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I'm not positive, but I don't think my insurance company would cover non-physical items.
I recently changed my insurance, and checked. Not only were they prepared to cover the licenses, but they did it within my standard cover, so there was no impact on the premiums. On the other hand my dongles never leave the house - I can imagine it's much harder to get cover for hauling them around.
I would be fun and useful to ask some expert about these issues, and also about the complete lack of information surrounding the Vienna Key. Who could we ask, is there any association or specialized website?
@DG said:
Oh no they won't.
Just contact support and ask them.
Really? Well, if that's the case (and it definitely didn't used to be - I remember Vienna saying they actively monitored ebay and other sites, and had sales shut down) then I would have to admit that at least this is consistent with the dongle and license being the same thing. Such a situation is still not right, but at least Vienna wouldn't be trying to mix the benefits of both scenarios.
@DG said:
Oh no they won't.
Just contact support and ask them.
Really? Well, if that's the case (and it definitely didn't used to be - I remember Vienna saying they actively monitored ebay and other sites, and had sales shut down) then I would have to admit that at least this is consistent with the dongle and license being the same thing. Such a situation is still not right, but at least Vienna wouldn't be trying to mix the benefits of both scenarios.
Ah, but selling them on eBay is a different matter. They don't allow that, and there is a charge for the licence transfer (just as there is with iLok).
DG
I am afraid we cannot convince Vienna to change policy, they would have done already otherwise. But we have the right to ask for clear policies:
- what is a user supposed to pay in case of damaged/broken key
- what is a user supposed to pay in case of stolen/lost key
- that it is impossible to de-activate keys
- that it is not possible to backup licenses
All this should be told clearly to costumers BEFORE purchase and BEFORE any problem occurrs.
Maybe we can ask to the European Consumer Centers. Also, we can try to spread the info: these are information that the costumer has the right to know.
@clruwe said:
I agree, but if it's not VSL or EWQL then what? I've done a lot of research and I cannot find any non-dongle alternatives... We just need to convince VSL to change.
To change to what?
DG
Sorry, that was in reply to RefugeDenied who wanted to sell his VSL products.Please tell me if I'm wrong: but are we not supposed to be able to have more than one license in a different dongle (to use slave computers)? And if that's the case, couldn't we just save one of those dongles in a safer place as a back up?I am afraid we cannot convince Vienna to change policy, they would have done already otherwise. But we have the right to ask for clear policies:
- what is a user supposed to pay in case of damaged/broken key
- what is a user supposed to pay in case of stolen/lost key
- that it is impossible to de-activate keys
- that it is not possible to backup licenses
All this should be told clearly to costumers BEFORE purchase and BEFORE any problem occurrs.
Maybe we can ask to the European Consumer Centers. Also, we can try to spread the info: these are information that the costumer has the right to know.
A license can be stored only on one dongle. You can move licenses between different dongles but each license can stay only on one dongle at the time. Thus no backup is possible.
@DG said:
Ah, but selling them on eBay is a different matter. They don't allow that, and there is a charge for the licence transfer (just as there is with iLok).
Ah, I see. In that case we're back where we started. If the dongle and license are the same thing, then I have every right to sell my license, at least in the UK, without any involvement from Vienna, and certainly without any further payment, and they have no business shutting down ebay sales.
@DG said:
Ah, but selling them on eBay is a different matter. They don't allow that, and there is a charge for the licence transfer (just as there is with iLok).
Ah, I see. In that case we're back where we started. If the dongle and license are the same thing, then I have every right to sell my license, at least in the UK, without any involvement from Vienna, and certainly without any further payment, and they have no business shutting down ebay sales.
Why do you think you are "entitled" to sell a licence in the first place? Have you tried to sell your driving licence? Good luck with that. [:D]
DG
Ok, DG please, stop making absurd comparisons. The VSL license is neither a driving license nor a fridge. We know exactly what we mean with it and so do you DG. Why don't you instead tell us how much it costs Vienna to generate licenses, this would be a useful information to think about feasibility of systems such as the Waves TLC (does anyone know how much it costs?). You seem to be very well informed and somehow half way between a user and a Vienna emplyee.
Pingu and Delavagus, why don't we start acting concretely to inform people? Originally I had thought of the www.viennausers.com website. But that takes way too much time to create and would take even longer to rank decently on google. I keep the domain just in case this thread gets deleted in which case I'd move it there.
Why don't we instead make a clear compact list of the things that costumers are not informed about and post it as reviews to VSL in let's say 4 websites each? A review on Amazon or any of the main resellers reaches thousands of people, and I always read them before buying a product. We would then reach many more people and be much more effective without wasting too much time. We are actual costumers and we write about true stuff and reviews really help costumers to decide. I really wished I were informed at the time I purchased Vienna, I'm not a pro and didn't want to get stuck into this absurd dongle problems.
@clruwe said:
I agree, but if it's not VSL or EWQL then what? I've done a lot of research and I cannot find any non-dongle alternatives... We just need to convince VSL to change.
There are a few Kontakt libraries out there that I think seem decent that don't use dongles (no personal experience), but I don't think it's fair to bring competitors' products up on this forum. I do, however, still believe that VSL's libraries sound better and you can't really beat VI Pro as a sample player (though Kontakt is a close second - obviously this is my opinion), but the monetary risk is just too great for me.
They did reply to my email asking about selling my licenses and they do let you.
I must say, I was rather surpised they let sell you licenses, but the fees are steep.
On the flip side, I do have a few EWQL licenses as well (these absolutely cannot be transferred). I don't use them because the PLAY engine is so weak and v 3.x is a nasty joke of a bugfest that is hit or miss as to which machine it will work on. What a miserable mistake it was to buy EWQL "stuff".
Why don't you instead tell us how much it costs Vienna to generate licenses, this would be a useful information to think about feasibility of systems such as the Waves TLC (does anyone know how much it costs?). You seem to be very well informed and somehow half way between a user and a Vienna employee.
.
How would I know how much it costs to generate licences? Of course I'm well informed. I'm a professional, and do my research before buying any equipment or software. That doesn't make me an employee; just someone with a bit of experience and intelligence. I do spend a lot of time on this forum helping people, unlike some others who seem to join this forum just to complain. However, I do think it's a bit selfish for some new members of the forum (and I'm not talking about you) to expect other members of the forum to rise up and support them, when they've given nothing to the community.
However I certainly wouldn't want VSL to go down the same route as the Waves Extortion Plan. Nether would I want them to go down the route of East West, where you can't sell any of their products, even though they use an iLok.
DG
That's right, I am not a professional and I did not buy a professional product: I bought SE wich was explicitely aimed at non professionals
"It is the ideal, resource-saving companion for orchestral arrangements on the laptop, or for newcomers to the world of Vienna Instruments, offering a useful cross-section of Vienna Symphonic Library’s over one million samples."
I thus do not want to have to deal with the hassle of a pro. I want a product that I can use when I travel (as suggested by the SE description, you should use it on a laptop!), not that I have to keep locked at home. I really don't know where I could have read about the key problems, since it was not written anywhere (OK, now they are, since this thread was created).
Anyone is welcome to join this discussion, independently to how much he/she "contributed" on this forum. We are not building an open-source project, here we are discussing about the money we earned.
One more thing: if I loose my driving license I go to the police station certify the loss and get a new one, I'm not asked to redo the test.
