I, too, lost my dongle when I moved my studio. I was also told I have to again purchse the product. Now, I did write down the Vienna Key number when I registered the license. Does this mean I can use this information to re-create my license at no expense?
Cordially,
Charles
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@charles_30783 said:
I, too, lost my dongle when I moved my studio. I was also told I have to again purchse the product. Now, I did write down the Vienna Key number when I registered the license. Does this mean I can use this information to re-create my license at no expense? Cordially, CharlesYou can't do anything except contact support. However, I believe that VSL may well help you out; Steinberg wouldn't. :>(
DG
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Credit where credit's due! I haven't had one single issue with the Vienna dongle in the past 2 years on my Mac and that includes running pretty much the whole collection and a fair number of new installs. It has, at least for me, been an exceptionally stable platform. The only real bugbear is the initial boot time but hopefully in time this will improve.
When the new MacPros launch I'm going to do multiple updates to Leopard, Logic 8 (it only lurks on my laptop currently!) and Vienna Ensemble - is it stable on the Mac yet? and hopefully I'll be blessed with the fantastic system reliability my G5 has provided (fingers crossed)
Julian
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@cm said:
we will keep up the *good habit* to ask you to register your VIENNA KEY number besides your products. this will give us and you the option to re-create licenses in case a dongle dies or get's lost.this is a reply to myself because it seems this statement gets misinterpreted by a few users.
1) a key dies (no longer recognized for some reason, locked by a pending license, similar case)
1a) the key is within the quarantee (depends on local regulation): we will replace the key + licenses (P&P might apply)
1b) the key is out of quarantee: we will replace licenses (a small handling fee might apply)
2) a key is damaged (smashed, scorched): we will replace licenses (a small handling fee might apply)
for both cases we need of course to proof the issue, means the key has to be returned to us or a distributor. contact us before returning the key to someone if more than one vendor is involved (eg. steinberg, tascam, VSL, others)
3) the key is stolen: this should usually be covered by your insurance but in case you are not insured and can proof the issue (eg. reported to police) ask our sales department for a special offer. this will be handled individually case by case. if you notify us about the issue we can lock the license for further transfers, but we don't have access to the license as long as it is used *offline*. a handling fee might apply.
4) the key is lost or misplaced: with some contracts this might be covered by an insurance, but we cannot offer very much to you except confirming which licenses are on the key (if you have registered it), lock the licenses for further transfers and look if someone tried that already.
for the latter two cases we can re-create the licenses, but i didn't assume someone would expect to receive a replacement for free ...
christian
and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds. -
4) the key is lost or misplaced: with some contracts this might be covered by an insurance, but we cannot offer very much to you except confirming which licenses are on the key (if you have registered it), lock the licenses for further transfers and look if someone tried that already. for the latter two cases we can re-create the licenses, but i didn't assume someone would expect to receive a replacement for free ... christian Christian: In the case above (which is my case) I assumed that I would have to buy a new key. My issue is paying for a new license, which is about 50% of the original purchase price. I did write down what I believe to be the Vienna Key registration, so in this case can I buy a new key and then have my old registration transfered to it? Buying a new key is a "no-brainer", but having to buy the product all over again seems extreme. Can you clarify? Thanks. Charles
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The license is the product.
The key holds the license.
If you loose the key you lost the product.
It's the same as if you have lost your car.
You won't get a new car from Ford, Merceds etc.
Maybe you get money from your assurance, if you have one.
We cannot control if you have sold or lost your key, therefor we cannot offer you new products/licenses for free.
If we would do that, the amount of "lost" keys" would increase dramatically.
best
Herb
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@charles_30783 said:
...buy a new key and then have my old registration transfered to it?how should we access (transfer) the license if it sits somewhere in the world on a key attached to a computer without internet?
and: you have done everybody loosing a key not a big favour posting the 50% which have been a special offer to meet you halfway because your issue appeared credible and i think our sales department will not offer this again now.
christian
and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds. -
Hi Christian, Herb,
You are absolutely right to defend your intellectual property however the "lost" dongle issue has been raised a number of times so is obviously an issue that preys on peoples minds. The most likely chance of a dongle going missing in pro circles is the visit to a large sound stage for an orchestral or other recording where the dongle is required for the session.
In a lot of these cases the rigging and striking of equipment is carried out by the studio - in the past I've had leads and bits and pieces go missing - almost certainly not through theft but just things being put in the wrong place.
