WiNC opened this issue on Sep 13, 2002 ยท 119 posts
WiNC posted Fri, 13 September 2002 at 1:37 AM
I have been asked to head up a partition against the present security system that Poser 5 uses.
There are a number of reasons this security system is a worry to a number of us, and I will list them here. Please note that none of these are scare tactics, and all of them have been confirmed through present users of Poser 5, or through Curious Labs own words on this site.
1)Forced registration you HAVE to register your software with your private details.
2)If you do not have access to the internet you have to call or mail Curious Labs for your activation code. This could be both time consuming and costly to people not in United States.
3)If Curious Labs goes bankrupt there is no evidence other then a statement from Curious Labs on this Forum that customers will be protected and still be able to use their bought software. There is no legal statement in the EULA stating that they will supply you with a method to remove the Activation Process to reinstall your software.
4)According to Curious Labs own statements their Security Confirmation Code is taken from the serial/details of your hard drive. Thus if you have to replace your hard drive, or if you install on another hard drive you will need to get a new activation code. This could be a problem for both reason 2) and reason 3).
What if I upgrade hardware in my computer?
Provided you use the same main hard drive in your computer, you will not need to unlock Poser 5 with Curious Labs. Your Poser 5 Response and Challenge codes will not change. -taken from Curious Labs site
What if I use a program like DriveCopy to transfer the contents of one hard drive to another? Will I need a new Response Code key for Poser 5?
Poser 5 will require a new Response Code if it is moved to a new hard drive. Poser 5 will create a new Challenge Code and will need a new Response Code. You will have 7 days to run Poser 5 without the new Response Code key." -taken from Curious Labs site
What if I need to reinstall Poser 5? Go ahead and reinstall. If you have not re-formatted your hard drive, you will not need to get a new key. Poser 5 will display the same Challenge Code unless you have changed your computers main hard drive or re- formatted it. Simply enter your original, saved Response Code. You will not need to unlock Poser 5 again or contact Curious Labs. -taken from Curious Labs site
What if I reformat my hard drive?*
The Challenge Code is stored on and based on your computers main hard drive. If you re-format your main drive, you will need to unlock Poser 5 again. If you are using the same hard drive you used before, Poser 5 will create the same Challenge Code as it did before. In this case, simply re-enter your saved Response Code. You will not need to contact Curious Labs unless you did not save your original Response Code.*" -taken from Curious Labs site
6)According to their FAQ on their homepage you are only allowed to get 3 activation reattempts before you must contact Curious Labs directly to request a new response code.
How many times can I contact Curious Labs for a new Response Code? *
We currently permit three unique Response Code keys to be generated for your serial number of Poser 5. In most normal circumstances our service department will allow additional keys to be generated. You will need to contact our service department for additional keys.* -taken from Curious Labs site
What happens if I need more than the allowed number of registrations? *
If you applying for a fourth or greater new Response Code key, you will be informed that you have exceeded the maximum number of allowed installations. If you need additional Response Code keys you should send your request to our service department via email or fax. It will be helpful for you to describe your reasons for requesting additional Response Code keys. It is Curious Labs policy to permit our legitimate customers to use our products to their full potential. You may be asked to confirm your registration information to confirm your identity.* -taken from Curious Labs site
As one might see the following security measures by Curious Labs are invasive, and will also cause possible issues to their End-Users.
According to a message from Steve Cooper from Curious Labs they are thinking about including a Hardware Dongle system:
Our security technique actually should allow a portable, permanent, hardware dongle to be used in conjunction with the existing system. We are exploring this option and should have better details shortly.
However instead of allowing us the options it appears that they are going to use this hardware dongle in conjunction with the present security system. This is totally unacceptable, and is the reason why a few of us have finally decide we need to take this next step.
Please if you disagree with this protection scheme, if you are like us and want to see Curious Labs change their present protection scheme for something that is not as intrusive to its users make your voice heard here! Sign the Partition against the present activation scheme.
Again we wish to see a more non-intrusive protection scheme being used, similar to CD Dongle, Hardware Dongle, or even just Serial Number verification. However we are more then open to discussions with Curious Labs, since we understand that they still need to try and protect their software against warez groups, and illegal software activity.
Let our voices be heard as one after all we are the people who keep Curious Labs in business!!
WiNC