Why the iLok hate?

[e@rs]

Aside from all the already mentioned motives, I find the fact that I have to pay for their copy protection infuriating.

Yet I bought a dongle because of Soundtoys.

Don't forget the costs you have to pay for the implementation of ANY kind of copy protection. Even serials require some amount of coding, and, of course, that has to be paid by the customer. It's good though. You never know how much more the plugins would have to cost to make up for the warez.

Agree, but with the other copy protections (except eLicenser), that cost is included in the product's final price, not added on top. And the vast majority of iLok protected software are not exactly cheap in the first place.

[epiphaneia]

FWIW, I have been using an iLok dongle for more than 5 years now, and I do generally like the idea of not having to deal with 15 different ways of licensing (online activation, offline activation - go-to-our-website, license files, serials, challenge-response,...), and I never encountered any crashes or other machine problems due to the iLok/pace driver software.

True, I pay for the copy protection system, but I´ll also indirectly pay for piracy-incurred lost sales of non-iLok-protected software (higher prices to compensate for lower sales, higher risk of companies disappearing).

I prefer that audio software companies spend their time on making their software better instead of wasting resources on making it more "pirate-proof"... and if a software company that uses its own online activation service goes "poof", then what, will they still be able or willing to provide me with an unprotected version of their software before disappearing?

iLok is apparently the only copy protection scheme that after many years still has not been widely cracked, and seeing how big a problem software piracy can be for small boutique software companies, I understand the reasoning behind it.

In a better world, there would be no need for any copy protection because "the guys who use the software professionally will buy it anyway" and "good software at reasonable prices will be bought", but seeing how even freeware and donationware is being "pirated" and how pirated software is not uncommon even in professional studios, I have my doubts.

Would I, finally, refrain from using software from East West, Softube, UVI, Soundtoys, Eventide, izotope, Xils, Zynaptiq, ... (for many of which there are no reasonable non-iLok-alternatives), like... shoot myself in the foot to express my discontent with shoe manufacturers?

[chk071]

I'd vastly prefer iLok cloud, TBH, but, that's just my opinion.

[M.O.R.K.]

Very interesting. I really hope that I won‘t have to get support from them in the future.

Are there still people buying Sonnox EQ for that price?

Bought it yesterday But in a bundle though. Funny thing is that I used to „ownz“ it 15 years ago, no copy protection could prevent that, and I think that is one of the reasons why I still like it so much (and bought it in the end). It‘s the same with a lot of Waves stuff.

I prefer ilok dongle to challenge/response protections and hard drive authorisations.
I've had stuff where it’s taken over a week to get a response code to actiavate my software.
Plus it’s easier if you need to reinstall or use a different computer and no having to ask for more codes when you’ve ran out of authorisations.

This is kind of how I feel about it and why I started this thread. It‘s very convenient for me, having two systems, and worked completely hassle free so far. I really hope it stays that way.

I would expect extraordinary support in case of a failure from a company that just does copy protection. This seems not to be the case. Or is there actually someone with a positive experience regarding PACEs support?

[ruslan.st]

Dongles cannot be compared to challenge-response in general, because there is much bigger variability in CR implementations. Specific vendors should be compared, because some vendors implement their CR weird way with many limitations and some are almost as easy as plain serial numbers. As an example of easy one Native Instruments can be mentioned, they don't require deactivation, just install enter serial or account and it's done. Allowed on several systems. That is better than any dongle.

[groovyomega]

No hate here, only love. No other system is that easy. Install + plugin your iLok dongle and you are good to go. I use an iLok dongle since the early days (the big bulky blue ones) and since I work on Mac only I never got a single problem, ever!

[VariKusBrainZ]

We were all haters until assimilated.
Once you have it a whole new world of previously unobtainable GAS becomes available and you can sleep at night knowing if your computer never reboots again your little babies is safe snuggled in the dongle blankey.

