effective immediately, i'm gonna start buying my groceries through proxies. i'm too ashamed to show my guilty shop-lifter's face in the corner store...:D

What has really upset me is the fact that I had bought from them before (the ATR) and there were no problems with installing.So I went ahead and bought the Airbus and Bae - as there were no warnings AT POINT OF SALE of their new policy - thinking that all would install OK. Sure there was a link to their forum but why should I go there when the last purchase from them was great and worked well.Richard

I hope we still think this type of copy protection is great when it moves into DVDs and CDs. I just can't wait to be told that I can only watch that movie on the player it was bought for or listen to a CD on a player connected to a network. Remember DVDX? A dismal failure. For those that don't remember, it was a system that only allowed the DVD movie to be played on a single player, I think, twice before it didn't work. Sure you paid less for the movie but it was worthless after a limited number of plays. you also needed to have the player connected to the phone line in order to verify your DVD before being allowed to watch it.Jon

Hi,I am very calm. That is just my style. Always has been, always will be. I actually put Thought into what I wrote.I criticize a public company, which I have a right and IMHO, in the interests of public concern have an obligation to do, and *She/he or whatever they are come up with comments not about my FACTS, but about me such as this:USER jwenting wrote to me specifically the following.1) "I doubt you'd pay (if you pay even now)"2) "The customer has already proven he cannot be trusted."3) "The buyer has absolutely NO integrity. "4) "Just about ONLY pirates and wannabe pirates complain vocally about piracy protection because it harms their business."5) "Most likely you didn't buy any software anyway except "compilation CDs" with thousands of dollars worth of software shipping for $10 or so."Those are pretty solid accusations if I do say so myself, and I do say so myself. Such words by a member here is pretty sad. And unless She/he has evidence to substantiate those claims, it is nothing more than RUBBISH. So I await the proof.... Ahhh... The silence is DEAFENING, huh? What a sad response. Instead of addressing my concerns, She/he goes personal, and then states all buyers have no integrity, and other FALSE CLAIMS that are actionable, IMHO.Truly sad. She/he should really review before She/he posts.Anyways, My Integrity is 100% in tact, as usual, and everything I stated is 100% TRUE, which also gives me rights under the SUBSTANTIAL Truth Doctrine.If She/he develops anything, I wouldn't buy it. Truly a sad impression of our hobby and our community that She/he has. No Integrity. Please....Regards,Joe* I say She/he as I do not know whether this person is a female or a male. For The Record I am a Male. :-)

sure. i fully agree with your last post. i reacted too, though only with mockery.:)after all, it's an internet forum, not a social club. it gives me great pleasure when i find a loyal brother in arms or a worthy adversary, but i never expect or even anticipate understanding, not even courtesy. my blood pressure's too high already for more disappointment...:)peace. love.vilk

>Would that be an ok requirement for you. before you put on a pair of jeans you have to walk naked to the store, prove who you are, provide your reciept, your address, your email, and maybe they will let you dress, but only if the jeans still fit you?;).Cheers,Gosta.http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg

and, of course, you must present your id, receipts, address, e-mail and all that again after each laundry (read: reinstall). otherwise, no honey. the jeans stay in your closet and you go around in the buff.you are allowed to wear freeware jeans in case your id cannot be validated due to a bad internet connection. you have the right to return to the store a limited number of times within the next three business days to repeat the validation process.

I will not purchase their software because I cannot accept their terms of purchase. The

Ok Bob,So you said in a few sentences what I took many to say. :-)I agree with you.Regards,Joe

Hi Alastair - But when the "reasonable protection" drives away more users than you would have lost by hacking - who has shot themselves in the foot?In all the messages I've read in these forums and newsgroups - one of the things that infuriates most users is the "phone home" mentality. Unfortunately their complaints are usually met with someone inferring that they are budding "pirates".Just read this thread alone and see how many have stated that they would not buy from this vendor. I am not a statistician but there are figures somewhere that indicate that for every one who publicly voices an opinion, there are quite a few more that agree but are silent.IMHO, the developers are pushing the limit and will ultimately suffer for it.Of course, this now brings out the cries of - "If I have to see my work stolen, I'll just quit the business" followed closely by the " If no one would pirate we wouldn't have these problems"Never ending story - we need to find a happy medium - a method of protection that is a deterrent to all but the experienced hacker AND that doesn't penalize the end user.just mho - Nice to have a discussion without namecalling for a change - Regards,Vic

Sadly, after many months of reading his drivel, I have come to the conclusion that jwenting is a paranoid troll seeing pirates under every rock.Some of his quotes are so ridiculous it doesn't pay to answer.I will say also that he has a right to his opinion.Vic

And if you walk into the mall, walk in the vicinity of the store that sold you the jeans, and they ask you to prove those are your jeans, and you don't have the receipt. Well, they think they are allowed to cut holes in your jeans, and rip them off of you, until you can re-prove you bought them...I like this analogy... All kinds of possibilities...You Know... Like BOXERS or BRIEFS....Me, I'm a Boxers Guy. I like the FREEWARE...errr, the Freedom of movement it provides. :-)Oh man, now I have to go find all my Boxers receipts from Christmas... Hooonnneeeyyyyyy.... I lost something.... :-)Regards,Joe

well, losing your boxers ain't such a big deal, provided you have your receipt, valid id, modem, internet account, working e-mail and the licence key file that was sent to you after you paid for them. quite simply, conveniently and absolutely hassle-free, we will allow you to obtain another pair (still, for the protection of other customers, we must insist that you apply within three days of the loss).it's when you lose what you had in those boxers where the problem starts...:D

Well said Joe. As a result of the pics - I went and counted my gaming software.... 38 boxes (including a strange tin thing) and three paywares.. MAAM-Sim have been great; Captain Sim was great. I don't pirate anything. I want the box, the CD's and the books. The crooks can do what they want. They know they're crooks. I have a buddy at work that pirates all the time. I will not. Takes all types. That being said - I have - silently and for a long time - thought that "jwenting" was "full of himeself". His attitude really comes through here, doesn't it.... 90%???? I wonder if Billy Gates knows that??PJ

Since you're talking about prptection stuff here and what Billy Gates should know or not know, consider this:I have an English friend who travels a lot for his work--he is a pilot for VIPs and flies the Falcon 2000 jet-- and he just came back from Moscow and told me that in every street market there are pirates who sell everything you can imagine for 1-2$. Their pirated CDs include all games, all software from any maker, all music CDs.He said that LOMAC, FS2004 were 1$ and 3D Studio Max v.5 was 1$50. He also saw addons like Lago products, Abacus, and the usual other big names. He also says that in places like Romania, Poland, and even Hungary the situation is the same, with prices about 10% higher.It seems that MS and other businesses cannot do anything about this and the law does not care, or turns a blind eye. Now it is obvious that Microsfot knows about all this--they do have an outlet in Russia and one has to be blind as a bat not to see what is going on in the market stands there. They do not seem to be doing anything about it. That makes one wonder if pirates, persons of questionable integrity, and the like, have reason to act illegally as their path is unobstructed by any legal measures that the offended companies might take against them. Further, if a giant like MS is unable to do anything about all this, what do you expect the common man in the street to do? The ruling law of economics in any market, everywhere, is that if you can sell cheaper, do it, if you can buy chepaer, do it. At least that is what John Kenneth Galbraith taught the West.