I also use Waves plugins that had an online license management system and got burned more than once in the middle of a busy day because, in addition to spotty Internet reliability in my region, there were occasionally problems with their licensing servers (perhaps you can relate to that from recent memory).
Waves had an additional feature that allows for saving the licenses to a USB drive. I now carry a small four port USB hub that contains my Cubase dongle, the drive for the Waves licenses and the iLok. I plug it in and it just works, without having to trust the Internet.
I’m not foolish enough to believe that any of my commentary will alter your company’s direction, but with no disrespect intended, spin is spin. I know where this is going in both the short and long term. There are no “customer benefits,” only the introduction of potential problems that I currently don’t have. And an eventual move to a subscription model that I have zero interest in.
That’s fantastic to hear. You’re certainly catering for the silent majority here, really looking forward to this. I for one would be more comfortable investing further into the Steinberg eco system knowing that I can activate a product “on the fly” with my login details.
As a frequent user of both desktop and laptop, It’s something that’s always made me hesitant to invest in sound libraries, GA Full, HALion etc.
re: the 30 day activation - take a look at the dumpster fire that is BFD3 and their 30 day activation system…it’s hilarious. People are being left without working software the entire time due to bugs and server issues.
It’s not like SB activation servers ever go down…oh hang on
plus it potentially much worse in the ‘new system’ if servers go offline - previously it was just new licences / transfers that were affected…under the new system lots of existing users or licences could just refuse to work…
it’s not a subscription, sure, but it’s time limited licences , even though they are paid in full - and essentially a ‘subscription’ model albeit without a monthly charge…yet !
edit - actually it is a subscription…by more or less any definition.
StudioOne gives 5 authorizations and the LICENSE file is downloaded onto the machine.
When I log into StudioOne there is no server check involved. It works great. The auths are manage in my Mypresonus account. Never a need to be online after install and authorization is done.
I posted it in another thread - but basically this new system is a subscription model, without the ongoing payment. You only ever get issued with a 30 licence - which gets renewed according to various conditions.
That’s not a perpetual licence ON THE MACHINE - even if it is in ‘account’ terms
Im not against the change in licensing as such. its all about the move to revenue and steinberg are against the curve in that respect. Amazon,Netflix,Microsoft all do it. and so far there is not enough information here to make an informed decision.
if possible Matthias, are you able to give us more information about the new licensing model and if a monthly/yearly subscription is required, how much it will cost and what’s included?
I will quote the FAQ here: Please be reassured that whatever options for buying Steinberg software products may be offered in future, we have no plans to withdraw the option to buy and use our existing software products under a perpetual license, just as we always have.
To address this point: one of the main reasons for making the change is so that we can move to services with a much tougher, more hardened and scalable architecture that can handle millions of customers simultaneously. Our existing eLicenser infrastructure certainly does not fit the bill.
A big part of this project has been choosing service providers to form the foundation of the new system that will be guaranteed by them to have “five nines” levels of reliability (that means uptime of 99.999% or more). We are partnering with serious companies operating at serious scale. I am not worried about the reliability of the new system.
This is pure semantics, of course. If our end-user license agreement warrants that you have the right to use the software in perpetuity, then it will likewise warrant that Steinberg will make it possible for you to do this.
The requirements are different, yes: before, you had to use the eLicenser system and were at the mercy of your physical USB-eLicenser or the Soft-eLicenser and the availability of the eLicenser servers; now, you are at the mercy of the new Steinberg Licensing servers. But there is no term limit on your usage of the software.
I do not deny the need for a change - I am questioning the choices.
and 99.999% of reliability isn’t that impressive…this is software we are talking about - not server uptime. It may never fail - but it also might do. There are many moving parts to consider.
At the very least is seems to me, the issued licences should be permanent and not depend on a server check once installed.
That’s a really interesting perspective to take, and really hard to disagree with. Technically from a users perspective there should be no need for any further checks once you’ve validated a machine.
HOWEVER, there is the issue of piracy and protecting their software, which is why the 30 day rule exists as a base requirement from day one I presume(?).
In which case, where lies a happy medium in all this? i.e. Is 30 days any more secure against piracy than a system which checks each year, or never again for authenticity?
it may seem like semantics - but the actual licences you generate are not permanent - they are time locked. They are periodically renewed by SB …that’s a subscription however you want to see it. ?
I have to rely on you that you will unlock my system again in 15 months. Each and every company that promised such a thing like a general unlock code in case they close their doors or something else happens where big fat liars that didn’t provide anything when they shut down their servers.
No way I will spend another cent with steinberg.
