You're not getting my MONEY! Buyer Beware!

[JSkorna 137]

Let me clarify first, I'm not proud of what I do!This is out of the FSX EULA (as quoted by mgh)"The licensed device is the device on which you use the software. You may install and use one copy of the software on the licensed device."So where does the above say that you are not allowed to have the software installed on more than 1 device? It only says that the device on which you use it is the licensed one and that you may have only one copy of the software on this very device.So no word about multiple installs on different devices.You see, I too am good in nitpicking. Jim, I always highly regarded your contributions to the Avsim forums, but today you are overshooting. I think you are better up focusing on the real pirates.Wolfgang

Wolfgang,What does the FSX EULA have to do with all the FS9 software you were using?And remember now, you are the one that admitted the possibility of breaking of the EULA's and how you don't feel guilty about it because it is for personal use, not me. I just pointed out that this is a living example of why copy protections are in place.Edit: One more thing: if you don't think you are doing anything wrong, then that is fine by me and life will go on!And I know the next line too: You want the truth? You can't handle the truth. :(

[CFIJose 5,485]

Facts:4 - There are people who purchase software and abide by it's licensing.It's just simple, plain common sense.

and this thread is from a customer that falls into category 4. That's a fact!BTW, I have mentioned 3 extremely successful methods from some of the best developers. I'll add Carenado and FlyTampa to the mix. I've never had to contact them for activation and they seem to be doing very well.

[CoolP 283]

First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.I'm sorry, DJ Jose, seems like you are still in the first stage of the thing since they were already asking about what we're talking in this thread.I'm at the second stage since Jims tries to play the funny guy now and therefore the progress obviously is there. So there is hope. I'm sure he's read some examples and e. g. EULA explanations of mine and the sheer avoidance of any answer (so no denial) may establish the mood of silent acceptance. Thanks for that, a wise choice.Since the WarpD Category 4 customers don't have enough weight to care about I guess that even your clear thread title drives the oh so confident guys to just stick to Ghandy's first part of the rule, for now.The thing is, since some future or repeated customers may then choose to ignore some companies while favouring the customer friendly ones, the logics of those three fellows here may even tend to 'we need more protection' since the sales then go down. I think we can read a 'our sales are fine!' statement soon after this assumption of mine. That's indeed a thing I don't know about, their sales numbers, but I've also never asked for it, so how could I?If anybody asks. Yes, I would question a triggered confidence statement.The gentlemen still seem to read 'no protection!' as the thread tenor, although corrected numerous times now. Lack of reading skill or lack of understanding? Intentional lack? 'Ignore the things you can't fight and hope for others to ignore them too'. Who knows?Since they don't even recognize you to be just one of the spoiled customers by strange activation limits, what did we expect then so far?I'm not trying to convince any guys stating 'I've seen it all' or those across-the-board assumptions and viewpoints here, In case anybody gets me wrong. It's just a small voluntary presentation of their mentalities ('I'm the dev, I must know, you know nothing and don't question our statements!' and so on) for the reader's eyes and they are doing quite good so far.So it's really up to the people to decide whether to support this mentality or not.You've named some more customer friendly devs and I'm sure that they are more than worth to be positively recognized. Once again, praises to those fine type "B" companies out there, really taking care of their customer basis.Can't really complain about some product quality at others, never did. But, of course, a customer is looking at the whole package of product, support and dev's business attitude, so this only is one factor in the sales game, right?

[JSkorna 137]

So DJ,Have you contacted VHS support asking for a re-activation? I think you mentioned something in a later post of yours, but I am not sure.

[CoolP 283]

So DJ,Have you contacted VHS support asking for a re-activation? I think you mentioned something in a later post of yours, but I am not sure.

We're talking about the general need for asking, since 7 thread pages now. Just as useful reminder.

[mgh 89]

Let me clarify first, I'm not proud of what I do!This is out of the FSX EULA (as quoted by mgh)"The licensed device is the device on which you use the software. You may install and use one copy of the software on the licensed device."So where does the above say that you are not allowed to have the software installed on more than 1 device? It only says that the device on which you use it is the licensed one and that you may have only one copy of the software on this very device.So no word about multiple installs on different devices.You see, I too am good in nitpicking.

You should read the EULA which also says b. License Model. The software is licensed on a per copy per device basis. 2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. a. Licensed Device. The licensed device is the device on which you use the software. You may install and use one copy of the software on the licensed device....EDITYou're not very good at nitpicking which is similar to that of a child who's been told he may have one sweet and tries to justify taking two on the grounds that "you didn't say I couldn't have two"

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

...In my years I've seen people fail, consistently, when it comes to choosing right versus wrong. I've seen justifications that would cause one's eyes to bulge in disbelief. I've seen far, far too much negative attitude towards fellow mankind with a personal sense of self-entitlement in the world to even begin to consider trusting people to do the right thing. People rarely do if given the choice to do what's right or get away with doing something wrong without consequence.

So true..It's ironic that someone else posted in another thread today this statement.

I know that this is not the full legal way, but I won´t use it in any way. Just to make some tests.

[Chock 17,769]

Al, I never said that torrented, cracked versions of any software aren't available, only that links to them aren't likely to be found via Googling...

