If i don’t want to use the internet to active a licence i have bought every month on the internet then thats me , they have said they are working on something , not laid any intentions out so why would someone that doesn’t want an internet based Daw purchase another licence upgrade until they have made it clear on whats going to happen , I expect at the least for all active licences to remain dongle based because if ive paid £1000’s in licences i dont expect to be told your moving to cloud based activation . I always thought Steinberg being taken over by Yamaha was a dangerous move , ive stayed quiet over the years but as long as MY active don’t get forced on to another service then Steinberg can do what they like, i’ll move else where with the features i want .
Never had the problem with the dongle, but I fully understand that laptop users hate it.
Whatever the new system is, I wish it could be a personal license that you can install on as many computers as you like but only may use it on one at a time (without having to “transfer” the license to the other computer each time).
@Highly-Controversial, don’t be pissed off already as you don’t even know what’s to come. Even the USB-eLicenser is internet-based to some extend because a connection is needed for any license transaction. In that way, yes, any new solution will be internet-based. But we will definitely be very sensitive and thoughtful when it comes to “always on”. Many customers can’t be online all the time (live engineers, rehearsal room in dark bunkers underground etc.).
@Big_Bang , we made the announcement because we are actively working on it and because we had some recent events with severe license server downtimes. We felt that we owe you guys some kind of statement. If it takes two years, please shoot me 
Thanks for clear this up , yes i understand about the eliencer being a PITA for some and as you have now guaranteed it’s not going to need a permanent internet connection then i’ll just wait to see what your plans are , the last thing i want to do is leave Steinberg ,the dongles apart of my life history 
I think you also need to be a bit clearer because until you have outlined whats going to happen with licences i can see sales dropping
Do you have any idea if the snappiness or CPU performance of Cubase would be improved if the need for communication from software to hardware is taken out of the loop?
When i’m on the laptop i can see the dongle flashing away when i go into different windows of Cubase, so i’m guessing there’s quite a bit of traffic that many of us are totally unaware of.
Can you count how many plugins Steinberg has already abandoned and refuse to authorise/provide downloads now and only the users that have it on a dongle can still use it ? That is a non issue ?
Steinberg. We love licensing systems.
Create. Launch. Wait for crash. Repeat.
Is there anything that can be said about a subscription based service? As that’s what most people are suggesting is coming.
Of course, these are more than likely assumptions, but I’m also hoping a subscription won’t be the case. I technically already “subscribe” with my annual upgrade, but at least I have the choice not to do that if I want.
Thanks!
What a bad idea.
I agree with a majority of people here that do not want this to go to a subscription based service… I like what Toontrack does.
Yes of course it’s a non-issue. The plugins which you refer most likely need to be ran within an old instance of Cubase SX and Steinberg don’t have the rights to maintain them. That’s a legal issue, totally separate.
In practise, Even if you had the license on a dongle you couldn’t use it on a modern system/daw as they’re not actually plugins but embedded into the Cubase app. Presuming it’s the likes of Embracer etc. which what you’re referring to.
In regards to a dongle being a requirement or not, the end result is exactly the same with out-dated software. If a product fails to run on modern builds, or any part of the license agreement expires - it’s just dead in the water unless you want to sit on Win XP for the rest of your audio life. I don’t think that’s the kind of business model which returns success.
To completely flip your argument - It could be also stated that Steinberg could easier drop products in the past knowing that users could keep licenses on a dongle as a failsafe. With an online system there would be a very definitive ‘shutting off’ timescale.
At that point, Surely it’s better to have a system whereby plugins could have their DRM totally removed if they were being superseded/dropped?. Meaning, You could install on any machine without dongle or authorisation, providing you had the files.
…or do you prefer the risk of having the license on a dongle which could break/get lost and impossible to replace? Because in the past plugins have just slowly faded away into obscurity - that slow fade away, cannot happen in a binary authentication system as it’s a very definitive shut off point. Cue the complaints etc.
Finally. Fantastic news!
I am not interested in a system where I will pay only for usage, owning nothing that I could use without internet.
I have been amongst the first to use Amazon AWS and MS Azure and I know that when you cut the monthly payment you have nothing left, and even now that the Cloud concept is hugely adpoted then prices are rising…
And when some crazy one succeed in crashing the internet servers, you’re dead.
Dongles have some constraints but are far mor stable and secure.
I hope that Steinberg won’t make a move forcing some of us to leave.
Ed, is there any info on whether older products like Halion Symphonic Orchestra will have the new authorisation as well? Would be kind of a shame to have to keep the dongle just to be able to authorise some single products.
The plan is that ultimately all (maintained) products will transition to the new licensing system; when all is said and done, you will not need the USB-eLicenser for anything. That’s the plan, anyway!
So your FORCING people with any licence on to the new system ?
Awesome, thanks a lot.
I don’t think anyone could really expect that they keep their old system for the few who are reluctant to change to the new system. Think about it. Would it make sense to you to keep the whole system running for a handful of people who like dongles?
A few ??? I think you underestimate the amount of people that like the dongle , don’t be so blinkered . Loads of questions need answering before purchasing any more upgrades now
That’s an impossibility, no one can force you to put your USB key in the machine and release the license.
When you buy the next product which has the new licensing engaged, that’s when i expect it would move to a cloud system, and will be part of the EULA. - Totally your choice.
Trouble is, no matter how much you’re choosing to scare monger (i.e. people shouldn’t buy upgrades at this point), and complain - you haven’t given any valid reasons as to why this is in anyway bad for the userbase?
Please, so Steinberg can be aware, what is the problem?