Trouble with Purchase and Validation

[DShutt 14]

In fact, the only persons which are negatively affected by copy protection are paying customers. Instead of offering their customers products which are easy to handle, companies treat customers as possible pirates by default and sell digital media which can mean massive problems for customers. These participate in the game and accept all the disadvantages, probably because they're not informed in what negative situation they're in.

Copy protection protects paying customers.A small minority of customers get caught in a copy protection snare, but these events are usually solved quickly because the production companies can track the sale and recognize legitimate purchasers of the software and recitfy the problem.If you want to enjoy complex flight simulation products, copy protection is the ONLY WAY to ensue that the DEVELOPERS, PUBLISHERS and CUSTOMERS of the product get what they pay for.

[Cuddly1956 1]

Merv - don't know why you're trying to go to pmdg site using https://64.71.225.166/ that only brings up a certificate warning in IE7. Think you'd be better off trying http://64.71.225.166/ then login from there.John E

[Guest monkshood]

Merv - don't know why you're trying to go to pmdg site using https://64.71.225.166/ that only brings up a certificate warning in IE7. Think you'd be better off trying http://64.71.225.166/ then login from there.John E

John, http://64.71.225.166/ puts me on what looks like a home page at PMDG. Clicking on 'your account' brings up https://www.precisionmanuals.com/productcar....asp?message=83. That's the page I always get when I try to do anything that relates to logging in. It's been that way from the start of this.Ta.Merv

[roundy 0]

Merv:I just entered http://64.71.225.166/ and it took me to the PMDG home page. Clicked on My Account and ended up on the sign in page where I signed in successfully. I'm using OpenDNS. I really don't think it's PMDG's site.Don Bohr

[Guest monkshood]

Merv:I just entered http://64.71.225.166/ and it took me to the PMDG home page. Clicked on My Account and ended up on the sign in page where I signed in successfully. I'm using OpenDNS. I really don't think it's PMDG's site.Don Bohr

Thakns Don,I really do appreciate any helpful feedback. But to be honest, saying that you clicked on the same thing and got a different response only tells me that you have no problem, it dosen't solve mine though. But thanks all the same.Merv

[ahinterl 1]

If you want to enjoy complex flight simulation products, copy protection is the ONLY WAY to ensue that the DEVELOPERS, PUBLISHERS and CUSTOMERS of the product get what they pay for.

