Idea for new product: Wireless iLok

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by albee1952

What they should do is a tiny ilok like the size of some of the newer bluetooth dongles

Absolutely.

[Talisker]

So many of You seem to have issues with their iLock Auth the way it is now. If there was a wireless iLock, can you imagine, how much more potential for problems would occur ! Especially, if you travel a lot (maybe, even international), you would have to learn a lot about HF, in every place you would have to find out about local frequency situations, TV-stations all that. And since more and more frequency-ranges are needed for internet services, it is getting very tied on the wireless market.I am dealing with these things a lot, and I am happy about everything, that is NOT wireless. Rather somhow have that extra USB port.

And didn't somebody write, that you can actually remove the iLock, once, PT has started ??

[lemonkid]

I think the whole iLok idea is a complete insane thing. What ever kind of iLok wifi or usb.

I believe it is an outrage that I as the owner of the software that I bought, I cannot use it to my own liking. That I have to buy an USB stick to make my license work, etc etc.

When I loose this crazy iLok thing, when it breaks down or when I do not have it with me I cannot use the very software that I own. This is against all normal conceptions of ownership. If I loose the thing or if it gets stolen, i have to pay a SECONDARY firm zero downtime fee! WHILE I OWN THE SOFTWARE AND IT IS ON MY COMPUTER!!!!!!!

How can that be!!!!!??????

I think the next version of PT should be without any of these obsolete iLok keys. And besides it is my belief that no court can uphold the idea that I have to pay again for a license key, if I still have the software that I bought. In case I loose the key.

LET'S GET RID OF THIS ILOK KEY!

[Talisker]

well, it is not too hard to see, why companies do that, is it ?

Did you prefer PT HW as a dongle ?

[Dism]

Originally Posted by lemonkid

When I loose this crazy iLok thing, when it breaks down or when I do not have it with me I cannot use the very software that I own. This is against all normal conceptions of ownership. If I loose the thing or if it gets stolen, i have to pay a SECONDARY firm zero downtime fee! WHILE I OWN THE SOFTWARE AND IT IS ON MY COMPUTER!!!!!!!

Obviously, you do not buy much software... Just about every major professional software company uses hardware of some sort to lock their software. This is not a new idea, nor will it go away.

The iLok is also useful for many plugins that require an iLok key. Pro Tools most certainly isn't alone in this... and it is FAR less annoying than having to go through call and answer authorizations. Also, once it's on the iLok, you don't have to re-authorize no matter how many times or where you install the software. As long as you have the key, it's instant authorization.

Originally Posted by lemonkid

I think the next version of PT should be without any of these obsolete iLok keys. And besides it is my belief that no court can uphold the idea that I have to pay again for a license key, if I still have the software that I bought. In case I loose the key.

Actually... a law was just passed in regards to software ownership. The company still owns the rights to your license. Meaning, they can restrict how you use it, however they like. Trust me... you aren't going to win a court battle with any software company over your freedom of use with their license. They have all the power.

If you don't like iLok... don't use Pro Tools. But have fun finding a worthwhile DAW that doesn't have some sort of hardware lock.

[CREEPD'IN]

how bout an sd card style ilok that allows room for you to store a bunch of more stuff on the card anyway, 64 (or more)gb sd card with your authorizations, and plenty of room for other stuff. you could just leave it in always, nothin sticking out. outta sight outta mind.

[Exxille]

You can do this already somewhat albeit locally. Get a BELKIN NETWORK USB HUB . Land line it to your router and you can plug all your iloks into the hub and lock it away in a safe place. You access the iloks via the belkin software. I did this for sometime in my studio to prevent ilok theft. There are obvious limitations you can only connect one computer to the hub at a time though there is a notification button you can use to request use so the other user can release the iloks. After you load a plugin instance in PT and authorize it on the ilok you have access to that particular plugin in AS and on all tracks for the remainder of your session. If you have multiple iloks you have to connect to all iloks at once or the software gets trippy. If you are on PT8 HD, LE or lower this works like a charm, though with PT9 im not sure this will be ideal because from what I gather PT 9 polls the ilok at 10 minute intervals.

[Exxille]

SD card based would be brilliant for Laptop use. I wouldn't care if they had room for anything else I never use the sd slot on my macbook anyway. Not sure how easy sd cards are to reverse engineer that would be the obvious deal breaker.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by Exxille

You can do this already somewhat albeit locally. Get a BELKIN NETWORK USB HUB . Land line it to your router and you can plug all your iloks into the hub and lock it away in a safe place. You access the iloks via the belkin software. I did this for sometime in my studio to prevent ilok theft. There are obvious limitations you can only connect one computer to the hub at a time though there is a notification button you can use to request use so the other user can release the iloks. After you load a plugin instance in PT and authorize it on the ilok you have access to that particular plugin in AS and on all tracks for the remainder of your session. If you have multiple iloks you have to connect to all iloks at once or the software gets trippy. If you are on PT8 HD, LE or lower this works like a charm, though with PT9 im not sure this will be ideal because from what I gather PT 9 polls the ilok at 10 minute intervals.

This may work as well

http://www.fabulatech.com/products.html

[remis]

Originally Posted by Exxille

You can do this already somewhat albeit locally. Get a BELKIN NETWORK USB HUB . Land line it to your router and you can plug all your iloks into the hub and lock it away in a safe place. You access the iloks via the belkin software. I did this for sometime in my studio to prevent ilok theft. There are obvious limitations you can only connect one computer to the hub at a time though there is a notification button you can use to request use so the other user can release the iloks. After you load a plugin instance in PT and authorize it on the ilok you have access to that particular plugin in AS and on all tracks for the remainder of your session. If you have multiple iloks you have to connect to all iloks at once or the software gets trippy. If you are on PT8 HD, LE or lower this works like a charm, though with PT9 im not sure this will be ideal because from what I gather PT 9 polls the ilok at 10 minute intervals.

My question with a setup like this however is how would this work in relation to errors that Pro Tools can spit out due to having a wireless adapter enabled whilst using Pro Tools? Everywhere else I've read on the DUC everyone's advice is "Disable wireless whilst using PT"...