More to the point, the idea that your ability to work in your studio may depend upon the reliability – or even presence – of an internet connection is not going to fill every Cubase user with glee. Not all studio computers are internet-connected, and people recording on location won’t necessarily have access to an internet connection at all. What many users won’t want to see, though, is a system that requires an always-on internet connection. Whatever form it takes, it seems inevitable that the new solution will include an online element of some sort.

Another may be a purely online system, similar to Pace’s iLok Cloud system. One option may be to use downloaded software key files that can be secreted away in the bowels of the OS and protected from even the user’s prying eyes. The press release is similarly opaque about what Steinberg will bring in as a replacement to the eLicenser, and without knowing that, it’s hard to know whether to view this as a good thing or not. You must also order an eLicenser and wait for it to arrive in the post. You can’t just pop online, buy Cubase (or Nuendo, or Wavelab, etc.), download it and start recording. 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.

Wavelab trial soft elicnser fail