Sorry, but I don't agree here.There are some misconceptions which are burned into the brains of people, but which have proven wrong in history, such as:-) punishment is the only method to make people obey-) securing your house with alerting system protects it from burglars-) people get older and healthier because of the benefits that modern pharmaceutics bring us-) toothpaste is good for your teethand the list goes on and on.The misconception of copy protection is a consequence of the thinking that if something is shielded enough, it won't get stolen or abused. That's wrong. There are sick individuals in any society which make a sports discipline out of stealing exactly these items. The better they're protected, the more attractive they are for those people. So, to a certain extent, protecting something well acts as a trigger for some people to abuse it.Look, in some countries you're sentenced to death if you're found with illegal drugs. But even in such countries, drug dealing is well alive. As said above: Punishment doesn't make a better society, that's a negative answer to a problem, a reaction instead of preventive measures.Especially software developing companies shift part of the problem to the user: They tell him that he needs to have an understanding that protection is needed, and that he must be prepared for some unevoidable disadvantages like that he can only install two times and then needs to call support on the phone, or that he needs to have the purchase confirmation at hand any time he contacts the company, or that the copy protection can possibly interfere with some other piece of the user's system etc. etc. all in the name of "we do all this to protect you and your investment, and at the same time, we protect ourselves". The latter is more true since I bet no company is really interested in protecting something else than itself - customers in the end are only a nasty side effect in the quest of getting money. If companies were really so people friendly they'd better switch to NGOs and help hungry people in Africa instead. Who will? I bet nobody, so I'm right, but that's nothing bad, companies are no caritative enterprises but here to make money.On the other hand, there are the pirates. Does anyone really believe in the myth that software protection hinders them from copying software? Now that that's clear, it's obvious that pirates have fun cracking software protection, and paying customers need to have a lot of "understanding" and patience when using their software.My standpoint is and was that I as a customer find it to some point interesting that software producing companies have troubles with pirates, but that's not what I'm interested in. I'm interested in using my software when, how often and where I want. I have absolutely no understanding for any installation restrictions, nor do I want to carry tons of informations with me which I can then present to someone and kindly ask for some allowance which I don't want someone to give me but rather to have it by default.Whatever the software producer needs to do to protect its software never needs to be partially shifted to the user's side. It's the duty of software producers to find a way to protect their software without the user helping them in doing this. This is the misconception: The user is part of the software protection scheme and he actively needs to participate in it. Completely wrong if you ask me. I don't call my car's manufacturer each time I want to start the motor either. Or if I have the plumber in the house, the last thing I want to hear is why he cannot do this or that work because he's drunken or has forgotten some tool. That simply doesn't interest me as a customer, and it doesn't have to! Not that I'm ignorant, but I pay money and I expect a service for my money and no private stories of this and that.Same with software developers: I don't care why they need to protect their software, the last thing I want to hear is that I need to install something which can destroy other things on my PC just to make that software run and which I hardly can get rid of! Complete ****######!So, IMHO developers have two options: Making a better copy protection, e.g. by using a dongle, or reconsider what they want to protect. Ther's always a reason for crackers to pirate software and for people to steal. I believe the concept of "added value" in the long term is the best approach:I bet only a small minority is really interested in complex simulations like PMDG's MD-11, almost nobody can stand the long time needed to learn it and practise. So, if some person gets hold of a pirated copy of the MD-11 and sees after a short time that it's not the right product for him, I doubt that this person would have ever showed interest in purchasing the MD-11. That's not a "lost customer", but no customer at all.If the software developer opens an area for customers where they get additional informations and support which only they can access and which is vital in getting the most out of the product, this to a certain extend eliminates the need for copy protection. Without that information, the software cannot be seriously used and crackers loose interest, as do uninterested potential customers. Better to have fewer happy customers than many unhappy ones. This way, I guess customers would be ready to pay even more for the product because of the "added value", this compensates for the "lost customers" if there'd be that many.I understand that it's hard for companies to reconsider, and I think things unfortunately will stay like they are now. I can live with protections like Flight1's solution, but I don't feel comfortable with protections like Vista or PMDG has, no matter what arguments are presented to defend them. They are and keep being a thorn in my side since I lack the control I want to have.As I said in a previous posting, some big companies start to deviate from their former direction and have changed their business model. In the music industry, there's big evidence that DRM is pass

[Tabs 2,790]

Merv,1. You checked the Open DNS page link gave and Step 1 showed as ok? (Check mark on it and Step 2 highlighted)2. Go to Start/Run and type "cmd" and then at the prompt type "ping www.precisionmanuals.com" and tell me what IP address comes up.3. If it's still the wrong (old) one, type "ipconfig /flushdns", reboot the computer and then ping it again and see if it has changed.It may also be worth just trying a direct connection between your computer and the cable modem, if you bypass the router entirely, you eliminate it as potentially causing this somehow.

[Guest monkshood]

Merv,1. You checked the Open DNS page link gave and Step 1 showed as ok? (Check mark on it and Step 2 highlighted)2. Go to Start/Run and type "cmd" and then at the prompt type "ping www.precisionmanuals.com" and tell me what IP address comes up.3. If it's still the wrong (old) one, type "ipconfig /flushdns", reboot the computer and then ping it again and see if it has changed.It may also be worth just trying a direct connection between your computer and the cable modem, if you bypass the router entirely, you eliminate it as potentially causing this somehow.

