DRM Dongles, Opinions?

[froggy]

Does anyone else loathe the concept of iLok/eLicenser/misc DRM dongles as much as I do? Maybe it's just because I produce on a laptop, but the very idea of having to rely on a piece of plastic in my USB port to make my software work annoys me to no end. It's a shame too, because there are some really amazing looking programs that require a dongle or an internet connection to work at all (case in point: Reason). If I'm going to be buying a piece of software for $100+ I'd rather not have the developer treating me like a criminal.

I know there's at least a couple of Reason users here, and Nexus is popular with some artists, so obviously some of you tolerate it at the very least (or you cracked the software, in which case you should feel bad). I don't think I've ever seen this topic discussed here, so it'd be interesting to get some opinions on the matter. What's your take on this MLR community?

[the4thImpulse]

Maybe it's just because I produce on a laptop

Then don't use a laptop

But in all seriousness I understand where you're coming from but I think loathing them is a little over dramatic for what it is. If you have a 'proper' tower production computer, than you just stick the dongle in the back and you don't have to worry about it ever. If you are a producer (not in the modern sense we often use today but someone who produces 'people/bands') then you can load up your favorite software at whatever studio the bands hired you at and then use your licenses without any hassle.

I disagree with the idea the developer is treating you as a criminal by making you use them, treating you as a criminal would be taking you to court for cracking their software. They've just created a way that currently prevents a lot of piracy on their products. Again you just stick it in the back of your computer and its done with.

Do I like them? No, not really, I wish there were other options (better yet I wish piracy wasn't a problem at all in the first place). But I am perfectly fine putting up with it, as long as the software works to my expectations and they give great customer support I will use whatever ugly dongle they want me to use.

[itroitnyah]

The biggest concern I'd have is the "dongle" thing snapping off or whatever and breaking.

[cyrricky]

They're a perfectly good idea.

Also, if you don't have a dongle/internet connection, Reason works just the same. Only difference is that you can't load songs. You can save fine, and you can load everything else, just not songs.

[Dr_Dissonance]

Ha! The first time I come on MLR in ages and I see a thread I want to reply on!

As a user of Cubase (elicenser) and various iLok products, I can say that I'm perfectly fine with the concept.

What I'm not fine with is the way they're treated.

For example, I LOVE elicenser because it's quick and easy to update, if you lose, break or do something unspeakable to your dongle, they give you temporary soft licences whilst you get a second one and once it arrives, it's a smooth transfer over to your new dongle. Also, if you want to transfer licences anyway, you can.

I HATE iLok because their website is utter balls (seriously, they have a warning saying 'don't use firefox or chrome, as we haven't tested them...from YEARS ago!), it's very confusing trying to update it, you have to pay extra for insurance, transferring licences is not allowed and, from what I've been told, you don't get temporary licences if you lose your dongle and transferring them over to a new one in this situation actually requires you to REQUEST NEW LICENCES from every company you got one from, instead of just transferring your old ones over.

So yeah, I think they're fine, providing, like all services, they're of good quality.
elicenser = good dongle
iLok = bad dongle

[vladnuke]

Thankfully, none of the software I own uses those dongles, I'd rather not get a dongle shoved up my ass for being a paying customer.

IL and NI have been wonderful about letting you put the software you own on all the machines you want, and with no dongles, have been wonderful about being a fully mobile system. I prefer the suitcase studio as I travel a lot, and my laptop is pretty beast (4 core i7, 8 gb ram) so no problems there.

[derpytunes]

Don't even get me started! I mean, why do the criminals get an easier to use copy without a dongle, but the paying customers have to go through all this licensing crap. These dongles are obviously NOT preventing piracy so what's the point then? And one time I ran into this glitch where I couldn't open any project with nexus in it without it crashing. It turns out the dongle was messed up. I had to change usb ports and then it worked. But this was after wasting hours troubleshooting!

tl;dr It SUCKS!

[HMage]

Same here with Dissonance.

eLicencer is a good dongle. Steinberg knows their stuff.

