ilok 2 got cracked

    The few demos I've tried that required iLok did not require the actual DONGLE - only the account, which is free (I think???).


    The iLok works great for me. I spent the bucks without regret, and I'm not professional, just a dabbler. It's quick and easy, in contrast to many other registration processes. With iLok licenses, the process is always the same, as opposed to individual license systems. I can use all the iLok plugs on all systems, all accounts on THIS system, and upgrade or reformat my system without hassle (as long as the plugins themselves are supported). Win win in my book. But I realize many people hate the iLok with a passion! :)

    Quote from mwinter77

    While I can appreciate this point, I will also say that (for me) this is not worth it as I migrate workstations only every few years usually and I use my software everyday once installed. I am always struggling for 'good' (non-hub) USB ports on my DAW and losing one full-time to licensing is nuts to me and not a good trade off for the occasional DAW rebuild - plus the $'s for the dongles too. Also if you have a home studio and work studio along with a laptop it can really be a pain with the dongle. Plus I keep all my licenses in a DB file so re-entering them is a snap with cut/past.


    i don't migrate things frequently, i just mentioned it to illustrate my point. if you can keep all you licenses in a single data base, you must be a lucky man. i have serial number based licenses, challenge/response type of protections, files which need to go to certain places etc. etc. - there is a plethora of copy protection themes out there. IMO we don't need to discuss this further. we made our points.
    gs
    ps. my ilok is on a hub. works fine.

    Get in touch with Profiler online support team here

    Quote from Gary_W

    That £30 iLok 2 buyin has meant that everyone who has had a Slate plugin for the last 3 years+ has had to actually buy it. Perhaps that's why they can afford to constantly have very attractive sales - they've made their money in the way that was intended - without piracy getting in the way.


    I think my only point is that you can secure software just as well as ilok using methods that don't cost the end user and don't take up valuable ports on your machine. In my experience software is equally protected using an unfriendly system like the ilok versus one of the other more user friendly software activation schemes available. It's pretty well proven in the industry that you can protect software equally well using other methods and using the ilok is simply a choice by the developer that has the side effect of costing the end user extra $$ and being a bit of a pain to deal with.

    I was emailing iLok about it and here is their reply:


    Hello,


    Although the recent news of the crack is true there is a misnomer of people claiming the iLok2 itself has been cracked. The iLok2 hardware has not been exploited rather a portion of the software that supports it. The iLok2 is not defective as of the crack and there has been substantial improvements to the software in the works that will be rolled out in updates to re-establish the security we have provided prior to the crack.


    I can assure you the iLok2 is still vital to the security of your licenses and there is no scheduled release of an iLok3. The ZDT coverage should remain in place if you want to have the temporary licenses available


    Best Regards
    xxxxx
    iLok.com Technical Support

    Same here. Not a total fan.


    I like the "register to your hardware" and you get 2 hardware computers to register to. Like Toontracks. It's a great model.


    But IF there wasn't any iLok, you'd have 20 licenses with 8-12 different ways to register them. So conformity has compromises but in the end is the better solution.


    With Waves, for example, I have to remember a separate software, separate login, download licenses, upload them to the Cloud when I'm done (so I can swap between 2 computers)
    OR they DO allow you to use ANY USB but not iLok. An then you'd take up another precious USB port and have to keep up with another stick. Imagine that 8 fold! 8 USB or 8 Programs you have to use to download/upload licenses!

    Quote from Monkey_Man

    Exactly. Uniformititty / conformititty is the way to go here. "One procedure to rule them all" would be fantastic in an ideal world.


    Come to think of it, it'd be awesome in any world for that matter.


    Yes and it should not require additional hardware and expense! The one way should be soft key with hardware signature and online validation every so often. Simple, effective, user friendly, no cost, easily backed-up - beat that!


    Since the crackers did exactly what they wanted to do 100%, they got the software, I don't understand how iLok can say that to calm their customers:
    "there is a misnomer of people claiming the iLok2 itself has been cracked. The iLok2 hardware has not been exploited rather a portion of the software that supports it".
    Isn't that like saying:
    -"don't worry the building hasn't been hacked or exploited, it was only a small portion of its security system = the door lock was manipulated and opened".

    Quote from HappyKemper

    Since the crackers did exactly what they wanted to do 100%, they got the software, I don't understand how iLok can say that to calm their customers:
    "there is a misnomer of people claiming the iLok2 itself has been cracked. The iLok2 hardware has not been exploited rather a portion of the software that supports it".
    Isn't that like saying:
    -"don't worry the building hasn't been hacked or exploited, it was only a small portion of its security system = the door lock was manipulated and opened".


