Everybody's abandoning iLok

[cebec]

I avoid iLok.

For example, the other night I was very interested in demo'ing UBK-1 and changed my mind after I read it requires iLok.

[mixmixmix]

iLOk should die.; There are better ways to fight piracy.

[Doc Mixwell]

They need a new customer support program to help called, "ILOST"

[JustinAiken]

Hey, iLok isn't all lost dongles and transfer fees - you're forgetting the virus-like drivers needed!

[suzzymackenzie]

Originally Posted by cebec

I avoid iLok.

For example, the other night I was very interested in demo'ing UBK-1 and changed my mind after I read it requires iLok.

Ditto I, for Synthogy Ivory. My Cubase dongle is quite enough donglery, thank you.

[jeremy.c.]

The other amazing bit is how they have a virtual monopoly on what they do in a small enough industry that they can get away with horrible business practices (I'm going thru this EXACT issue with Final Draft writing software).
There is no excuse for a gatekeeping company to not be compatible with all OS options, and yet, I can't install anything on either of my Win 7 64bit machines. I have to move to a 32bit browser on XP in order to update a license. For a company that gets away with no replacement for loss scenario and a $25 xfer fee this is ridiculous and only allowed to continue because they basically have no real competition.

[work2do]

Originally Posted by Silver Sonya

Waves is ceasing iLok.

Brainworx has their new plug-in alliance thing.

This is the year everyone begins to shed the dongle.

I'm grateful. I have no love for this company.

They have no policy in place if you lose your iLok. They refused to institute one, even though they could have used passwords as a backup. Plus, $25 transfer fee? Give me a break. I'm paying you to protect another company from theft and then you want me to pay a $25 transfer fee? Amazing business model. Lemme guess, it's for "labor costs?" Nice work if you can get it.

For these reasons alone, I won't miss them when they're gone.

- c

I understand and I love it. But the plug alliance stuff has not been "safe". How long can they survive that fact until they put something much more deeper onto everyone's computers as protection.

[The Beatsmith]

Steven Slate still flying the flag, and proud

[SWAN808]

as well as lexicon, and softube, sonnox, abbey rd...URS...

[Solar]

Although I do have iLok 1st gen & second but I must admit, I hate it. As long as there is room for the user to save all their Product Key Authorization in a backup USB key (in case there is a internet connection failure) etc.. etc.. then All good with the Cloud new thing.

Also the ability to be able to Authorize more then 1 computer is A MUST (without extra $$$ porfavor)

[bendermastering]

Main problem is that all those new plugins without iLok are being cracked the day they are out, like what happened with the new plug-in alliance stuff.

Truth is I won't buy more plug-ins without a valid protection system because otherwise it will be cracked and you'll have a tool with no value to your studio as everyone will get it illegally.

We need to add value to our studios, and plug-ins that are cracked loose their value because everyone has them on their laptops... It is a bad investment right now, IMO.

[voidar]

Why don't you ask the moving-away-from-iLok companies what they charge for selling your lincenses. If they even allow that.

The way I see it. Either you're a small company (one guy) selling quality plugins cheap (Cytomic, DMG etc.) or you sell expenssive "industry standard" plugins like Waves.
You might at one stage say f**k off to the plugin world and decide to sell them off. Well, not anymore.

iLok actually gave the plugins some resale value. Buying into Brainworx/SPL and Waves stuff is not an investment anymore. Now it's just a virtual commodity.

My ten kroner.

[drBill]

Every time I mix somewhere else - I love iLok.

Every time I upgrade my OS - I love iLok.

Every time I upgrade the plug itself - I love iLok.

So simple, so easy. Can't understand the hate. Never had a problem.

They have saved me literally HUNDREDS of hours of time.

[diogo_c]

Originally Posted by drBill

Every time I mix somewhere else - I love iLok.

Every time I upgrade my OS - I love iLok.

Every time I upgrade the plug itself - I love iLok.

So simple, so easy. Can't understand the hate. Never had a problem.

They have saved me literally HUNDREDS of hours of time.

I wanna see where all that love goes when you lose your ilok.

[drBill]

Originally Posted by diogo_c

I wanna see where all that love goes when you lose your ilok.

That's never going to happen. I'm a responsible person.....

[Ric4001]

I don't understand the hate for ilok either. I'm so sick of pulling up a program that requires challenge-response authorization only to find that my authorization is dead because of some system change I made. And I write music on my Windows laptop, record it on my Mac laptop and edit it/mix it on my Mac Pro or my Windows desktop. I can't do that with software that gives me only limited authorizations. With ilok, I have complete freedom which computer I use.

[Kill]

Great, right when I get one. Now I can't feel better than anyone.., darn

[farhadkd]

Originally Posted by drBill

Every time I mix somewhere else - I love iLok.

Every time I upgrade my OS - I love iLok.

Every time I upgrade the plug itself - I love iLok.

So simple, so easy. Can't understand the hate. Never had a problem.

They have saved me literally HUNDREDS of hours of time.

What he said....wise words indeed....

[sound_music]

i never understood the ilok hate either, i think it's way more convenient than authorization codes and all that...

i agree 25 bucks is steep for the transfers, which are all handled by computers and cost the company very little comparatively... but there are tonnes of advantages to the system itself.

[eddierodriguez]

do we really want to know how much waves will ask for a resale...

[Exxille]

Originally Posted by voidar

Main problem is that all those new plugins without iLok are being cracked the day they are out, like what happened with the new plug-in alliance stuff.

Truth is I won't buy more plug-ins without a valid protection system because otherwise it will be cracked and you'll have a tool with no value to your studio as everyone will get it illegally.

We need to add value to our studios, and plug-ins that are cracked loose their value because everyone has them on their laptops... It is a bad investment right now, IMO.

