I don't have much of a problem with the new security measures. I want CL to survive. I want to use P6, P7, P8... and that to me means supporting CL and their policy so that they can be around to continue updating their product. On some forums, it it becomes known that someone is using a pirated copy of Poser, their posts and questions are ignored. But they keep using Poser and CL doesn't get paid for their work. Of course there are hackers and crackers who can get around any security measures - and if someone is insistent enough, they can find a warez site that has what they're looking for. But for people like me, I am perfectly willing to PAY for the software and comply with their security measures. Poser is neat. I like to use it. They deserve my money and cooperation. How would you like it if you were a free-lance artist trying to make a living with computer graphics, you made a kick-*ss illustration using Poser, but then someone else hacked your computer, stole the file and gave it away to magazines and galleries, or better yet, SOLD copies of it to whomever wanted it? Or bought a print from you and then copied the print and sold their copies? If you buy a signed, numbered art print, you are NOT buying the right to copy that art and resell it. You're not buying the work of art itself - you're buying a copy of the art. The owner of the copyrights has the right to protect their product. The fact that some people will get away with violating the copyrights doesn't mean that the owner shouldn't do what they can to prevent it. Heck, that's what companies like Digimarc are all about, isn't it?

Okay, here's a success story: my first computer was an Atari 800 with 32k memory. I then bought a 4"x4" Koala pad, which was like a Wacom tablet. With that and the software that came with it I could draw using 4 colors (on my TV screen, natch), which were then dithered to create 16 colors. I could save the files to 5.25" disks, and I could then print using a printer that I forget the name of - it used tape to transfer the colors - each page took about a half-hour. All of this was done on a starving artist/student budget. I used this as an art major at the University of Kentucky in the early 80s. Several of my pieces were accepted in juried shows, and one for a traveling art show (the naked upper torso of a woman!). I was the first UK art major to do computer graphics. Now I'm the Senior Computer Graphics Specialist with a company contracting with the US EPA, making good money. And with all that said, WHERE'S MY POSER 5?