I've recently spent a lot of money on a piece of video editing software (Avid Media Composer). Tonight it crashed and then wouldn't run any more. So I removed it, reinstalled it and then couldn't get the software to activate.
Trawling through the Avid support site reveals nothing of any help, and the forum isn't offering much either.
It's a maddening situation because the copy protection that's designed to stop people sharing the install CD with their friends has actually stopped me, a perfectly legitimate user, from using the product for which I've paid.
This is nothing new either. I once turned to an illegal download of a product because even though I'd bought a valid copy, the copy protection dongle broke and my only option was to find a crack on some nasty warez site.
This annoys me. Software companies, yes you need to protect your interests and I understand why this is a problem for you. But if you make it difficult for me to use your software legitimately I'll find another way, or ultimately choose a different product.
What do you suggest? I work at a software company and I would love to know the right answer!
ReplyDeleteWe use dongles, which are expensive, take manual effort and need OS admin/root user access for installation...it works but I would switch to something else given half a chance.
Therein lies the problem. I don't know either. This is the difficulty with controlling access to something that isn't physical and therefore is very difficult to restrict.
ReplyDeleteDongles are my personal preference but still a pain because they're bulky and easily lost. They're also usually not insurable. Bizarely if my boxed copy of software is stolen, insurance will cover it. If the dongle which contains the actual licence, therefore what I've really paid for, gets nicked most insurance will only cover the cost of a replacement dongle, usually about £5.
I have never seen a copy protection scheme that actually works - in a way that a determined hacking group can't get round - and that doesn't cause some sort of inconvenience to the legitimate end user.