Concerns about Steinberg Licensing

they are using this system and that’s why they’re getting massively pirated, can’t count how many times I’ve met “producers” that had the full cracked Waves collection.

You’re right that in the worst case scenario, somebody who gains access to a registered user’s Steinberg ID somehow and is able to activate their software offline will be able to use that software for a year, and there would be nothing we could practically do about it for the duration of that offline activation period, but we would of course take steps to prevent this from happening again with the same account, the same license and the same hardware.

We don’t expect most users to take this approach, however, since most users are online all or most of the time and won’t get quite so exercised as some of the posters in this thread. In the normal, online activation case, the exposure for unauthorized use of the software is shorter, limited to 30 days, as currently planned.

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Okay, thanks for letting me know.

But I’m still wondering how the new licensing system (with the annual online check-in option) will prevent a person from using pirated software for an entire year (prior to check-in).

Most USB storage devices do have a unique firmware serial number. No problem to include this one into the copy protection scheme and therefore avoid to make it easily copyable.

Yes, there is some USB device manufacturers who don’t give their devices serial numbers, and there is ony company (Haegele) that commercially offers modifying of this number for certain brands as their business model - but both is well known and no problem to forbid such devices as copy protection.

Okay, so your new system is designed to minimize pirating rather than prevent it entirely which, from what I’m reading here on the forum, would seem to require constant connection to the internet. Is that correct?

Cuz R2R Team :grin:

I know what Avid are doing!.£249 a year paid up front or £25 a month! But, mind you that does include …wait for it, £1,500 of freebies! Haha what a joke, a load of old loops and some synth that can be bought on plugin boutique for 9.99 or the whole shebang for £75! It’s a joke!

That’s correct. One of the reasons why we quickly discounted existing systems like iLok Cloud is that they would require a constant connection to the internet; really, iLok Cloud is still all about the physical iLok, and one of our chief goals with the new system is to move to a purely digital system, with no reliance on physical dongles at all.

As a business we have reckoned with the fact that the new system will inherently be less secure than using a physical, hardware key, but we have decided to accept that, on the grounds that we believe a more modern, flexible, user-friendly system (which, believe it or not, is what we think we are providing) will be attractive to new users who have previously ruled out using Steinberg products precisely because of the requirement to use the USB-eLicenser, or because the Soft-eLicenser only allows usage on a single computer. We obviously anticipate that overall the new system will be beneficial for us as a business, allowing us to reach new customers more easily as well as to continue to serve our huge existing user base.

However, the new system will not be trivial to circumvent by any means, and the requirement to refresh the license periodically is only one of the measures built in to the system to help us to protect your and our investment in our software.

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Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me.

Although I’m not fond of having to go online at any time interval to renew my license, I now understand Steinberg’s concerns and am willing to do so.

Cheers…

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Thanks for engaging constructively. If you have any more questions or worries about the new system, do let us know. We really are taking all of the feedback we’re receiving very seriously.

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That’s an easy one to anwer, Because eventualy, that’s when they would have received the monthly direct debit or the “bargain saving” up front annual fee! So beneficial to the customer eh?

Nothing can be hacked. There are only protection systems that are harder to hack than others. Steinberg’s Dongle has been hacked for some time and the new system probably will be too.

I easily accept this obligation to log in every 30/365 days to renew our license if it protects my investment. I can understand that everyone can be right to criticize this new system and would like it to be adapted to the personal needs of each one, but why not give Steinberg the chance to prove that they are making the best move? Please, a little goodwill …

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why u keep repeating this ? someone from Steinberg commented that in future they maybe consider also other license sales (like subscription) but in anyway they wont stop the option to sale perpetual license like it is now.
now if u believe in this statement or not its another subject, if steinberg/cubase goes only subscription in future like protools, well … hopefully not.
we need to trust them, and of course if they eventually go only subscription after their promise ,many will drop cubase for this

The best of all this is that when the new licensing system arrives, users will abide by it and operate normally, and there will be calm, and nothing will have been so bad, despite all this storm.

Sorry, I don’t follow the logic here. I hope it’s made clear that many of us have a problem with the concept of having to re-authenticate at all, not how often. If people really have an issue with iLok Cloud having to be online more often than they like they can buy a dongle for peanuts and problem solved. I don’t see how taking away that option would be a feature. But, thank you for taking the time to respond to these comments, I do hope the best for the Cubase and Steinberg for another 20 years. Cheers.

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And where did you get this information ? My DAW is only ever connected to the internet when i require a Cubase update , if your not updating or supplying new features every 30 days then i certainly won’t use it

Can we please not burden the devs with repetitive emotional speculation
Jordan Peterson vs Cathy Newman - The “You’re Saying” recut - YouTube

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I find the dialogue with one of the devs on the licensing team (dare I say from your previous comments one of the evangelists within the company for moving to this model?) encouraging, as is the fact that you’re listening to the problems with changes to system design in mind.

Would it be realistic for you to come back later, after you and the team have had some whiteboard time with our concerns, and post another thread talking about your design updates and how you’ll be addressing the issues that have been raised here?

I think that would be helpful for many of us, and by posting a separate thread to discuss design updates it would avoid the fate of being lost in a lengthy discussion such as this one.

I have a question further below. I’ve read all the info/faq stuff but am still unclear…

  1. I buy Cubase 12 Pro when it’s released at June 2022 Namm (which is my intuition of release date). Alternatively, I pay for an upgrade to cb12 from my existing cb11 at that time.

  2. I download and install Cubase 12 Pro onto one of my desktop systems.

  3. I download and install cb 12 Pro onto one of my other desktop systems (which by the way, is wordclock synchronized to the first system).

  4. I register cb12 at my user area at Steinberg.

  5. The question…I start both systems up, both online for the moment (or not, depending on the choices sb has for me)…and …can…then authorize both systems that are simultaneously running Cubase 12???

As in, two instances are running simultaneously across the two wordclocked computers from that point forward? And as an aside, I can have cb11 (that I already own) via elicenser on a third slave computer if I wish.

I realize I’m being wordy here but the pr and faq stuff is contradictory when I read it.

The idea is that I’ve considered (in the past) buying a second cubase 11 license…second elicenser…just to insure I can run two simultaneous, synchronized cb11 instances.

My thinking…as I use tremendously huge track counts, effects, vstis in a daw farm configuration (and do not use freeze…ever :slight_smile: ), if I buy cb12, can use it simultaneously on two separate computers…and then say, buy another retail copy of cb12…run it simultaneously on two more systems…I now have four simultaneous, synchronized cb12 systems. Which would be very useful rather than what I do now, which is to use different slaved daw programs…cubase 11 being master on the master machine.

Soooo…with cubase 12 and the new license system…is it yes…or no…that I can do the above.

And it would be really helpful if the answer comes from one of the Steinberg guys :slight_smile:

What on earth has completely unrelated chauvinistic videos on YouTube got anything to do with debates on this forum?