Yes, for something worth such a lot (in my case probablly approaching 5 figures) the dongle should be kept somewhere close to hand (insert and twist!) but then again a large orchestral recording can be a pressured environment.
I'm not sure all insurance policies would give such a blanket requirement and if they did the resultant premium would be considerable and I doubt good value for money and in the case of loss rather than theft the insurance company would be a hard nut to crack.
I do think the Vienna Dongle is a little different from most music related dongles in that it can end up carrying an immense value of licenses.
I don't know the technical possibilities but I for one would be happy to accept a modification to my installation that required my computer "sniffing " at the VSL server once a month to revalidate the installed packages (as distinct from the dongle itself) if this meant I did not worry about loosing the dongle. This or any other solution to protect our VSL investment would certainly be of interst to many.
Regards
Julian
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Hm then it looks like I better put inssurance on it if I can when I get it and keep it somewhere I can find it ot someting because I'm really afraid something stupid might happen...
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It was never my intention to harm the Vienna Instrument user community by posting the offer. I was not aware this was a special "favour" and it would be unfortunate if future credible replacement problems were to be harmed by this action. Most of us are honest people in a very crazy and mobile business who sometimes simply lose things. I appreciate the hard work the VSL puts into this fine collection and I understand the need for protection of this intellectual property, but problems do arise. The good news for us on my end is that we tore the entire studio apart and finally found the dongle. It somehow got buried but it has now, after three weeks, been retrieved. From now on, now that the difficulty of replacement has been brought clearly to our attention, the key will be, when not in use and being transported, in a box strapped to the computer. Given the replacement issues, any future additions to this license will be carefully evaluated and possibly rejected due to the potential substantial loss of value.
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Julian - Good idea regarding a computer tagging the VSL website once a month to revalidate the license. Perhaps the license can have a 30 day clock that needs to be "reset" by VSL. The VSL server could verify not only the product but the machine (s) used. There may be some issues when a computer is changed or upgraded, but I think this could be solved. ~Charles
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@herb said:
The license is the product.
The key holds the license.
If you loose the key you lost the product.
It's the same as if you have lost your car.
You won't get a new car from Ford, Merceds etc.
Maybe you get money from your assurance, if you have one.
We cannot control if you have sold or lost your key, therefor we cannot offer you new products/licenses for free.
If we would do that, the amount of "lost" keys" would increase dramatically.
best
Herb
Hello Herb,
well, I am glad you bring up that comparison yourself!
If it was really applicable to the full extend, then we could easily sell our
license - just as simple as I could sell my Mercedes [;)]
Btw, I still believe the restriction to prevent selling a license is invalid in Germany
anyway, in particular if a dongle is involved. Many companies, including Microsoft
and other biggies are trying to prevent resale of licenses, most of the time without
success.
Now I am afraid Volkswagen and Mercedes will introduce such restrictions too.
You wouldn't own the car anymore, just the license to use it! Permission to get it
fixed, if it breaks down, would be available for an extra fee, if desired.
Damn, that will push sales!
Sorry, really couldn't resist on this one...
The main problem however is, I do neither want to sell my Mercedes, nor my VSL
license. I would rather buy another license, like the SE Plus, but for some reason
you decided to continue to torture us by holding it back.You are so mean!
Give it to me baby!
Peter
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@charles_30783 said:
Julian - Good idea regarding a computer tagging the VSL website once a month to revalidate the license. Perhaps the license can have a 30 day clock that needs to be "reset" by VSL. The VSL server could verify not only the product but the machine (s) used. There may be some issues when a computer is changed or upgraded, but I think this could be solved. ~CharlesDoesn't sound like a good idea to me... the last thing I want when I'm doing a studio session is to be reminded that VSL must "check my license" and, horror of horrors, have my software deactivated....
That said, having lots of valuable licenses in a little dongle can be a bit worrying when you move around. I occasionally do orchestra sessions in outside studios and take my laptop - lots of curious musicians hang around my rig during breaks and it wouldn't be too difficult to swipe the dongle. Oh well, I just have to unplug it each time and hang it round my neck on a strap. Problem is that this also means closing my software and reloading after the break.... aaargh!!!
So I guess insurance would be the way to go... Does anyone know of a company that insures music gear and software in Italy?
Regards,
Aidan
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Right. I'm down here in Argentina with a $10,000 baggie full of dongles. I wouldn't suggest my wife bring her diamonds down here (uh, if she had some...well she does have the one), but I've no choice.