    Because software can be updated, whereas the dongle can't. Simple.

    Let me know if im wrong about these ideas....


    To be honest and declare bias, I never was a big fan of global lockdown schemes. and i don't know that much about raven hardware


    I am sensing a strange vibe from ilok and co. particularly slate and avid.


    a lot of people would word it more strongly...


    Quote from mwinter77

    Yes and it should not require additional hardware and expense!


    then we have a product like raven mtx.... $15k mti2 $1k


    ilok does other brands also, but lets focus on this for now


    pro tools is an example of one of their software clients.


    for a 15K device, you need a 30$ dongle? really? not included free? anyone buying that is not likely going to have an urge to pirate anything.


    the 1k mti2 is also odd. both are hardware devices, so why do they need an ilok to work? cant pirate hardware, and you could have internal


    hardware validation.


    also am wondering if this console plays nice with non ilok daws, and other products. if not , that is not very ethical and leads into another practice.


    I have he impression that avid, ilok and slate may not be arm's length corporations, which can be ok in some cases, but i believe it needs to be


    declared.


    what is more disturbing is with no real reason to lockdown raven hardware, this seems like it is tied selling, which is an illegal practice, more so if


    the ilok prevents you from running whatever you want on your hardware.


    even the product name is kind of aggressive. it's clever pronoun issues, but who is locking who?


    then there is the ethical question of buying something that provides no value, just extra effort. even if it is only a few bucks and a few minutes,


    there is still something not cool about it.. all for supporting and buying their stuff?


    because , if you pirated it, none of this would apply to you...

    This is really only a problem to iLok. We bought the software and as long as it runs with what we got, we shouldn't care. The headache is for those who rely on it's security for their products.


    What gets me is that a company could just as easily implement a non-dongle security that utilizes your computer's configuration as a de-facto dongle. Microsoft does this. Many other companies allow this route (Toontracks for one)


    If Microsoft uses it, it must be pretty viable. I get that iLok loves selling 45 USB sticks that hold less data than the Apollo missions but there ought to be a security company that simple allows you to use your computer.


    The worst IMO now is Waves. I have to login every time, sometimes I have to wait for a download of the Waves Central software (won't allow me to download licenses if it requires a new version of software WTF?!) and then I can transfer my liscenses. They will say "But you can just use your own USB", but I don't have lots of USB ports for yet another stupid thing. iLok, external Transport, Kemper, Midi, etc.


    My point, it could be better than iLok, but it could be worse. At least some places like Slate offered free iLoks with a purchase of their software. That's how I got a 2nd one for a possible backup if I lose mine (you need the iLok protection or else you pay like $110+ for the privilege)


    This! You have paraphrased my beliefs and frankly what are simply the facts 100% here - there is no need to use a dongle to achieve the same relative security as what iLok provides. In this day and age it is simply asinine to do this any longer. For me there are enough options that I don't and won't buy a product that depends on a hardware dongle period case closed.

    When you buy the Raven you get 1 software activation. I picked Pro Tools if you want another you have to pay for that so I think that's what the iLok is for. Talking about waves and how much of a pain in the backside it is with their new system. I know people who own the Genuine licenses of the plugins but use the cracked ones because it's less hassle. How crazy is that, the system you put in place to stop pirating makes people use the pirated software more!!!



    However... iLok lets you seamlessly use the same plugins on any other computer. Either one you own, or if you go to mix at another studio or whatever. That way, your licenses are tied to "you", not your computer.

    Quote from Michael_dk


    However... iLok lets you seamlessly use the same plugins on any other computer. Either one you own, or if you go to mix at another studio or whatever. That way, your licenses are tied to "you", not your computer.


    Yes, this is the upside of it.
    Before I got the Raven MTI2 I had to persuade myself to get into dongle-ism again, which I abandoned when I stopped using Cubase (always hated their dongle as well).
    I like the way Ableton, Apple Logic, and many other successfully handle it much more.

    ty all for the replies. its cleared things up a bit for me.


    Also lets me know that these methods are not popular, and i'm not the only one with concerns


    and a general feeling that it could be handled much better.