[VariKusBrainZ]

(the big bulky blue ones)

Those deserve the hate
Stupid fragile design
Mine broke within the first year

[nitex]

For me it's a matter of principle. I have a few cheap and freebie licenses using the soft iLOK, so in case something goes wrong i don't have much of a big loss. But as tempting as some of the upgrade offers were, i won't invest any bigger sums into it. Having to pay 50€ for some small USB device and then a yearly insurance cost to have it protected properly is just nuts in my opinion. This is all done on the back of the legal customers and not the ones being responsible for the pirated software. As a bigger studio this might be small investment to do, but as an average home user i can look elsewhere, there is enough other options out there.

[robotmonkey]

iLok is apparently the only copy protection scheme that after many years still has not been widely cracked, and seeing how big a problem software piracy can be for small boutique software companies, I understand the reasoning behind it.

That is patently false. Every single iLok plugin has been cracked and gets cracked pretty quickly for several years already. And it does not matter if its soft iLok or hardware iLok. This makes it even more insulting to everyone who has to put up with it for their paid software.

[robotmonkey]

No hate here, only love. No other system is that easy. Install + plugin your iLok dongle and you are good to go.

Both Waves and PA do this without any downsides of iLok as they are using your regular USB key and there's built in mechanism for immediately recovering your licenses if anything happens with the USB stick.

[AdvancedFollower]

We were all haters until assimilated.
Once you have it a whole new world of previously unobtainable GAS becomes available and you can sleep at night knowing if your computer never reboots again your little babies is safe snuggled in the dongle blankey.

That Lexicon sale is what caused me to finally break down and get one.

Having a unified system for license management can actually be convenient, I'm just not sure iLok is the system I want. It's great when it works, but there are countless horror stories online about people having to fight tooth and claw to get their legally purchased licenses back when a dongle inevitably fails, gets lost or stolen.

It should be as simple as sending an email to their customer support - "Hi, my iLok with serial number ### failed, please deactivate and transfer all licenses back to my account so I can put them on a new dongle". Instead you have to provide identification, passport, birth certificate, purchase 5 different insurances, sell a kidney, sacrifice your first born, send back the dongle so they can verify that it is indeed broken, and then wait for the planets to align before they'll help you.

[chk071]

iLok is apparently the only copy protection scheme that after many years still has not been widely cracked, and seeing how big a problem software piracy can be for small boutique software companies, I understand the reasoning behind it.

That is patently false. Every single iLok plugin has been cracked and gets cracked pretty quickly for several years already. And it does not matter if its soft iLok or hardware iLok. This makes it even more insulting to everyone who has to put up with it for their paid software.

I would actually ask how you know all that, and to prove it, but, that could prove embarrassing for you, couldn't it?

Apart from it being false most likely as well.

[fmr]

iLok is apparently the only copy protection scheme that after many years still has not been widely cracked, and seeing how big a problem software piracy can be for small boutique software companies, I understand the reasoning behind it.

That is patently false. Every single iLok plugin has been cracked and gets cracked pretty quickly for several years already. And it does not matter if its soft iLok or hardware iLok. This makes it even more insulting to everyone who has to put up with it for their paid software.

I would actually ask how you know all that, and to prove it, but, that could prove embarrassing for you, couldn't it?

Apart from it being false most likely as well.

The fact people know something about crime doesn't necessarily mean they are criminals. Actually, investigators SHOULD KNOW almost anything about crime, and anyone specialized on fighting cyber criminality should know where and how the fraudulent software can be get. How would that prove embarrassing to anyone?

[Soundplex]

but there are countless horror stories online about people having to fight tooth and claw to get their legally purchased licenses back when a dongle inevitably fails, gets lost or stolen.

It should be as simple as sending an email to their customer support - "Hi, my iLok with serial number ### failed, please deactivate and transfer all licenses back to my account so I can put them on a new dongle".

I remember a dev commenting on how many mails they get a week with "the dongle got lost/stolen please give me new licenses" The devs have no clue if it really got stolen or you're just using it on an offline system for next 10 years and only want other licenses for free. That's why it is totally legit that licenses on lost or stolen dongles do not get replaced, unless they can be immediately permanently terminated. I often asked myself how one manages to lose it or let it be stolen.

If it fails you'll of course get everything back, because you have to send them the broken dongle. They then can assure you won't use it anymore and transfer the licenses from it to another one.

Dongles are a way better system to me than 100 license manager from different companies, machine activations or serial hell.