I've got it!! the iLok replacement!!

[JCBigler]

Okay, so I was brainstorming, trying to come up with the fool proof replacement for the iLok.

My criteria:
it has to be secure, non-hackable
it has to be convenient
it has to be reliable
it has to be individualized

So I was thinking mabey some type of ultra secure encryption method for the [iLok replacement]. Using a pass phrase, you would be able to enter the pass phrase when you first load those plug-in authorizations on a machine. You wouldn't have to enter it again, unless you went to another machine. And, since only you know the pass phrase, no one else could be using those same plug-ins, because the [iLok replacement] would only be decrypted for the last machine on which it recieved the pass phrase.

But then, you could just tell you pass phrase to some one, report it as lost/stolen, and we'd be in the same boat again.

So, there needs to be something more secure than just a pass phrase. Something that can't be told, or given to someone else. And then it hit me....

A bio-metric scanner!

Now bare with me here, I don't want you guys to think I'm getting all Orwellean here. But, take a look at this:

USB Thumb Print Scanner

Specifically the USB combo scanner model TCRA. under the product description it says:

This multi-factor authentication approach verifies both "who you are" as well as "what you have".

That's exactly what we need! It verifies what plug-ins you have and that you are the rightful owner. And since it's your thumb print, it can't be used if it's lost or stolen, and you can't give, or tell it to anyone else.

And, if it gets broken, you just get authorized to a new one, like the present iLok system, and then send the broken one back to the company, so there wouldn't be two with the same authorizations floating around out there.

So, Digi, would something like this provide the level of copy protection required to give replacement authorizations?

[JCBigler]

Bummer, I guess no one liked my idea.

[tele_player]

No, it's a reasonably good idea, and is consistent with the phrase often heard in security circles "something you HAVE, and something you know". Your biometric info is something you have, that's not trivially duplicated.

Of course, if you've read The Da Vinci Code, you'll know how a thief can circumvent a retina scan.

[DorianMode001]

Of course, if you've read The Da Vinci Code, you'll know how a thief can circumvent a retina scan.

Great book that. Really hope no-one resorts to those sort of measures for plugins though....

"I MUST use that waves mastering set he has! I MUST!"

Lol

Joe

[PMoshay]

cool stuff........no mac support though.

its a good idea but,
i would hate to have to scan my thumb everytime i started up PT though.......

[tele_player]

cool stuff........no mac support though.

its a good idea but,
i would hate to have to scan my thumb everytime i started up PT though.......

It doesn't seem to me like it would be much bother, if the hardware is reliable.

[JCBigler]

cool stuff........no mac support though.

its a good idea but,
i would hate to have to scan my thumb everytime i started up PT though.......

Well, obviously, Mac support would have to be added. I didn't say that it was a fully implemenable idea just yet, just a start in the right direction. And the way that I see, it, you wouldn't have to scan your thumb print everytime you started up Protools, just when you took your [iLok replacemt] to another machine, or back to your main machine after using it on another. The idea is that it stays authorized to the last machine you used it on.

[Rail Jon Rogut]

So if you hae a 10 room facility.. you go in in the morning and walk into each room and start up Pro Tools.. where's the protection?

Rail

[JCBigler]

I don't follow...

[Guerrilla Tech]

You would have to de-authorize your computer every time you moved to another, and any machine you used would have to be hooked up to the internet. The thumb print isn't needed.