    I was going to mention examples of software that people buy, shelf it, and use the cracked, pirated , cleansed versions... for the exact reason that


    all the hoops an such were too much of a hassle. Microsoft is the most popular example but they don't translate well to any other company. A few


    years back they had a cash crisis, for lack of a better term. Their accountants called in the directors and told them they were legally obligated to


    inform them that having 42 billion in cash was a financial risk, and that they needed to diversify. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in


    that room. Can you imagine the remarks ? Hopefully somebody recorded it, and will post it one day, there has to be some funny stuff. Microsoft


    also covertly encouraged piracy in certain sectors, typically teenage student low budget types. It was pointless to stop them, better yet, if they


    were tech savvy and could get around basic copy protection etc. chances are they would end up as working adults in IT, already familiar with


    microsoft. All the piracy in the world was free marketing for them.


    Typical firms like avid etc have a different reality, and I think people should pay a fair price for a fair product. Fair also means not being so
    annoyed that you remove unwanted software from your pc (iloks etc.), That is also ethical and your right. Piracy is another matter. It would greatly depend on where you got such software. It's not right to support piracy in general, even if the software companies in questions are assholes. But there is a huge mitigating difference between a for profit only bootleg outfit, and a crack grp that works for free, citing an attempt to correct negative behaviour, with the implication that nobody is interested in doing it now, and the only thing such companies will listen to or understand is a spank to their income. While you could rightly argue that you are saving microsoft from the dangers of having too much cash, it is not the case with smaller firms. It is a decent argument, and add the fact that having said activists is a safeguard against further lockdown or worse is also valid. But it will never be completely ethical, since the extent of your actions are unknown; a large enough loss of revenue could cost an innocent person their job etc.


    Quote from Ingolf

    I had to persuade myself to get into dongle-ism


    Lol kinda sounds like dogma, or some far more bizarre and broken form of self punishment to atone and be worthy of the dongle.


    Having said this, it seems common knowledge that a better system is wanted by most of the customer base. Look at kemper for example. no dongle, login, retina, rectal probe, nothing. Just a power switch. I think everyone here knows KPA would be pirated almost instantly if the competition was able, forget typical people without labs and budgets. I would be surprised if it has not been tried already.


    Part of it is obvious. A good business model and ethic. Listen to your skilled user base. Give them what they need, make them happy, NOT piss them off every time they use your product. Simple note to ilok and other paranoid types. Be like kemper. They are smart. Even tho my skills certainly do not warrant something like the 999$ raven (raoul, you said you could get protools free with that? I though that software cost ~800 bucks, that would not be a bad deal--not bad tactics, get ppl hooked, then jack up the price).


    Personally I won't engage in piracy unless my aim is the financial collapse of the software producer. Unlikely something like this would fall into ethical territory. But I would be far more interested in said raven bundle if this company got its act together. Read some good things here, that usually means it is worth looking into. If by some bizarre miracle I happen to create the next great masterwork in music that would spawn something like baroque, classical, jazz or rock etc. I am not worried that there would be any shortage of gear, studios and top pros to do their thing and bring it into reality. More practically I would be happy to learn some of these skills just for the sake of lifelong learning, as long as said companies did their job and not pass the security/administrative burden to me. This is not fair--i don't work for free. In good spirit, instead of criticizing, why not propose a solution? Pace et al. if you are listening, give this a thought. If you do implement it, my fee will be 2 of those raven consoles, and free avid and slate software / hardware updates for life.that's my eula--it's a good deal, you should take it ;)


    Gee, let me think, what would be a more elegant protection solution that could be commonly, cheaply and securely implemented in the music industry? Something even more secure than currently exists. Unbreakable actually, unless someone lies--dongle not immune to this, but this method could also offer proof of wrong doing. I am also wondering what barriers are stopping people from cloning these dongles.


    We are talking about the recording section of the music industry... should be plenty of microphones floating around, if not, most people have some kind of smart phone. What could it be? why not implement an easy to use voice recognition system that ties your unique voice to an account. Most of this exists. Voice control--imac, ex. iphone" siri, open app hot date find cool place to impress woman i fancy" for example. remote voice recognition is here. "imac, open protools, and that ratty wave app i heard so many complaints about'. voice or text response-- processing, while request is sent to verification HQ, which sends back a one time random, unique phrase (no cloning or recording) for user to say. gets recorded, sent off for recognition and analysis. decent system, and internet, done in 10-15 seconds. There are some very good voice analysis technologies out there that are almost impossible to fool, colds, voice changers have all been tried and had poor results. This system would learn your voice even better everytime you used it, kind of like dragon dictate. and you could take your account with you to any place you would like to use it. harder to lose, impossible to crack, no dongle to make, and distribute, repair, no passwords to forget...pretty sure there is prior art here, probably a few expired patents, so royalty free also. only skill and will are needed...


    you may say that i'm a dreamer
    but i'm not the only one ;)