I suppose the dongles are the best current solution, but in certain respects they are far from a good solution, and place an inappropriate burden on customers.
It would be one thing if insurance for loss or theft was readily available, as it is for automobiles (and jewels...), but it is not. This is one huge grey area in existing policies (many of which limit coverage for computer and audio equipment to begin with). I do think developers, and especially the anti-piracy developers like Syncrosoft and Pace, have a responsibility to sort things in this area.
If I must have dongles, why couldn't they be secured physically (as in a "wired" safe deposit box), and then pinged remotely when I want to use the software? Really, Pace and Syncrosoft are taking in hefty fees...they need to put in the work to earn them.
That said, I hold zero malice for music software developers using dongles. I reserve that for the f@#*ing software thieves that have brought this all about.
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on several occasions (like eg. a fair) it has become common practice to secure various parts from beeing *displaced*, even if they are of a dimension which would make us assume it would be impossible to displace them ...
ideas and suggestions to make a license expire regulary or beeing dependant on *touching a server* should be considered very carefully and in their whole depth of pros and cons - i think it is much more critical to have a license stored on the computer or bound to a harddisk/network interface/ect than to a dongle. de-authorizing a license from a computer or harddisk which has died can easily become a mess and reveals finally the same problem as not beeing able to access a license on a key which is *offline*
it sound to me a little bit like spirit of the age is tending to make everybody else responsible for taking care on things/gear/ect except oneselves ...
let me add a counterexample here: i have a really expensive backup software for which the serial number has been lost somewhen and obviously nobody ever registered it at the vendor's website. not only that now i'm not able to upgrade it aslo i would need to purchase a new full version and i will never be able to transfer the license to another server - i would be really happy to have the license on a dongle to simply attach it to another machine ...
christian
and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds. -
Christian: “t sound to me a little bit like spirit of the age is tending to make everybody else responsible for taking care on things/gear/ect except oneselves ...” I try not to be in that mindset. I usually take very good care of my gear to the point where I still have and use vintage synths from years and years ago that look and work as new. The issue for me is that the dongle is so small and fragile that it is very easy to misplace or damage. Given the value of the products registered on the dongle, I would be willing to pay more money for a more permanent in-computer solution. A PCI card could do the trick ( of course, it would take up slot) or a more substantial outboard box rather than a flimsy plastic dongle. Another idea I am toying with is to reverse the input on my computer USB port and actually have the dongle INSIDE the computer as opposed to outside exposed to harm. What happens if the dongle breaks or dies (as opposed to lost)? This would be no fault of the owner. Can the license be replaced at no charge then? Incidentally, I have spoken with my insurance agent and am placing additional coverage on this software. For in-studio use, the cost is about $100 a year for $25,000 worth of protection with only a $50 deduction. This brings more peace of mind given the ephemeral nature of the dongle. I am not sure what out of studio costs would be for traveling. Charles
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If the dongle breaks or dies it's no problem to replace the dongle and all licenses.
The dongle has to be registered and the dongle has to be sent to our distributors (or to Vienna).
Than we can look at the dongle number and check the licenses holding on that key in a Syncrosoft database interface.
And than you will get a new dongle with new licenses from Vienna.
best
Herb
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I actually think julians idea is not bad, though I'd make it a little bit different. Not with a forced one monthly internet-sniffing, but more like a manual "refreshing" of the licence (which could be time-limited to one month or so .. of course, the more the better for the user). So let's say, you plan to work somewhere else the next weeks, then you get a fresh licence, which will work for the next month [and if you're unlucky you loose it in this time]. After this month, if no refresh is done, the licence on the dongle just expires [so if somebody stole it or found it, after one month it's definetly useless to him]. Then you have to get a new one from the internet (which would be only possible as registered user). But it should be possible to refresh the licence, even if it still has days to go. Well ... dunno if that's possible with the current version of Synchrosoft-Dongles ... but if it is, I think it would be really a cool thing. I think to have to take some minutes to refresh the dongle once a month is better than the danger to loose maybe thousands of Euros. By the way: What do I have to do to make the forum showing my message with all the stanzas I made ?
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let me add a counterexample here: i have a really expensive backup software for which the serial number has been lost somewhen and obviously nobody ever registered it at the vendor's website.
This however does seem to fall under "responsible for taking care on things." :)