Well I would agree as I am in this exact boat as I own waves mercury and SSL TDM bundles with 5 years worth of WUP paid, along with a host of other ilok based plugs. However waves and ilok v1 was cracked last year so every high school rapper currently has them on their laptop. I wonder why they did not stick with the new v2 ilok standard however (maybe cost), the hackers seem to be having as much trouble with that as they did with v1 which took 7 years + to crack. The real commodity lies in having the plugs and not knowing how to use them or hiring an engineer who is not good wit them.

[superwack]

Originally Posted by eddierodriguez

do we really want to know how much waves will ask for a resale...

I emailed Waves Support last week (and again when V9 was announced) about their transfer policy - and if/how it will change with V9.., still no answer. I have some bundles I've been trying to sell and am worried if I update the others to V9 I'll be stuck (a la the plugin alliance)

[Lute]

Maybe these companies believe the Mayan's

[Smithers]

Originally Posted by bendermastering

Main problem is that all those new plugins without iLok are being cracked the day they are out, like what happened with the new plug-in alliance stuff.

Truth is I won't buy more plug-ins without a valid protection system because otherwise it will be cracked and you'll have a tool with no value to your studio as everyone will get it illegally.

We need to add value to our studios, and plug-ins that are cracked loose their value because everyone has them on their laptops... It is a bad investment right now, IMO.

I agree with the "adding value" part of this, but outside of that i'm afraid your argument is pretty thin. I suspect the main reasons it took the hacking community so long to crack ilok was because

a: there weren't enough hackers interested in spending the time
b: the tech needed was too expensive

with i7 computers and an obvious set of skilled hackers interested, nowadays neither of these play a factor. If hackers can get facebook, and shut down the psn at will, ilok stands no chance. Plus we're in the era where tech is so cheap everyone will have what the pro's own anyway. When I bought logic it was $1000 bucks and came in a box the size of the mac i used it on; now its a $200 download. The only real "Value" in our studios nowadays is the engineers running the joint and the quality of work they produce.

I personally dont have a problem with ilok, i think it's pretty convenient. But then again, I only use my laptop or my desktop and since most "license based" developers offer the "1 mobile, 1 desktop" license I also like them too. Even If i use a different facility I use my laptop anyway. But i'm not banning a software because they use ilok and I want some "guaranteed" protection. I personally feel worse about UAD and the whole "DSP" thing. With 12core i7's why the F*&k do I care about a sharc chip. Just give me an ilok or something and send me on my way. (Dont own the 12core macpro by the way, but it certainly has more usefulness than 4 Sharc chips)

Ilok does need a policy on lost/damaged iloks though, I hear it can be a real nightmare for some. I damaged mines before, but it didn't kill me to get up and running again

[Jonathanvl]

i just recently got an iLok.. bought Slate VCC second hand, and needed an iLok, which i have been trying to avoid for the last 8 years or so.. I hate the thing :D

No problem when i'm at home, but if i'm in another studio working on projects, and i forget my iLok, i'm stuck.. For now it's not a such bad thing, i can still do mixes without iLok, because i only have 1 plugin that needs it, but if you're relying on a lot of iLok-plugins i wouldn't even dare taking that thing on the road :D

[rhythmtech]

Originally Posted by The Beatsmith

Steven Slate still flying the flag, and proud

cause he bought into ilok2 and is probably in contract. he already hinted in the vcc thread that he wasnt expecting all the hassles.

[caligotbeatz]

Originally Posted by Exxille

Well I would agree as I am in this exact boat as I own waves mercury and SSL TDM bundles with 5 years worth of WUP paid, along with a host of other ilok based plugs. However waves and ilok v1 was cracked last year so every high school rapper currently has them on their laptop. I wonder why they did not stick with the new v2 ilok standard however (maybe cost), the hackers seem to be having as much trouble with that as they did with v1 which took 7 years + to crack. The real commodity lies in having the plugs and not knowing how to use them or hiring an engineer who is not good wit them.

You bring up a great point. That i myself would argue, if the market for great plugins becomes saturated on every would be musicans laptop due to cracks those tools we use dont become any less valuable but in reverse brings up the value of the real engineers who can man and operate those plugins.

sent from Fourty Acre Studios

[u b k]

FWIW, iLok 1 wasn't cracked; what was cracked was the software inside it.

PACE subsequently plugged the hole in that code and tightened it up, and iLok 1 is secure again. If you were a high-profile developer who had an iLok-1-protected plugin on the market before that crack, your plugin was probably cracked too because your code was wide open at that moment.

But for those of us who've released plugins since Pace plugged the hole, iLok 1 is secure once again.

I can tell you this much: the UBK-1 would've been cracked straight out of the gate if not for the iLok 1, and if that'd happened I would've ended my plugin career lickety split. Not that anyone cares about that, but something to think about as you cross your fingers and hope for the demise of iLok is that, in the absence of something equally robust, some of us will simply seek greener pastures.

What's interesting to me is that UAD's setup is a gigantic dongle that requires a slot in your computer or a firewire port and a small-pizza-box sized space on your desk. The overwhelming majority of people seem grateful for the chance to use their proprietary scheme, maybe if the ilok installed inside the computer, out of sight, it would become similarly invisible to people.

The iLok is portable, takes up the same space as a thumb drive, and gives you access to any number of developer's products. And know this: if you're a customer of Kush and you lose your iLok, just write to us and we'll drop you a 90-day license right then and there, that should give you plenty of time to sort it out with Pace. I can't imagine the other developers who use Pace not doing the same, it's a small industry and a good bunch of people running these little companies.


Gregory Scott - ubk

[LeMauce]

Right on! Thats was some helpfull info and also great point of view in service terms!