As for the existence of these things — if I, as a developer, want to maintain some exclusivity from being cracked for a while, dongles have proven themselves to be a showstopper for pirate guys for a while, just look at how long it's taking to crack nexus 2.2.1 and newer — that's more than 2 years.

I don't like that I have to use the dongles, but I understand the reasons why they're needed.

[ExoBassTix]

I understand your problem. I hate it too.

or you cracked the software, in which case you should feel bad.

[Navron]

I haven't had any issues with eLicenser for Cubase. The only time the dongle gave me issues was when I derped and took it out before I closed the program, which caused Cubase to hang.

[Lavender_Harmony]

Ha! The first time I come on MLR in ages and I see a thread I want to reply on!

As a user of Cubase (elicenser) and various iLok products, I can say that I'm perfectly fine with the concept.

What I'm not fine with is the way they're treated.

For example, I LOVE elicenser because it's quick and easy to update, if you lose, break or do something unspeakable to your dongle, they give you temporary soft licences whilst you get a second one and once it arrives, it's a smooth transfer over to your new dongle. Also, if you want to transfer licences anyway, you can.

I HATE iLok because their website is utter balls (seriously, they have a warning saying 'don't use firefox or chrome, as we haven't tested them...from YEARS ago!), it's very confusing trying to update it, you have to pay extra for insurance, transferring licences is not allowed and, from what I've been told, you don't get temporary licences if you lose your dongle and transferring them over to a new one in this situation actually requires you to REQUEST NEW LICENCES from every company you got one from, instead of just transferring your old ones over.

So yeah, I think they're fine, providing, like all services, they're of good quality.
elicenser = good dongle
iLok = bad dongle

I honestly didn't have too bad a time setting up my iLok. I think their website needs an overhaul, I felt supremely overwhelmed with information when I first went there, but I'll tell you what's nice about dongles in general: Not spending forever hunting around the house for CD cases and other nonsense looking for the license keys. Yes a lot of them are online now, and even then I need to go through them and find where they've buried the licenses page, or dig through old emails, or reactivate accounts I no longer have the password for and it's a bloody pallava.

iLok could be nicer to their customers, but if all my NI stuff were kept on a dongle, I wouldn't mind. People who say they take up too many USB ports, I leave mine in the side of my keyboard, and there are cheap USB hubs, the license dongles don't draw that much power or anything.

[Aurum Noble]

I've yet to get an iLok-secured VST, but I personally hate DRM dongles in general, since I regard them as being archaic and impractical, especially if you don't have a USB hub or a free USB port (or a couple, in case of opposing standards). However, in some ways, they are reassuring, particularly if you have a £100+ VST or DAW, but I've not had any experience with them, so I can't honestly give a better opinion.

I'm thinking of getting the UVI Darklight (Fairlight CMI) and The Beast (Synclavier) libraries, but from what I've heard about iLok, I seem to have been put off getting them, and there's already samples out there that can be used with existing samplers, such as Kontakt and Ableton's built-in Sampler.

[bartekko]

the moment crack teams got fluent in cracking dongle-based DRM, illegal users are often getting a "fuller" product than those who decided to pay lots of dollars to get the stuff. that's all i have to say

[DongleKumquat]

did somebody say dongle

[Nine Volt]

Dat name.

[vladnuke]

the moment crack teams got fluent in cracking dongle-based DRM, illegal users are often getting a "fuller" product than those who decided to pay lots of dollars to get the stuff. that's all i have to say

This, all day with this. DRM is a mere nuisance to piracy, that's why they were doing ridiculous stupid shit like SOPA and CISPA and (insert future shitty problematic senate/congressional bill here). The game industry found a long time ago that if you offer a better service than pirates, people will be more inclined not to pirate, people normally follow the path of least resistance. So why not set up some system like Steam, but for music software, that could run offline so you don't have to deal with having a stable internet connection. Actually, steam is offering software now, just put stuff on steam.

[cplbradley]

lololol dongle
i love that word