I think Altium's protection is decent. It's not a dongle, those break at the worst times. I used to work in a place that had a bunch of PowerPCB seats and once or twice a year we had a system down due to a failed dongle.
It's not a timed node locked FlexLM lock which locks it down to one machine. (Can't run THAT at home or on a notebook) It's a simple activation that give you a file which allows the S/W to run indefinitely. I can install it on a couple machines and all is well. If my copy gets out on the net, Altium knows I messed up. I don't think activation hurts at all. Now I do dislike it the way Microsoft did it because I can't install on more than 1 machine (even if I'm the only one here). Apple was a lot better about having a family pack license. It fits better with the way people use computers. (Hand-me-downs for the kids, etc.) Tony > -----Original Message----- > From: Abd ulRahman Lomax [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 10:24 AM > To: Protel EDA Forum > Subject: Re: [PEDA] Anybody else recieve these types of messages... > > At 10:07 PM 3/9/2004, Brian Guralnick wrote: > >Look at what I just received in my in-box... > >i need protel 99 se for desingning my projects so if u have it full > >working or crack please send me as possiable > > My own response to this person would be > > You can get it the latest version free from Altium, full working. > http://www.protel.com/evaluation/default.asp > > Someone may be able to give you a Protel 99SE demo disk. It's > possible that it is also available somewhere for download. > This would be a full-function demo, 30 day time limit. After > the 30 days, continued use could be a violation of the user > agreement and might require a hard drive reformat. > > I do know you can get Protel Advanced Schematic and Advanced > PCB version > 2.5 from various web sources. These are full-function demos. > PCB has a size limit. > > If I were Altium, I would not invest much in the way of > resources trying to track down this sad sack. He's not going > to buy the program no matter what, so if he uses an illegal > license, Altium will not have lost any income. > Making an example of him will probably have little effect on > other piracy. > > The interesting thing about software piracy, when it comes to > a program like Protel, is that the probably effect of it in > the long run is an increase of sales. Why? Well, as long as > such piracy is illegal and does not become the norm, it will > have little effect on sales. And in the event that the > illegal user does eventually become part of a successful > organization, that organization will need to have legal > software. What will this user recommend? A program that he'll > have to learn, or one that he knows? Let me guess.... > > I've never seen any statistics on the effect of strong > anti-piracy measures. The experience of the music industry > might have some lessons, though music is quite different from > engineering software. It would be interesting to know if my > theory is correct: Activation, as a strong antipiracy > measure, might be hurting sales. Some users, perceiving > activation as a planned failure mechanism, avoid buying > software that incorporates it. I know this is the case with > some programs, it is true for me. (I've been upgrading every > year an accounting program that we use. > Except this year, because of Activation. That company's major > competitor tried activation and abandoned it, I think their > sales suffered.) So the question is which is the greater > effect: Gain in sales as users who would have used a pirated > version use instead buy the program (I don't think this > happens very often with expensive software), or loss in sales > short-term because of user rebellion plus long-term loss from > reduction in the conversion of illegal users to legal ones. I > suspect the latter is the case, but it is not easy to test > and I certainly have no proof. Activation has a significant > cost, especially in support, so a neutral effect on sales > would be a net loss. > > > > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