Hi Ryan,Thanks for looking at this. I have complete the steps you advise here, in fact I did all this at the very begining of this issue. Nonetheless, I have don it and I have uploaded a number of screen shots showing the results:1./ Ping - is the result of a ping and having flushed the DNS2./ OpenDNS_Post Reboot is the same ping after the reboot3./ OpenDNS - shows that I have an OpenDNS account4./ TCP_Setting - shows my TCP setting pointing to OpenDNS5./ Router - shows my Router pointing to OpenDNS6./ The First Screen - shows what I get when I put the IP address directly in to the browser7./ Next-Your Account - show what happens when I then click on 'your account'All these images I have put up to show that I have done everything that has been suggested. My PC, the one I'm on now and the one that I have FS on, also, of course, the one I'm trying to validate the MD11 on, is hard wired to the router. The Laptop that I downloaded the MD11 on, I gave access to my network so it could connect to the internet via wireless through my router; that worked OK. So, as you can see, since the Laptop used my existing network connection through my ISP, I doubt that the ISP is caching your old page. I know also from that, ostensibly the PMDG site is working as it should, for most. But it ain't working foe me, and most probably for some others too.I hope this helps.Ta.Merv

[falcon999 24]

Did you flush the Firefox cache? Looks like the URL in Firefox is not correct for the product cart page. I would recommend flushing the DNS entries again and then flush the Firefox cache then try again. Also did you try to activate with the open DNS settings? If you pinging correctly I bet the activation will work now.

[Guest monkshood]

Did you flush the Firefox cache? Looks like the URL in Firefox is not correct for the product cart page. I would recommend flushing the DNS entries again and then flush the Firefox cache then try again. Also did you try to activate with the open DNS settings? If you pinging correctly I bet the activation will work now.

I flush the browser cache everytime I shut it down. I have flushed, cleared and cleaned and pinged everything I can think of.If whe're taking bets, I'll bet I don't get a good validation when I try. I have been trying for almost three weeks now and nothing has worked yet.Merv.

[DShutt 14]

They are and keep being a thorn in my side since I lack the control I want to have.

You want control. Understood.How do the software producers control illegal use of their products?For the record, I am NOT advocating a software company's that remove or disable parts of the computer system if the copy-protection fails.My point is valid: software copy-protection protects end-users who have purchased the product.

[louiseSEUK 2]

Merv,Can you run ipconfig /all > c:\ipconfig.txt from a command promptand attach the text document here? (You'll find it located in the root of c:\) Just to ensure you are actually going through openDNS to get your addressing.It is also worth resetting all your changes back to default, and run this command again, so we can see what DNS addresses you're going through when using BT's own DNS (they have quite a few).If possible, try doing all this without the use of your router. I know its a pain, but you need to exclude as much as possible when trying to troubleshoot all this.Under normal circumstances, you shouldn't even cache https content - it is tunnelled - ie - there is an encrypted live session between you and the server in question. Looks like the ISP is, for whatever reason, routing the session to the old IP address. Off the top of my head, maybe OpenDNS excludes https traffic, but I couldn't see why; AFAIK, it is a DNS service, not a proxy.All the evidence here points to your ISP at play here - I would get this information, post it back and then, armed with the evidence thus far gathered and explain to them politely, that you believe their DNS records are stale.HTH, Leo

[Tabs 2,790]

Guys can we please stop the thread hijack about DRM etc? I'd like to see this DNS thing get resolved...Merv,That is extremely odd that you still see the old server with Open DNS - you need to talk to your ISP, I guarantee there's something funny going on there at their end.

[Cuddly1956 1]

Just wondering Merv, do you get the same issue using Internet Explorer?John Ellison

[Guest monkshood]

Just wondering Merv, do you get the same issue using Internet Explorer?John Ellison

Yes, I do. I have goth Firefox and IE7 on my system and I get the same result with both. I have cleared the caches of both too.Ta.Merv