I am writing a short piece for Wikipedia (for the criticism section in the VSL wkipedia page). I'll post it here first for comments and suggestions: it should be well written, correct and fair.

Cesare

@cesare.magri said:

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.

not sure if i understand your intention - it is exactly the ViennaKey which allows you to take the license with you wherever you travel to and on whatever computer you like to use ist.

@clruwe said:

Yes I see... I should've google it before posting. You can only use one set of licenses per computer i.e. you cannot separate libraries. I understand the issue better now.

not correct in this sense. you can seperate collections (which may consist of a standard and an extended library) to different computers - that's one of the benefits of VE PRO, use strings on one computer and woodwinds on another.

however you cannot *double* a license for a certain collection to use it on 2 computers simultaneously.

@Another User said:

They really need to choose which way they want it - either the license is intangible, and thus untransferrable, (but also unloseable, unstealable, and impossible to damage), or it's a piece of hardware, and can be lost, but I can also sell it.

a license can never be a piece of hardware because it is immaterial by design.

a not transferrable license does not imply a piece of hardware would be unloseable or unstealable.

No no, VSL was extremely clear on this when I asked them by email: the dongle IS the license and when you loose it you lose the license (I still have the email in which they write it). Dot.

@Cyril said:

VSL have to find a solution so that they can de-activate a stolen USB key.

that's agreat idea ... we put a GPS receiver, a battery and a GSM module onto every ViennaKey to allow execution of what you're asking for ... unfortuantely the ViennaKey would cost some 100 euro then, but who cares ...

(who' finding sarcasm here is entitled to keep it)

@Another User said:

The most valuable part of our products is the license which is stored on the key.

and as far as i can see a very special and most valuable solution has been the result in your case.

if you're indeed as unhappy as im reading out of your posts i'll suggest our sales team to refuse such concessions in the future for similar cases.

Come on, an optional (only for those who want it) call home system for those who would be interested in the service would be extremely easy to implement. There is simply no will to do it.

@cm said:

i would really ask you to cite correctly and not throwing fog

Here I cite "correctly":

"Generally, you didn't purchase the software or the samples itself, but the license (!) to use the software and the samples in your projects. This license is stored on your key, and by loosing the key, you also lost the license to use the product."

sent to me by Stefan Steinbauer on May 27th 2010

Dear people at Vienna,

First of all, everyone on this forum and also those reading and contributing to this (a bit angry) thread, thinks that you do a damn good job and produce good products. Honestly, the email I quoted in my previous post makes me smile a bit, in the sense that it shows how hard it is for you too to deal with this mess of the key/license/authorization/whatever without ending up in a some contraddiction.

Nobody here thinks you are bad or evil, nobody wants to see you go banckrupt and thus everyone understands your need to protect your products. However, since the introduction of the SE your company has been faced with a problem that currently you are simply refusing to acknowledge. Namely, that while your copy protection scheme worked and works perfectly fine for professionals, with SE you have started to target a new type of costumer, the non-professionals, for whom your copy protection systems is simply too restrictive and for whom being denied some important information (such as how much one has to pay for lost keys etc) makes a big difference. Obviously you are aware of this, otherwise this information would be printed clearly on your website.

As I said before, we all understand your need to protect your work. On the other hand you need to understand our concerns. We, non professionals, don't have music studio with relative insurances, we use your software with cheap laptops with few USB ports, maybe on a train or plane, maybe in the bits of free time, often tired after having worked long hours at our non-musical jobs. This type of messed-up usage of the key and software drastically increases the chanses of loosing, being stole or breaking a key, compared to a professional. On the other hand we have spent several months wages on your product, and did this simply for passion, we won't make money out of this software, it is not an investment. You have to understand that it is unthinkable for us that such a huge amount of money is linked in such a fragile way to a piece of plastic. And it makes us angry not to have been told clearly at the beginning all the infos regarding the dongle.

We are asking for feasible and reasonable solutions, such as the optional (so that pros don't have to deal with it) temporary license system. We are also saying that we are willing to (reasonalby) pay for it, on top of what we have already paid. Why don't you at least reply us telling us WHY you won't implement it?

Finally, why don't you write a 100% clear and open policy regarding lost keys etc? so that everyone knows what he/she should expect and can easily refer to it? Maybe you will loose a couple of costumers on the short time, but, honestly, it will make you look 10 times more reliable, professional and fair, and you will gain the trust of your current costumers. There are other cool products of yours that I'd like to buy, but I won't, simply because I don't want to run the risk of loosing everything together with a blue USB stick.

With kind regards,

Cesare

@Pingu said:

Certainly in the UK I am entitled to sell

your dongle holds the liceneses, you can sell your dongle but you cannot sell licenses iisued to you as person. at least not without permission of the licensor.

