Re: Foundation Licensing question

[Joel Blackwell <joel(at)lostrealm.com>]

When are companies going to learn that locking software to a computer is 
a waste of time?  It's a two second job these days to grab a pirated 
copy of XSI or a crack and install it on as many machines as someone 
wants.  So then, why slap shackles on the people who have actually paid 
for the program?

Have a key and help deter casual piracy- that's a great idea.  But, 
there's no need to force lockdown, as if that's going to stop anyone 
from doing what they want anyway.

"If anything, bad licensing policies are an incentive to piracy, which 
is in no one's interest."

Exactly.


peter boeykens wrote:
> licensing(at)softimage.com would be your best bet, and put 
> support(at)softimage.com in copy.
>
> I totally agree that licensing to a mac adress sucks.
> Its not uncommon to switch workstations every few months.
> You should be able to migrate your software along, by offering FND 
> licensing on a dongle.
> At  paid price for the dongle if need be.
> Especially so since apparently they do offer the option to clients that 
> have a dongle allready.
>
> If anything, bad licensing policies are an incentive to piracy, which is 
> in no one's interest.
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Helzle" <xsi(at)screendream.de>
> To: <XSI(at)Softimage.COM>
> Sent: Monday, December 25, 2006 7:14 PM
> Subject: Re: Foundation Licensing question
>
>
> Well, so far I didn't get any answers from the people I contacted at 
> Softimage (well, it's Christmas I guess :) ).
> I never had to deal with something like that so if anybody has a hint on 
> who to contact (I tried the Store support and Will Mendez), I am all ears.
>
> Sorry if I annoy some people here. For me it is a very important and 
> substantial problem and I guess for some others too (even if they may 
> not have realized it yet). Since licensing defines the way you are able 
> to use the software, it is very important to me.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Thomas Helzle
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 25 Dec 2006 01:20:09 +0100, Tim Leydecker <BauerOink(at)gmx.de> wrote:
>
> > I second the bits about getting into direct contact with Support
> > to see if something can be worked out but I must also say that
> > licensing schemes -especially the explicit details- would often
> > benefit from being made public prior to having things installed.
> >
> > For example, Maya 8 (64bit) runs fine but the dongle drivers
> > didnÂt run at all on XP64 initially, which made it a pain in the arse.
> > I ended up having ordered a piece of plastic worth a â 180,-
> > not suitable for my specific way of "travelling the digital world".
> > Instead, a simple nodelocked (e.g. tied to a MAC adress) license
> > runs fine but obviously has drawbacks in portability (officially).
> >
> > Comparing this with the problem Thomas describes I can see
> > similarities in the user experience, e.g. another day of wasted energy.
> > Therefor I would also welcome the option to replace, re-order,
> > update or by whatever means get an XSI dongle seperately/later.
> >
> > The first thing I did with my XSI 5 dongle was break off the cap...
> > It still works but doesnÂt look too professional (itÂs edu anyway)
> > and wouldnÂt suit an advanced license in terms of looks and price :)
> >
> > While Eriya Ito may find this less important, I find licensing starts
> > to suck the moment a machine dies, a disk crashes or a replacement
> > is required and "all those precious apps" start squeaking "license me".
> >
> > The only areas thatÂs worse I can think of is booking a flight
> > via the internet without having a major brand credit card at hand.
> > I had to book an alternative flight in the end yesterday, the desired
> > one turned out to be unavailable without a credit card. ThatÂs a
> > shame, Lan Chile is said to be a great airline and offers "20kg" for 
> > baggage...
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > tim
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Eriya Ito" <eriya.ito(at)grapecity.com>
> > To: <XSI(at)Softimage.COM>
> > Sent: Monday, December 25, 2006 12:46 AM
> > Subject: RE: Foundation Licensing question
> >
> >
> > > Am I the only one who does not understand what's said here?
> > > I mean, it does not make any sense by 'I feel tricked by Softimage
> > > regarding licensing issues'.
> > > You don't go to the store and decide to buy or not buy a software
> > > because of it's licensing methods.
> > > Softimage (or any other developer company) is not obliged in anyway to
> > > explain or publicize the
> > > 'new' licensing procedures they adapted to their potential customers.
> > > It's what the individuals go and find out. That's why we have this super
> > > community newsgroup for.
> > >
> > > I mean by all this is please, with all due respect, stop ranting over
> > > something that you think
> > > you were 'cheated' but what I think 'tough luck', specially in this
> > > newsgroup.
> > > Would you please contact with Softimage direct since you're not sure
> > > if anybody from Softimage is handling your problem officially.
> > > I have tons of friends who just live with their shocking new licensing
> > > methods
> > > they didn't even dreamt of before buying the software.
> > >
> > > Cheers and a Merry Christmas to all!
> > > Eriya
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM [mailto:owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM] On Behalf
> > > Of Thomas Helzle
> > > Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2006 7:25 PM
> > > To: XSI(at)Softimage.COM
> > > Subject: Re: Foundation Licensing question
> > >
> > > I would really love to get an official word on this:
> > >
> > > Will it be possible to get a dongle for Foundation?
> > >
> > > If not, I feel tricked into buying an update (from Foundation 5 to 6)
> > > without having been able to make a learned decision since this new
> > > licensing scheme wasn't made public in the pre-sale period.
> > >
> > > Hard-node-locked software is unusable for me.
> > > The USB Network Card idea is just as slippery.
> > >
> > > So my only other option would be buying Essentials, which is much more
> > > expensive now.
> > >
> > > Believe it or not - I even thought about going to Essentials and had a
> > > conversation with my local reseller (slash.de) some days before the
> > > release about it, but decided against it in the end since I had already
> > > bought the Foundation update from the Softimage store.
> > >
> > > Honestly this is a big mess.
> > > Playing this the hard way will not make Softimage look any better in my
> > > book.
> > > Customers are not enemies.
> > >
> > > The only people having no problem with all this are the ones who don't
> > > care for buying software anyway.
> > >
> > > This is all upside down IMO.
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > Thomas Helzle
> > > www.screendream.de
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Am 23.12.2006, 21:02 Uhr, schrieb Stephen Blair
> > > <Stephen_Blair(at)Softimage.COM>:
> > >
> > > > I don't know what you mean by "usb network key".
> > > >
> > > > When you activate Foundation it is either tied to a [local] dongle or
> > > > to your Ethernet card. No choices are offered.
> > > >
> > > > That's what I know about it.
> > > >
> > > > Steve
> > > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM [mailto:owner-xsi(at)Softimage.COM] On
> > > > Behalf Of phil harbath
> > > > Sent: Sat 23 December 2006 1:30 PM
> > > > To: XSI(at)Softimage.COM
> > > > Subject: Re: Foundation Licensing question
> > > >
> > > > i asked several soft people about the usb network key,  and i can't
> > > > seem to get an answer.  the idea would be when installing you could
> > > > choose from a list of network devices (if it isn't tied to other
> > > > devices is another question).  perhaps someone on this list knows that
> > >
> > > > answer to that.
> > > >
> > > > phil
> > > ---
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