakewalk has the best copy protection policy, but I can handle the propellerheads or image lines method, which is basically a forced registration to their website. Anything more intrusive I just wont buy(I did cave on Stylus, but no more C/R either). I would rather buy hardware, even if it were inferior and cost twice as much.

[jack-the-pipe]

It's wasting computer resources.
It forces me to raise my latency from 64 samples to 128 samples because the USB dongle is hogging the PCI bus.
OK so 1 software no big problem but what happens when we start giving into these dongles and every manufacturer will start adopting them?
How would you like to have 25 of these on your computer?
What will happen to computer resources when not 1 but 25 plugs need to communicate back and forth with their dongles?
True some of these are more or less universal and you can put several licenses on one key but that is a very dangerous thing to do.
If the key breaks the developers will only issue a replacement authorization if you send in the bad key.
Note this has to be the specific key(they have serial number) that the plug is authorized to and you can only authorize it to one key at a time.
But if you only have one key what do you do?
You can only send it to one developer.
You are basically out of luck and you lost your plugs. (most developers suggest you insure the key to cover this loss.... yeah you heard it right)

There is also a new tendency not to include these keys with the products.
An I-Lok cost $40.
If I want to be on the safe side I will have to buy a key for each plug (and a very large USB hub)
So $40 x 25 ...... yeah it gets expensive.

And all this for what? To prevent piracy?
But guess what? ....

Exactly. It takes time away from doing what you really want to (make music) and if you happen to upgrade your computer or lose the ilok on the road, think of all the downtime youre going to concur. Its just another price tag added onto the software. I understand the reason behind it but another method needs to be utilized. The developers should just offer special perks (free downloads, sounds, discounts for registered users). MOTU Symphonic will be cracked in two months or so anyway.

[Trojan Badger]

But will it totally screw up your PC the way the old PACE method did?

[hello1234]

the first time I was introduced to the "dongle" was recently when stienborg released grooveagent 2. 40 bones for a dongle to use a f'n plugin........

I was pissed

But then came maudio protools, enter the dreaded dongle.

It's included (as with most hosts) and has actually been fine. The "key" is that it was included.

So I caved in, and pt mpowered is the most stable host I"ve ever used so now it's like, f'k it........believe it or not it's better than challenge/response......

But I feel the pain

If the dongle is so important for copy protection...why are we still paying so much for stuff? Isn't pirating the excuse these companies give for the high prices???????

[djsubject]

you want to know whats so bad about them?


i dont have one thats whats so bad

[hello1234]

well my biggest delema is now do I pay for the "zero downtime" replacement...........

shit, these f'kers have got the balloon's full of stuff just waiting for cash........

[No name]

Well put Andrew. For the odd plugin its not a big deal(in most cases), but there just *has* to be a better way. To add to what andrew said- In many ways it is a punishment to paying customers and if they go out of bizness, what do you do if you need another authorization for a new PC or you lose/break yer ilok?

Currently, Cakewalk has the best copy protection policy, but I can handle the propellerheads or image lines method, which is basically a forced registration to their website. Anything more intrusive I just wont buy(I did cave on Stylus, but no more C/R either). I would rather buy hardware, even if it were inferior and cost twice as much.

Crap! So Stylus uses Ilok? Thank you, you just made me come to my decision. Definately going with RM III in the future. Ain't no way I'm even gonna go and purchase a plug with a dongle unless it is something like Pro Tools (which just might be my new transition when I decide to change hosts). Ilok on a drum machine though? Fuuuuuck that, no way. It's already bad enough I have to conserve every ounce of RAM now due to the fact that I have a limited amount, why would I go and pay 300 F****** dollars so they can slow my CPU down, all in the name of drum sounds. Please RM III it is!

[Trojan Badger]

Stylus doesn't use Ilok, it uses Challenge/response and a very liberal licensing system (as many PCs as you like as long as their for your use)

[XDVarenkor]

If the dongle is so important for copy protection...why are we still paying so much for stuff? Isn't pirating the excuse these companies give for the high prices???????

The problem with these draconian methods of copy protection is they don't work anyway. Crackers are slowed down for a couple of weeks, but then warez versions flood the file sharing networks regardless and the only result is that legitimate users are punished like common pirates.

[Trojan Badger]

Not always true though - with Cubase SX 3 it took almost a year for it to be cracked. And that's a year where I expect Synchrosoft worked on improving the algorithms...

[Ildon]

Oh. Well thanks for answering my question.

GPO it is!