They don’t elaborate, but there’s one glaring problem for hardware copy protection in the modern world of “instant everything”. The company’s press release (see below) suggests that it feels the eLicenser system is an impediment to users and implies that it has received much negative feedback about the system over the years.

So, why is Steinberg dropping the dongle now? What is it replacing it with, and is it a good thing? Cloud nine And while modern USB dongles aren’t bulletproof and can be lost or stolen, they are remarkably reliable and convenient. When you look at all of the viable solutions, from simple one-off license numbers to advanced hardware dongles, it’s easy to argue that the latter is the closest match to the requirements. What’s most important in a copy protection system, then, is that it’s easy for legitimate users to use and difficult for hackers to crack. Meanwhile, those using cracked, pirated software have no dongles to lose or break, no passwords to forget, and couldn’t care less if a license authorisation server goes down or is decommissioned. If-and-when something goes wrong, it’s legitimate, paid-up users who suffer. On the other hand, copy protection systems aren’t failsafe and can be cumbersome for users to manage. And, it is entirely just that companies and developers should be paid for such work. On the one hand, an advanced software package such as Cubase, in ongoing development for over 30 years, could represent millions of research and development hours.

Music usb copy protection