Ok, so Steinberg move away from eLicenser, it’s a good thing, because the thing was a nightmare on my systems…
As the Hamburg Steinies are still pre roll out here are a couple of questions that are not addressed in the FAQ. Maybe we can hear if these questions have been considered or if they will be prior to roll out.
The FAQ mentions that the license is tied to an account. What happens when I want to use Nuendo/Wavelab on a colleagues system who does not usually uase Nuendo/WL?
I used to be able to download an installer and just connect my dongle and start working (after importing my key commands of course). Will I now have to enter my account details on this computer? I ask because I know of one colleague’s system that had a virus/keylogger infection in the past. I would feel VERY uncomfortable to use my passwords on systems that are not maintained by myself, so it’s absolutely crucial for me that this system works without having to enter my Steinberg login details before I install/run Nuendo/WL even during install.
Is there a way to have a two factor authentification for the mySteinberg account adding further security to my licenses?
Also the FAQ mentions that even on a single computer only ONE user account will be able to run the license.
So when I book a freelancer to work on a session in my studio will I need to let him/her work on MY account, giving him/her access to all my personal account settings/passwords and information? Will this only apply to the lower cost music products or also to pro audio post specific software where multiple users on one system are more common?
I hope these questions have been addressed or hope they will be prior to roll out.
I would imagine that upon launch Nuendo will ask you to log into a SB account within the app. So it won’t matter what other account/ s the computer is logged into ( or not ).
I have other software that does this. The required log in is completely independent of anything else.
Well it’s all speculation at the moment, since nothing has been released yet.
I was posting to make Steinberg aware of the problems that might arise for some pro users.
While I understand that the dongle free world is very welcome for many users, I feel rather unhappy about potential problems that arise for people who run businesses with muliple users working on one machine, both for studio owners as well as freelancers.
Therefore I think there should be a way to allow a dongle style workflow for the kind of use cases I mentioned, so that a hardware device can be used to authorize a session rather than a login.
For me this would be really important, but then I mainly use ProTools these days and that is tied to iLok. (I bought a Nuendo 11 update for a specific job this year, but as it seems I will not be using it too much anyways.)
Maybe Steinberg should think about allowing iLok as an option if users prefer to work that way, it is rather obvious that the many use cases are so fundamentally different (if you are on the road recording live shows dongles are a nightmare, I understand, but in the studio dongles are really less pain for some users)
You may not trust the system that you’re logging into.
This is an interesting one. You’re right that multi-factor authentication (MFA) gives some form of comfort in these situations. We do plan to introduce this to Steinberg ID at some point in the future (I’d have to check with some colleagues as to roughly when).
You want to temporarily lend your license to someone else
This is also interesting, as our single-user licenses are supposed to be used by a single user. Moving to an identity-based system makes that link stronger, which is why the case you mention suddenly feels awkward. This feels much more like a B2B use case in a professional environment and we are currently in discussions with various stakeholders about how the new Steinberg Licensing system will be rolled out in multi-seat and institutional settings. Obviously we’re not talking about 100s of licenses being managed, but the principle is the same - you’d like to own and control the license but let someone else use it temporarily.
tl;dr - the short answer is that I agree that we should address both these use cases as part of the transition.
Case no. 2 is really what every professional small studio owner who works with a Nuendo dongle has been doing with his/her license for years, so I don’t really feel how this is awkward at all. If your company owns a room with a Nuage there is just no way you can ever go to a vacation when there is noone else who can operate the room then. You won’t use your company’s licence while relaxing on the beach, so there is still only one user using the license at a time.
The way I’ve handled this, and seen other studios handle this, at least in professional settings is:
We use a dedicated DAW computer, which has NO personal information on it. This is why the dongle / iLok is a good thing to use in these cases.
In cases where the DAW / plug in / whatever uses online authentication, we install the software for ALL users of tthe computer, but have a CLIENT user account, again, without any personal info on it at all. That solves the security issues you are worried about. Steinberg could look into how to implement that second situation easily.
„For single-user licenses, only the user account on your computer which you use to sign in with your Steinberg ID will be able to use the software“
But then Steinbergs reply to my question clearly states that they are looking into our use case, where we want/need multiple user accounts with access rights.
At the moment it looks like this has not been solved and that‘s why I think it‘s a good thing that Steinberg and the user base are communicating prior to roll out.
Agreed. Several companies offer this type of solution, via authentication tied to a computers unique ID, instead of a specific user. They could look into that, or some hybrid system.