See I still think you're trying to have the best of both worlds here, and are just playing with words to try and make something true that isn't. Trying to distinguish between the dongle being the license and holding the license is specious at best. By definition 'license' simply means 'permission' and is completely immaterial, as you've said later in your post. By saying that that permission lives in a specific place you've still made it into an object, even if it's just the code on the dongle.

[quote=cm]

a license can never be a piece of hardware because it is immaterial by design.

a not transferrable license does not imply a piece of hardware would be unloseable or unstealable

Again your logic is very flawed. You say the license cannot be a piece of hardware, by definition (and I completely agree). In that case, although the hardware can be stolen the license can't. If it can be stolen, then it is the hardware.

As I see it this is a very simple issue. I buy permission to use your samples. You have a record that I have that permission, and, by definition, that permission is immaterial / intangible. So in the event of theft, fire, etc, that permission can't have been lost. I fully understand the costs associated with generating the licenses, which I also fully agree the user should pay, but to simply say that permission to use the samples was lost with the dongle is ridiuclous. Either a license is immaterial or it's not.

More to the point, the main purpose of this thread was to point out that Vienna's stand has simly never been spelled out, so customers are left with whatever decision you make on the spur of the moment, and some of those decisions send out the wrong message. For instance, the only reason I can think of for not restoring licenses when a user reports their dongle stolen, is that you simply don't trust them. And I can at least partly understand this viewpoint, because I'm sure there are some customers who would simply report their dongles stolen in order to gain second licenses (although really that's one of the downsides of dongles that Vienna have laid themselves open to by choosing a dongle solution, and shouldn't be our problem). But I can only understand it if you apply it consistently. If you say to a customer whose dongle has been stolen, 'We'll restore your licenses, but only if you buy more of our software,' I'm not sure what the message is anymore. It sounds like 'We don't trust you, and believe you are trying to get duplicate licenses, but we're happy if we get some money,' or, 'We believe your dongle is almost certainly stolen as you've said, but we're going to take the opportunity to take more money.'

Probably this isn't how you want to come across, but there has never been any clear explanation of why you make these slightly random compromise deals, so we're left only with the impression it leaves.

@Cyril said:

VSL have to find a solution so that they can de-activate a stolen USB key.

that's agreat idea ... we put a GPS receiver, a battery and a GSM module onto every ViennaKey to allow execution of what you're asking for ... unfortuantely the ViennaKey would cost some 100 euro then, but who cares ...

(who' finding sarcasm here is entitled to keep it)

Hello Christian.

You do not need a GPS, just ask every 60 or 90 days to plug your USB dongle and to check if the dongle is not been reported as stolen

By the French laws your sales conditions are illegals you have to give the user a change to backup for it's own use an "inmaterial" stuf like sofware, music, samples, books ......

It has cost a lot of money to Sony that was condamned by the French law. If you do not want that it is happening to VSL you have to work on a solution.

I have ask to my insurance ; they do not cover inmaterial thing, and it is them who told me that what you are doing is illegal in France, and instead to take a law insurance ;) 

I dont know with other countries, as a far as European contries ; this law is valid in all Europe except Cyprus, Luxembourg, Ireland. Malta. England is suposed to have move to it since August 2011

see : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copie_privée

Best

Cyril

If it's the law it's the law. However, I couldn't disagree more with it, and as a composer living in this world you should think the same. When you buy a music CD, you are buying the actual plastic that contains it, not the actual music itself for all time. Sure, you also buy the permission (a very limited licence) to play that plastic to your heart's content, in the privacy of your own home/car. If you break it, lose it, eat it, spoil it, you have to go out and buy it again! If the plastic deteriorates through 1000 plays of your favourite tune, then just buy it again - it seems to be worth the €15... You should just be more careful, and accidents will happen, but just be more careful. I don't know how many hundreds of records and hundreds of CDs I own, but I know that I have damaged in the period of some decades only 2 or 3. I'm very happy with those statistics. As far as software is concerned, again personally I have never had a problem in the same few decades. Once it is installed, there already exists a hard copy from the purchase sitting on the shelf for emergency purposes. [Note: Companies that sell virtual software over the Internet just have to allow for backups]. Now, in case of theft? Well if somebody lifted my whole collection one day and I found my shelves empty, that's it isn't it? Should Sony, Chandos, DG, Phillips, EMI, etc. just re-fill them for me? Of course I would be completely devastated, but it would just be tough luck. Now just imagine that the whole VSL Cube doesn't come in a huge box of DVDs, but just inside a tiny USB key. What if that got lost/stolen (for damage see last paragraph)? It would be the same as if a diamond ring got stolen, wouldn't it? What then? It is from this premise that any discussion should ensue.

Now, the case of VSL (and other sample libraries) is different in that the software costs thousands of €, all virtually contained on a small piece of stupid fragile plastic. I agree that a solution should be found so that no one should be liable for even half the amount of their software should something happen to that key. BUT do you remember the days of the Pro Edition? That library had no stupid little key that had to be inserted anywhere, did it? There was no date with Herb on the Internet for validating your legitimacy every 60-90 days, was there? Vienna Instruments could have easily been available in such a format, but what transpired back then??...