Try this, type 'Captain Sim Torrent' in Google, and click on the very first hit at the top of the list that pops up in your web browser. That takes you right to the pirate bay and a torrent link to their 757. And that was just the very first thing I thought of to type into Google. I'm not suggesting anyone download this by the way, and if I were you I wouldn't click on that torrent link just to be on the safe side, but it does illustrate how easy it is to find that kind of thing on Google if you are inclined to support piracy rather than developers.Al

[CoolP 283]

Alan, I'm glad that you are not a guy with a 'what must not be there can't be there' mentality and I really appreciate any input of yours, even if viewpoints may differ from time to time. On this one, they don't differ at all though. The stuff, even the fancy protected one, is there and only the mentality of the customers and/or pirates offers protection against their use.If a now pirate realizes his acting consequences for a nice dev guy he may turn over. If a customer gets spoiled, he may also, to the wrong side. Since there's no clear black and white world out there, some of us may struggle from time to time. Only cure? Being a happy customer, dismissing all free offers and clicking into the shop of the nice dev guys.Type in "Active Sky SP2" in your favourite search engine and follow some 'dead ends' of fancy protection then. Does anybody still doubt that there are things available? How may we call such a person?

[Chock 17,769]

I think it's as well to point out to anyone unwise enough to be thinking they may have hit a bonanza of freebies here if they've never tried such searches in Google, that people who don't give a crap about developers and make torrented cracks of things also don't give a crap about your computer's security, so really if anyone is considering following up on any torrent links, bear in mind that in addition to getting a free ride from a developer, you are extremely likely to get a lot more than that besides (and not in a good way), i.e. expect to get a severe dose of malware and difficult to remove trojans too. Pirates get their jollies from doing that kind of thing. You have been warned. Also note that one or two developers like to hunt down people with torrents and make them pay (i.e. Aerosoft's head honcho for one).Al

[CFIJose 5,485]

So DJ,Have you contacted VHS support asking for a re-activation? I think you mentioned something in a later post of yours, but I am not sure.

Jim,I'm Jose. DJ stands for Disc Jockey my full-time career. Flying is a hobby.I have not contacted support and I don't intend to. I will put the cd in a special place as a reminder to stop squandering my money. I have several planes from fsd-int, when the Cessna Skymaster failed to install, I was so angry. At the time I wanted to just stop buying online downloads, but decided that as long as there are companies like FTX & Flight1, that I would continue to buy.This latest incident has made me realize what a joke activation is and how it affects only the legitimate paying customer. Developers might disagree all they want, but the system is flawed and should be re-evaluated by some developers.

[CoolP 283]

Once again, very true viewpoint there, Alan.The sad thing about those "searches" is that they turn up on the normal search results. So you set a small "trigger" point for every guy just looking for e. g. the product itself or the corresponding support forum.Now, what then protects the company from the loss of money isn't the protection in the installer, since this thing as overridden in the pirate offer, very short time after release of the title itself.The only protection available at this spot is the sheer confidence of the future customer, not to choose the pirate thing. That's the only reliable source of protection every dev has.As one can clearly see, all the fancy stuff is there and all the new stuff turns up on this or that site, shortly after release and I still don't know about any fancy stuff around having proven a withstand ability at larger margins.One small "cure" approach are the talks which e. g. Google had to filter results, cutting away the known pirate ones in the somehow naive hope for avoiding those "trigger points". But, there's another thing to mention in this case. It may sound ridiculous on the first view but e. g. Google has some very strong and long-lasting wind blowing against them for just the idea of filtering or the already "ongoing" one (it sometimes gets proven but usually causes no Net-wide eruption then). Since not only pirate links will get affected by a filter mechanism, but, for example, also some political stuff which doesn't please "the official viewpoint" (remember their presence in China and the whole discussion about it?), this whole Internet Neutrality issue really is more than just filtering some pirate links out.DJ Jose, once again, very reasonable viewpoint of yours if I may say so. And, no doubt, this viewpoint of yours is the tenor of the thread. I'm with you there although maybe not so principled when avoiding e. g. such nice offers as the VRS Superbug. :blush:But much respect for your principles from my side, be assured.

[Chock 17,769]

Ironically enough, and sort of proving the plus side of product locks as well as the downside too, one FS aeroplane you won't find is torrented that much is Ariane's FSX 737, because they have a real pain in the &@($* lock system on it which is apparently rather tough to crack from what I've heard. It's just a shame their activation method can be a bit slow, otherwise that would be a really good example of it working well.Al

[CoolP 283]

Maybe you haven't searched long enough. Although being a customer there, I won't try hard to stop you doing it. Not as a cause of product quality (it was/is ok) or the lack of support (when e. g. asking for activation, this worked quite fast, I was ok there) but for the whole policy showing, beginning with very high prizes and the "updates". Personal viewpoint though, I'm not so happy in the overall view there.So if you were ok with pirated things (which I'm not) I wouldn't start big monologs there. If you would search for e. g. an A2A Piper, I therefore would do, to turn you into a happy and paying guy.As said, it's about happiness, confidence and support.

[JSkorna 137]

All,The first 5 torrent links for Active Sky SP2 are either dead links or "open your wallet".One torrent does get you a download and "patch" but when you install AS and "patch" it, it doesn't run.The next gets the same package and with that I stopped trying. The security of my computer is worth more than trying to prove anything to anyone.