analogies to software licencing?

[Ernest Burden III]

I've has a problem with my FinalRender licencing today, and it has really pissed me off. I'm stuck all day being unproductive and stressed because of a software restriction that is designed to protect someone else from someone else. Why do we just accept this like beaten dogs, just hoping for a little love between kicks? I don't know, but accept it we do.

 

At any moment--usually a moment with a deadline looming--your 'protection' system may fail and you cannot use the product you paid for. It's an anti-theft system that is only used on those who are not thieves.

 

I hate dongles, but at least you can see your vulnerability plugged into your computer. Someone on the Fry forum used the analogy that if you lost your car keys you weren't expected to buy a new car. I wrote back that losing the dongle was like losing the car.

 

So to turn my stress and anger over 'protection' systems (doesn't the mafia use those?) into something a little nicer, I thought it would be nice to hear your analogies to various copy-protection, license-serving, the-customer-is-the-enemy schemes we have endured.

 

 

I'll start with this one:

 

You walk into a restaurant, order dinner. But the owner is worried about people who eat and then run out without settling their tab, so he demands that you pay in advance. You pay. Then they chain your leg to the chair. Welcome to the world of software publishing.

[STRAT]

my firm purchased FR the day it was released. probably a good year and a half 2 years ago now?

 

i tested with it for about 4 days, got hypa dissapointed and grumpy, put it back in the box. havent touched it since and never plan to. the software locking system was one of my major gripes. it was a farce.

 

distributed gi was kinda exciting, but it stumbled over huge scenes and was sooooo unstable. even the service packs cant tempt me out. what a major miss-hap of a software imo, with such fantastic potential.