Program protection devices are no more effective than burglar alarms or security locks. There is not one that cannot be broken; jury-rigged or otherwise overcome. Sure, you can build a lock or security system like Fort Knox that will stop most would-be-thieves. But who wants a BMW car that takes 20 minutes to get into because of all the security devices? Watch the sales of BMW's decline. Many companies whose products cost far more than Poser have invested very large amounts of money in program protection. There is not a single example of popular highly secure software in existence that was not cracked, rigged, had its execute files re-written by a patch removing the protection and time-outs, had software emulation replace its hardware dongle etc. etc. by the pirates within a month of its release. Some of the pirating has been so sophisticated that the pirates have, in some cases, re-written significant portions of the program to make it work. It must be remembered that the software crackers are not Poser or graphic artists, but are, in most cases, would-be-programmers. Their interest lies in how programs are written and protected. The harder the task the greater the challenge. Add a highly popular program like Poser to this equation and I will give 10 to 1 odds that there will be a working crack, patch or whatever within days of its release. By making it more difficult every cracking group in existence will be attracted to it and want to be the first to crack it. The only real deterrent to warez is to target the people distributing it and using it. This means active policing of the warez outlets and sites and willingness by software companies to do this and prosecute offenders. Piracy will only be reduced when there is a serious likelihood of the pirates being caught and of facing real penalties (either civil or criminal) for their transgressions. The only real deterrent is FEAR. Nothing else works. Nothing else will work. As long as the deterrent is a program protection device the pirates will smile and continue as before. In the meantime the honest customers will be put through the hoops. Yep, just like that highly secure BMW. Regards STORM