Dongle Protection
12 messages in this thread
Hi, all! I wanted to get your opinion on the following:
Recently I received a hot new video-related program that's supposed to leave
everything else in the dust. Price is in the $600-$700 range.
When I opened the package, I found that it uses dongle protection. To operate
the program, you need to insert a hardware device into the computer's second
mouse port (an optional dongle is available for the parallel port — the
optional one will pass printer data through a passthrough connector).
I noticed on the company's warranty disclaimer the following:
[COMPANY NAME OMITTED] warrants the dongles from manufacturing
defects for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of pur-
chase. Should the dongle fail in the course of normal use
within this 30 day period, and it is returned to the dealer
from whom the program was purchased not later than five (5)
days after the end of such 30 day period, the dealer shall, at
the dealer's option, either repair or replace the dongle.
[COMPANY]'s liability is limited solely to repair or replace-
ment of the defective product and shall not in any event in-
clude damages for loss of use or loss of anticipated costs,
expenses or damages, including without limitation any data
which may be lost or rendered inaccurate, even if [COMPANY]
has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
I was wondering how popular opinions currently run as to the use of copy
protection in general, and hardware protection in particular, on professional
application software.
All replies will be sent to the manufacturer of the product. Please excuse me
for not embarrassing them by using their name, but my purpose is to educate
them, not blindside them. Hope you understand.
Any responses, on either side of the issue, greatly appreciated.
Pete
Without the program name and functions, nobody can make a comment, what
are you doing?
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
I;ve heard Real 3D 2.0 has dongle protection…base your ideas on using that
program, if it helps.
Personally, I think dongle protection is absurd. Although, every LW user is
stuck with one.
Paul,
Well, my question was kind of limited in scope. Specifically, how do you feel
about using dongle protection on serious application software (as opposed to,
say, games).
Perhaps you're unfamiliar with dongle protection. Let me clarify.
Dongle protection is a form of copy protection in which the manufacturer
supplies an electronic module with the software. The module — popularly
called a "dongle" — plugs into one of the spigots on your machine (could be
the parallel port, serial port, mouse port, etc., depending on how the
manufacturer chose to implement it). The sole purpose of the module is so the
program can check for it and refuse to run if it's not there. Since you only
get one module, you can only run one copy of the program.
Of course, if the module fails, the program cannot be used until it is
fixed/replaced. For obvious reasons, you cannot obtain a spare.
So my question is — how do people feel about this type of protective device
being used on business software? Would you feel comfortable, for instance,
depending on such an approach if you were on a tight deadline to complete a
project that required the use of this software?
What do you think?
Pete
To be honest, I'd say piss on 'em.
This is not a company worthy of respect. The 30 day bit is what makes it
ludricous AND worthless.
–Paul < Motorola Inside >
One man's opinion: the dongle is the only form of copy protection more
obnoxious than "key disk" protection.
Neither belongs on any serious software, although I am not generically
opposed to the basic _idea_ of copy protection.
. . . . JimDoc, on AutoPilot
Yeah, but due to piracy, we're likely stuck with them: I saw a recent
issue of Byte Magazine that had ads for no fewer than FOUR manufacturers
of dongles….
And I don't know about what "belongs on any serious software": Quite a
number of Unix-networked systems have been living with "I.D. Modules" for
years now; they tend to be something that you install, hope they work, and
forget about afterward. (They _also_, in the case of Hewlett-Packard
systems, can be set up so that any number of applications will use the
_same_ I.D. module code; but we can't much hope for that sort of systems
support: We can't hardly find _dealers_….)
Mr Challeron:
While I understand the need for dongles, I too hate them. My local dealer (who
deals mostly in high end video applications) has several PC's setup in his
store, and most of them have between 5 – 15 dongles hanging off the back of
them. The dongles got so long he had to add a short cable between the machines,
and the dongles so he could have them laying next to the computer, rather than
forcing him to move the machines forward on the desks to accomodate all the
dongles. It gets to the point where almost all high end PC stuff comes with
dongles, but when you're talking about software that sells for more than the
cost of the PC that is running it (several of the packages he sells go for over
$3000.00 which if you ask me is absurd in itself, but who am I to question the
pricing structures of the likes of AT&T, Corel, etc.
-Mike Schiller
online with my AT&T 3b1
The real problem is that there seems to be no moral stigma about
stealing software: It's not _really_ theft, after all, _he_ paid for it;
but what a neat program; can I borrow your disks?…
I wonder if DSPs somehow could be used as a sort of dongle protection
mechanism….
This has nothing to do with the current thread, but I've noticed you've been
using a partial name for several weeks; I'm surprised no Sysop has nicely asked
you to change your username to a full name yet. (Unless "Mr" is a valid first
name, in which case I apologize for being Eurocentric) You can, I believe, use
the NAME function at any ! prompt while in this Forum.
Blaq!
I'm not very fond of dongles, on a general principle. Though I recognize the
value to a programmer (they make more certain that all the copies out there are
paid for), they impose a tremendous hassle to the USER. Imagine a number of
programs using dongles. Either you have to keep switching dongles as you load
each (a real problem with a multitasking system like the Amiga), or you've got
a 6 inch chain of dongles hanging out the back of your computer.
In the past, chained dongles caused problems in a number of ways: each joint in
the dongle chain added noise to the line (most often the parallel/printer
port), or there were incompatabilities between the dongles (can't use dongle C
with dongle F in the chain). Perhaps these problems have been cleared up, but
they still impose a burden on the user.
If a programmer wants to optionally use a dongle, I like the solution of
offering two packages: one with not copy protection (no dongle) and a
discounted offering including the dongle. In this way, the user can make his
choice. Though in the past when this solution was offered, purchases
overwhelmingly went to the unprotected package (probably a matter of selecting
appropriate price levels for the two packages).
JR (Holmes)