#Dongles
I just saw a seemingly innocent thread about Liquid Speed turn into a
"Dongle Free-For-All". Not that I am being critical of your
comments, but lets get this out where it belongs, ON ITS OWN THREAD.
Here are my thoughts …
1) Those of us who also work in the UNIX world (Greg P, I'm looking
for you to help me on this one!<G>) live in a world of "Host ID's,
ELM License Managers, and Authorization Codes". For those who are
not versed, all UNIX boxes have a unique HOST ID number that is
assigned to that machine "at birth". This host ID makes each machine
unique, and therefore copy protected. When we install AutoCAD on a
UNIX box, we call AutoDesk with the host I.D. number and they give us
an Auth Code to "Unlock" the software. Now, this software can still
be installed on another machine, but the user will have to call
AutoDesk for an Auth Code for that machine. If your brave enough,
you could pirate the software by saying that "We moved it to a new
machine", but you would be taking a serious risk. ELM codes work the
same for network copies, with the code being a function of the
Machine Name and the IP Address. This brings up a simple question,
WHY CAN'T SOMEONE COME UP WITH THIS SIMPLE OF A SOLUTION FOR THE
INTEL PLATFORM?
2) Understanding that there are certain hardware limitations posed by
the sheer number of Intel boxes shipped, Why can't we come up with a
MASTER DONGLE solution? (3rd party guys, are you listening? There
is going to be a major HINT in here for you!). I would gladly pay
$20.00 to some "master licensing" outfit for a dongle that gave my
machine the functional equivalent of a host ID. Then, 3DS3, LS,
TOPAS and all the others could use this as their restriction.
3) AutoDesk 3rd party developers, 3DS3 already ships with a hardware
lock so why not take advantage of it? I can understand that AutoDesk
would be cautious of giving out to much info about how there hardware
lock works, but SURELY there is some part of the "code" that
developers such as Vibrant could use?!?!
Let me summarize, I AM IN FAVOR OF HARDWARE LOCKS! But the current
system is headed for a major meltdown. We have a great collection of
minds here, let's use them to develop ideas and answers.
OK Guys, BEAT ME UP!!!!