Pro Tools Upgrade Plan - money for just a download link?

[mustgroove]

So I posted earlier this week (http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=377851) about renewing my Pro Tools Upgrade Plan. I renewed just the Upgrade Plan (i.e. excluding the Plugins and Support Plan), because I don't use those plugins. I was expecting to receive an updated ilok asset reflecting the new expiry date of my Upgrade Plan, but I didn't receive one, so I posted the above thread.

I lodged a case with Avid support, and received a response - turns out the only ilok asset that relates to a "Plan" is just for the Plugins and Support Plan:

The reason the annual upgrade is not showing up is because you would need to also purchase the Annual Standard Support as well. The Annual Support Plan would then show up in your iLok Account. Purchasing this would also then give you access to the bonus plugins.

The Upgrade Plan (i.e. the one that allows you to "Extend your access to keep receiving all new releases for one year", as per https://www.avid.com/US/products/Pro...ware/licensing) isn't an ilok asset at all:

Your Perpetual Pro Tools license is the only one that shows up in your iLok Account for that. It doesn't need to be renewed. The expiration date for your Annual Upgrade Plan shows up for us to see in your Avid Account.

So then what exactly does the $99 Upgrade Plan renewal (or $399 if you've let it lapse) even buy you?

Say, for example, my Upgrade Plan expires today (when 12.4 is the latest version), and they release 12.5 tomorrow. Seems like people's current understanding of that scenario is that I would be locked to running 12.4 and no higher versions, because my Upgrade Plan expired when 12.4 was the latest version. But Avid's responses to my ticket seem to suggest that there's actually nothing whatsoever preventing me from running 12.5 or higher versions. Presumably I wouldn't see the download link for 12.5 in my Avid account because of my lapsed Upgrade Plan, but my Pro Tools 12 license is perpetual - if I somehow manage to get a hold of the installer anyway, nothing prevents me from running any version of Pro Tools I have a valid license for, regardless of my Upgrade Plan status.

So, in fact, is the Upgrade Plan just money for a download link to the latest installer? Genuinely dumbfounded right now.

[mustgroove]

From the horse's mouth:

Originally Posted by Me

Thanks for the reply. So if the Upgrade Plan isn't an ilok asset, all it really does is give me the download link to latest version of Pro Tools in my Avid account? Nothing actually prevents me from running any future version of Pro Tools 12, even if my Upgrade Plan expires, because my actual license is perpetual?

Originally Posted by Avid Support

Yes, that's right. So you don't have to worry about your Pro Tools 10, 11 and 12 bundled license expiring since it is perpetual.

The common understanding of this new licensing regime on these forums therefore seems to be wrong. When your Upgrade Plan expires, nothing actually prevents you from running subsequent updates of the Pro Tools version you have a perpetual license for - download links for subsequent updates just won't show up in your Avid account.

How is it possibly legal to charge money for a perpetual software license, but then charge additional money (whether $99 per year, or $399 and then $99 per year thereafter) just to have access to download links to particular versions of that software which are released after an arbitrary date?

[latweek]

How is it possibly legal to charge money for a perpetual software license, but then charge additional money (whether $99 per year, or $399 and then $99 per year thereafter) just to have access to download links to particular versions of that software which are released after an arbitrary date?

Isn't the above the status quo for software today?

BTW, I am also interested in the idea that PT updates are possible without a support plan.

[mesaone]

Originally Posted by latweek

BTW, I am also interested in the idea that PT updates are possible without a support plan.

I have a PT12 "vanilla" license that has no support plan, only an upgrade plan. It was the $99 option at the time I upgraded from 11.

[latweek]

Actually, I had a slightly different interpretation of the OP. Let me re-state it as a question:

How does Avid prevent an incremental upgrade package (.x) from being manually downloaded and installed on a non-subscribed(support or upgrade), but fully licensed perpetual Pro Tools workstation?

e.g. the program runs a check on license against version?

Just trying to clarify, not personally asking myself (of course).

[mustgroove]

Originally Posted by latweek

How does Avid prevent an incremental upgrade package (.x) from being manually downloaded and installed on a non-subscribed(support or upgrade), but fully licensed perpetual Pro Tools workstation?

They can't and they don't.

Originally Posted by latweek

e.g. the program runs a check on license against version?

Nope - a perpetual license is a perpetual license.

The Upgrade Plan just puts download links for the latest version in your Avid account, nothing more. The whole complicated web of licenses and upgrade plans and subscriptions makes it seem like a perpetual license won't allow you to run a version of PT that comes out after your Upgrade Plan expires, but that isn't the case.


The summary is:
1) A perpetual license never expires. If you own a PT 12 perpetual licence, you'll always be able to run any version of PT 12.

2) But if you don't pay them $99 per year (or $399 if you've let it lapse, and then $99 per year thereafter), you only get access to the download link for the version that was current at the time your Upgrade Plan expired. They will withhold the download link for any subsequent version from your own Avid account, even though you have a valid license for it. But if you do get an installer for a subsequent version, it'll work fine, because your actual license is perpetual

This is preposterous. On what basis can Avid sell perpetual licenses for Pro Tools 12, and then insist that the right to actually see the download link for the most recent version of that software in your Avid account requires an additional fee after an arbitrary length of time?

I'm not just expressing outrage here, I'm genuinely asking by what legal mechanism Avid are able to separate a perpetual software license and the ability to download that same software.

[mesaone]

Originally Posted by mustgroove

The Upgrade Plan just puts download links for the latest version in your Avid account, nothing more.

I don't think this is the case. My PTHD perpetual license plus update plan shows two licenses that have expiration dates ("Pro Tools HD Plan" and "Upgrades"), and two that appear to have a version cutoff ("Pro Tools 2016" and "Pro Tools HD 2016")

Whatever the case may be, you are right - a perpetual license IS a perpetual license - but what versions are covered under that license is a bit foggy. If licenses like these do in fact lock you into the last version that was available upon expiration of the update plan, then Avid will have to leave incremental versions in your download account. Because no one can do anything with a perpetual license for a software version that is no longer available.

[JoelG]

Your thought process is slightly correct, but wrong in one big spot. When Avid release PT 13, your PT 10/11/12 license will NOT authorize it, so you'd be stuck at 12.x. As for the PT12 license you have now it will authorize any 12.x version. So if you're on a active plan, and Avid do release PT13, you'll get a new license for your iLok.

Joel

[latweek]

Not sure if that was intended for the OP, but I have always specified incremental upgrades in my comments. There was of course the assumption that a full version upgrade would be impossible.

[mustgroove]

Originally Posted by JoelG

Your thought process is slightly correct, but wrong in one big spot. When Avid release PT 13, your PT 10/11/12 license will NOT authorize it, so you'd be stuck at 12.x. As for the PT12 license you have now it will authorize any 12.x version. So if you're on a active plan, and Avid do release PT13, you'll get a new license for your iLok.

Joel

Turns out this is correct - I hit up Avid support just to double check, and yes, if you have a PT 12 perpetual license and an active Upgrade Plan, you'll receive a perpetual license for PT 13 when it's released.

I guess my confusion comes from the wording of Avid licensing page - "continued access to new releases" is a little bit vague, it doesn't explicitly say the Upgrade Plan gives you new licenses to future PT versions.

Anyway, happy to have been corrected!