People copied those libraries and sold them or just gave them away to their friends, didn't they? Same as with Logic and every other program.... Is your copy of Microsoft Word registered anywhere? Have you ever done any Peer2Peer shyte (for P2P read F***2F***!!!!)? Has anybody else here shared other people's blood and sweat as if it was their own? If so for "anarchistic" or other retarded political reasons, have they been consistent by also denying remuneration for themselves in their day-jobs?  

Finally, I thought a while back about the Internet validation thing (I would put it once a year or every 6 months at most), but I also thought it a bit too Big Brotherly back then and didn't suggest it - also what happens if a company (not VSL necessarily) closes down? And there are other issues as well... Maybe another idea would be for the key to be a more sturdy, metallic construct that can take some punishment (if heat is no issue?), and then one would just have to insure it against loss, for the value of the cost of re-validation. All this is the result of pure theft (piracy) with which most everybody seems to be so comfortable these days. What cretinism! Those people don't realize this attitude is going to bite them back 1,000,000 times harder than any (presumed) guilt-pangs at the acceptance of some pirated music/software....

P.S.: The diamond ring analogy is valid if we are allowed to transfer our licenses to somebody else at any time, as we should be.

The Law is very clear on this, you are allowed to copy it only for your personnal use !

A CD can be copied to a tape, it is legal. But if you lend your tape to friend it is Illegal !

What you propose in : Maybe another idea would be for the key to be a more sturdy, metallic construct that can take some punishment (if heat is no issue?),...

Is no good  if you get your key stollen or if it burns or it fells out of your pocket !

Your insurance will cover the key replacement but not the licenses as the licenses are inmaterial 

if you are not happy with the solution I proposed of checking your USB dongle every 60-90 days, too bad if you loose your dongle. You will not be covered by the law as you refused the solution and in this case VSL will be able to charge you 100 %

You cannot have the butter, the money of the butter and the farmer's wife ;)

Best

Cyril

There is a difference with copying to a tape; a lot of the resolution is lost (unlike digital-to-digital copies). 

The main point is that the insurance company should be able to cover you for the complete value of the USB key, licences included, as they would in case of loss of a valuable. They just have to raise the insurance cost (sensibly). I don't see what their problem is; regardless of the immateriality of the licenses themselves, you just ask them to be insured for a specific amount and then they'd calculate their fees according to the risk. Like life-insurance. No man's life can be estimated to €1 or €20,000,000; it is immaterial, however they do insure one against some nominated sum. Couldn't the same thing happen with the VSL licences?

As far as the Internet verification, I would agree with that as a last resort, but only in very long intervals, annually or something. Certainly stuff the 60-90 days thing...

 A clarification to some of the copyright mentions made above. Whether quality is lesser or not is mere nonsense. The key important terms are "legitimately own", "personal use", and "no commercial use". This is quoted from the Recording Industry Association of America, not sure if the same exact terms apply in Europe, but I presume so:

Citing:

"Copying (copyrighted) CDs

• It’s okay to copy music onto an analog cassette, but not for commercial purposes.
• It’s also okay to copy music onto special Audio CD-R’s, mini-discs, and digital tapes (because royalties have been paid on them) – but, again, not for commercial purposes.
• Beyond that, there’s no legal "right" to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R. However, burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:
  
  • The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own
  • The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying.

..."

@Gusfmm said:

This is quoted from the Recording Industry Association of America, not sure if the same exact terms apply in Europe

OK, we're getting way off topic here, since comparison of purchased music with the type of license that accompanies samples isn't really fruitful....

...but whilst we're here. I can't speak for the rest of Europe - Cyril suggests that a similar law applies in France. In the UK though, absolutely any copying is illegal, to any other medium. It's widely believed that there is a 'fair useage' law, that allows you to copy your own media for your own use, but this isn't the case at all. And at least one test case has been brought, by record companies, against an individual who ripped his own CDs onto his MP3 player.

@Another User said:

A quick search through Google showed me that you can easily get pirate versions of VSL products and Cubase (both Dongle based). So, if they are able to crack dongled software is this really a good security measure?

Have you watched the H2O (a group of hackers) youtube video to Synchrosoft (and to us paying costumers)? 

This is what people using cracked software are telling us paying costumers. So we get both the insults and the hassle of the key, isn't that great?

Errikos :

re-read what has been wrote.

We are not speaking of quality, we are speaking of what is legal or not legal

VSL has to respect the law, this is all !

For insurance, they refuse to insure non material thing, and why is it us that has to pay again !

We are paying the dongle already 

You said : > As far as the Internet verification, I would agree with that as a last resort, but only in very long intervals, annually or something. Certainly stuff the 60-90 days thing...

this is to protect VSL work ! why is it a problem for you ? ?

if this is done at the lauch of VE/VI there is no problem, it will take a few extra millisec !