GRIPE LINE: ED FOSTER Reader Voices: Activation Reaction September 09, 2003
Many readers responded passionately to my recent piece - http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2003/8/7/9391/06003 - concerning an aggressive product activation scheme adopted by online storefront software developer Miva Corp. Companies need to understand that customers are becoming increasingly unwilling to tolerate copy protection of any sort.
Some readers said that even Microsoft had better tread softly on product activation. "I will never knowingly buy software ever again that needs to phone home even once to use -- this even includes XP," wrote one reader. "I won't take the chance of a company vanishing when I might need to reinstall the software, or my customers or I unexpectedly being locked out. Microsoft might be able to get away with it for a while longer, but smaller companies won't. A few more stories like this, and the software industry will be re-learning the lessons of the 80s."
A number of readers related stories of other companies that have been forced to drop aggressive product activation schemes. "Avaya, the PBX company, over a year ago added a 'drop dead' feature to their PBX software," a reader related. "If your license file didn't match your hardware, after six days, your PBX went into a no-license mode, which essentially shut down all your telephones. After a few months, Avaya relented, and issued a patch to remove this 'feature,' as well as abandoning plans to incorporate it in all future releases."
Several readers pointed out the security danger to customers if the next version of a Blaster-type virus were to succeed in crippling a software company's product activation capability. "What if the next version makes the XP and Windows 2003 registration site inaccessible?" wrote one reader. "Can you afford to have some of your servers stop functioning? I think these registration schemes can multiply a virus attack's disruption to the economy and the Department of Homeland Security should take a look."
Contact Ed Foster at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phil Daley < AutoDesk > http://personal.monad.net/~p_daley
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