PSS Press Release - January 16, 2008

[Clutch Cargo 385]

"I'm glad that FSX is activation-based, so we can play without the discs...."[/]So why not have add-ons as activation based too? It would be a one-time activation. Or am I thinking naively about this?

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

No, you're not thinking naively about it at all. It's just that it is cost prohibitive to build an activation system unless your name ends in Gates.

[FTD1949 0]

"I'm glad that FSX is activation-based, so we can play without the discs...."fSo why not have add-ons as activation based too? It would be a one-time activation. Or am I thinking naively about this?I have no problems with that concept save for one. I build a new system approx. every 2 years and that can become a hassle.Although I have had no problems reactivating FSX. If you don't keeprecords electronically as well as printed you are pretty much out of luck trying to reinstall/reactivate and apparently there a lot of folks that don't do this. I am one who does thought. I purchased many if not all of their titles. After my last build (and I do haveboth electronic and hard copies of my transactions) I went thru e-mail #### trying to prove to them that I had legitimate copies of their product. They were basically infering that they were piratedcopies even though I had purchase numbers as well as bank records,and activation codes.Quite frankly I don't need that hassle from any company that I provided income to.I say it was their fault not mine.If they come back they have certainly lost at least one customer.Craig

[brucek 38]

Actually, I have recently purchased the most expensive add-on ever for FSX, and with it came an activation that is one-time only, and based on the hardware sum (or equivalent) of your machine. I changed motherboard, CPU and memory, and re-installed the OS, recently, and basically the product is worthless, I cannot re-activate the add-on. So, in the name of a perfect world in preventing piracy, the customer pays for it. I don't advocate piracy, and have never knowlingly taken part in it in any shape or form, but when the goal becomes anti-piracy instead of customer support, then it's time to take a real hard look at where you are going.I'm not naming the vendor or the product as I am about to take formal action against them.Bruce.

[Guest Lith1um]

Same thing happened to me with voice buddy and edimensional. I'm still ######.Even worse when I aborted the reinstall because it would'nt let me reactivate, it had overwritten my aircraft checklists.Now I use VAC.

[kevinc5 15]

"I'm not naming the vendor or the product as I am about to take formal action against them."Maybe I'm missing something, but why not name the product? What does planning to "take formal action" have to do with it? You're either willing to help others avoid this publisher or you're not. If you're not, what's the point of even mentioning the situation on the forum?

[Guest YukonPete]

FSD accused me of piracy a few years ago when I reinstalled my product to many times! I had PC problems and did nothing wrong! Never got my products re-activated and I will never spend another penny with them! Now I only stick to Flight1, PMDG amd lvl-d

[virtuali 4,421]

>No, you're not thinking naively about it at all. It's just>that it is cost prohibitive to build an activation system>unless your name ends in Gates.We are using a 3rd party provider for activation, a proven leader in this area (Esellerate/Digital River), and they charge what I think is a reasonable fee, that any FS developer should be able to afford.Their activation system is very flexible and can be configured to fit any developer needs. This way, we don't need to fight with users arguing about the legitimacy of a reactivation request.The are two tools to make activation an non-issue for users:1) Give more activations per order to begin with. That covers 99% of the needs. At FsDreamTeam, we give 5 additional activation after the first one. This is done entirely automatically, one doesn't have to request of explain anything: it's all done on the servers so, as long as one has remaining activations, the product will reinstall, even on a totally different machine.2) Activation Auto-reclaim after a certain date. This is even more important than giving more activations. Simply giving more activations alone wouldn't work, because, over the months/years, one would consume activations anyway. Here, enters auto-reclaim. Whenever the product contacts (automatically) the server when an change of hardware has been detected, there will be a check for activation dates, and activations older than 90 days will be forgotten, allowing for new activations over the original 5.The auto-reclaim will cover automatic reactivation even in the most dreadful case: if the original developer went out of business, the reactivation server will always work, because is run by Esellerate/Digital River, and auto-reclaim allows to get automatic reactivations forever (as long Esellerate/Digital River remains in business), without having to contact the original developer for help.Right now, there are 4 developers using this method: Cloud9, Skymakers, Aerosoft (just for Florence) and FsDreamTeam, but is available for anyone to license..

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Umberto,That's good info (as I hadn't run across their system). There are others out there (Flight1 has an interesting concept).I'm curious whether you can speak more to the cost/benefit analysis you did to determine that 15% of gross was a reasonable price. Wowzer. Hollywood agents only take 10%!Did you really see sales volume increase to make this worthwhile? Or was it more peace of mind?

[victorwest2 0]

>There is more piracy in the FSX space than most might think,>I admit I was taken aback by how much I saw and how blatant it>is. >But isn't the issue not how much is available but what percentage of the POSSIBLE purchasing consumer base resorts to a pirated copy rather than a legit copy.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

Snip: "But isn't the issue not how much is available but what percentage of the POSSIBLE purchasing consumer base resorts to a pirated copy rather than a legit copy."That's exactly the issue.The cost of implementing a security scheme can outweigh the benefits of preventing theft, because even theft has some marginal benefits.The question of whether to copy protect or not is essentially a cost-benefit analysis of the resulting additional sales the protection would result in - which is why I'm curious whether Umberto and Virtuali can shed some generalized light on this topic.I suspect that spending 15% of gross sales on copy protection results in neither:a) sales increases sufficient to overcome the lost profit:( actual copy protection

[Geofa 108]

I am having the same problem with 2 of my more "expensive" products.I haven't gotten around to really looking into it yet as I don't feel like the hassle-but it is horrible for the end user.Two of these-after going thru the hoops of reinstalling-re serial numbering,passwords etc. to just reinstall. A message pops up at random-sometimes ending my sim session when I am not even using the product-telling me I have an invalid license.When many of these products are downloaded-saving the manufacturer the expense of boxes, cd's etc. and maximizing their profits-this is very frustrating for the honest and supportive end user.http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[brucek 38]

I would like to pm Tom before posting on this one. Bruce.

[Guest pakket]

if i get this right honest buyers of PSS software, like me have to suffer because of piracy from others. It should be no reason to let the website collapse and leave without notice. i wonder what other guys involved with PSS have to say about this, because there where personal problems within The PSS company. The notice yesterday of the cause of this situation by the son of graham is very late. Graham sold all his PSS software to Justflight, and he had a lack of inspiration to develop new products, because there was never a FSX upgrade and no new product anouncements. So the truth seems not to be what his son tried to tell us. There is no company, that i know, that pulled the plug out in flight simulation because of piracy. Anyway i wait what's next.Martijn

[jcboliveira 1]

Maybe. I'm thinking about FSNAvigator, how easy it was to crack it but nevertheless it was the best selling title for years. At least in Simmarket. Jos