they never learn !!!

[glorybound]

Price

Their has to be a way to stop stolen software from being distributed. I wonder if software vendors look the other way knowing that if people learn it they'll eventually buy it. Or maybe they are not even worried about the one man shop. I worked for a place that was owned by a very wealthy man. He bought one copy of AutoCad educational and had installed on all the workstations. Wrong on so may levels!

[Clifton Santiago]

I worked for a place that was owned by a very wealthy man. He bought one copy of AutoCad educational and had installed on all the workstations. Wrong on so may levels!

Yeah, well how do you think he got so wealthy...

There is no simple solution to software piracy. When a new DRM technology is released, its hacked within hours. And look at the MPAA and RIAA and their battles with the likes of Piratebay. These agencies represent huge corporations and spend hundreds of millions on anti-piracy measures, and p2p piracy continues to grow.

[glorybound]

Piracy

What if you leased software and the license was controlled on a remote server? I would love that... I hate bringing my dongle back and forth. If my machines communicated to a server over at v-ray then no matter where I was I can use it. I would assume in the 21st century we have a way to fix this so there must be a reason why we don't. Would it cost to much to prevent piracy? Is that cost already raising the price of software, which brings us back around to would software be cheaper if everyone payed for the software they use? If the developers are not spending 20% to protect code would that 20% bring down the price? A $1000.00 piece of application would be $800.00.

[Clifton Santiago]

...and the license was controlled on a remote server?

You already can. Just put all your licenses on one dongle, and put that dongle on the node where you are running the license server. Anyone with access to the network with Vray installed can pull a license, either in the office, or from remote sites.

If the developers are not spending 20% to protect code would that 20% bring down the price?

No, I don't think it works that way. You are assuming that the company would pass that savings on to you. That's a big no-no in a corporate model. You charge as much as you can get away with, within the constraints of the market.

But this argument doesn't really apply to a small company like chaosgroup. AFAIK, they are not spending money on anti-piracy litigation, and as such, piracy would not be impacting the price.

Also dropping prices will not stop piracy. Warez kids will download a cracked version of a game that only costs a few quid to actually purchase.

[glorybound]

Piracy

What do you do when a company is offering services that you can't compete with because you are paying for software and they are not? What if we had some kind of badge to display showing that we pay for our software? Like being MSCE certified. I can display my MSCE certification on my website, which authenticates me as being certified by Microsoft. If I get caught displaying a badge that I didn't earn they lock me up. Same with being an architect (I am not either by the say). If I call myself an architect I can get sued big time. How many people would stop using services knowing they had stolen their software? Click the on-line badge and it goes to the offical site showing you indeed payed for your software and are legit.

I don't know, just thinking.

[instinct]

Well it wouldnt bring the price down to leave it out...but it would stay lower in the first place i'd say. Syntheyes doesnt get floating licenses for that very reason. Russ says to add floating licensing would mean he would have to almost double the price (Syntheyes is bloody cheap heh) and that ppl are usually better of simply buying another license...and i gotta say he is right there The main reason beeing he couldnt do it himself but would have to license it (just like Chaos did with Wibu i assume)....

Regards,
Thorsten

[glorybound]

License

Well the word on the street is V-Ray 1.5 can't be cracked. Someone registered onto my site and added a rss feed to their site, which was a site that dealt with pirated software. I found this out because I did a search for v-ray tutorials (or something, I forget) and my site came up on the first page. I would post the site, but I don't went anybody tempted with all those free apps . Anyway the tread was people complainig that V-RAY 1.5 has been out for month's and why hasn't anybody cracked it?

[Neilg]

They have, just not the full version. it's easier to crack the demo - when you can remove the limitations and make it identical apart from some text at the top, there's no need to do any extra work trying to bypass the dongle.

Those people complaining are collectors of warez, which is why they make the distinction. I'd guess around 60% of people who download pirate software hardly ever use it, if at all. They just want to own something that they shouldve paid for.

[Clifton Santiago]

I doubt it is uncrackable. Its probably too small profile for hackers to give it much effort.

But along similar lines of this thread, have you read about the huge litigious blunder that Autodesk made, and its implications for software licensing?

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/05/23/ebay_autodesk_ruling/

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/18397/53/

[glorybound]

Warez

Interesting.... So maybe warez is not so much if an issue. For me I had the demo for a while, but since it was free I did not put much effort into using it. When we forked over the money for pro I had to learn it or live with the fact that we just wasted money.

[Neilg]

Interesting.... So maybe warez is not so much if an issue.

Not on the scale it could be, but for vlado any lost money is probably a big issue. I'd guess 30% of the remaining 40 are students/people learning/hobbyists (non-profit stuff) and then you've got 10% made up of freelancers and small firms using it to actually make money.

I did however just pull those numbers out of my ass based on what i've seen around though.

[DrJan]

Well the word on the street is V-Ray 1.5 can't be cracked. Someone registered onto my site and added a rss feed to their site, which was a site that dealt with pirated software. I found this out because I did a search for v-ray tutorials (or something, I forget) and my site came up on the first page. I would post the site, but I don't went anybody tempted with all those free apps . Anyway the tread was people complainig that V-RAY 1.5 has been out for month's and why hasn't anybody cracked it?

I've heard similar complaints. Apparently someone did some kind of .dll crack for the SP2, but they say it's really slow.

I, for one, can't be bothered with looking for a cracked version. At work I have a full license and at home I use my sister's educational license.

But I am familiar with the story about a wealthy man not wanting to pay for a full license of software... It annoys the hell out of me because as a user, you can't really get support in case you need it.

[Clifton Santiago]

I don't think the Autodesk ruling would have any affect on Chaosgroup. Their software is distributed by download. The Autodesk issue came about when they tried to stop someone from re-selling original software discs by arguing that they sell licenses, rather than software. And they lost.

If the ruling stands on appeal, it will potentially affect any media you purchase on disc including music and movies. Essentially the "shrink-wrap" EULA becomes meaningless...

[duke2]

It IS uncrackable. I know this because i've used it, because i'm a dirty butt-pirate thief who wanted to learn it at home while still using crusty old Lightwave at work, and then getting a job using Max/V-Ray. Anyway, I think ChaosGroup chose the WIBU dongle because it's one of the less easy ones to crack. The cracked demo is crippled, so aside from that ++++ text up the top, you can tell all those people still using RC4 aren't within 20 feet of a dongle.

[re:FORM]

What do you do when a company is offering services that you can't compete with because you are paying for software and they are not? What if we had some kind of badge to display showing that we pay for our software? Like being MSCE certified. I can display my MSCE certification on my website, which authenticates me as being certified by Microsoft. If I get caught displaying a badge that I didn't earn they lock me up. Same with being an architect (I am not either by the say). If I call myself an architect I can get sued big time. How many people would stop using services knowing they had stolen their software? Click the on-line badge and it goes to the offical site showing you indeed payed for your software and are legit.

I don't know, just thinking.

Its actually amazing that this doesnt exist yet... I had the same thought some years ago.