Yesterday, I was looking for some ethnic VSTi and only found one that really suited my needs:
http://www.soundsonline.com/Ra
But on the requirements page, I see the iLok thing, so I dig deeper and find out, it's an usb key with your licenses data on it:
http://www.soundsonline.com/ILok-FAQ
https://www.ilok.com
So to get a 200$ non-physical program on the net, I have to register two accounts and buy a 50$ usb key (shipment to Europe not included) just to make it f*cking work?! Damn, even Adobe is less restrictive... If Gog wants to sell drm-free softwares (or just a serial number is fine) in the next years, I would gladly buy them here. "DRM-free revolution" shouldn't be just for games ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Studio_Technology
Or what I would simply describe : a virtual synthesizer which you use along in audio/music composing programs as separate plug-ins. If you get into this, you won't have time to play games anymore ;)

Very true.


I believe the idea with the iLok key is that it allows a license to be carried to an offline work PC.

BTW, I was about to suggest Best Service World Percussion which uses "free" (i.e. included in the price) Kontakt Player, when I realized that it was far far more expensive than Ra.

I wouldnt know anything about this particular software, but its not unusual for professional software to need usb key. I think there used to be alot more of those, but things are heading more and more to online authentication. However, there are circumstances where you would rather have usb key, as it does not require internet to work.

Yeah, physical keys are far less common these days, but they're still around (as you see). Back in the day they were very common, and typically connected to a serial or parallel port. 3D Studio Max was particularly ridiculous about it, because in order to upgrade from version 1 to version 2 you not only paid $900 (and that was the STUDENT upgrade price...) but you got another Rainbow plug (that was the company doing most of the license plugs back then). And by another I mean actually having two plugs piggybacked on the back of your computer. Sticking out a good 4 inches, which I'm sure was GREAT with that weight pulling down on the parallel port.

Ugh. Be glad they're just on a USB key these days :)

Well, the developers could always provide dongles as an alternative for those who don't want to/can't be online at all times. I think Propellerhead, the developers of Reason, do it this way. It sadly isn't a standard yet. Yeah, the music software dudes are pretty stubborn and sticking to the ancient ways. Also I'm shocked to see how expensive the iLok has become. I'm still using an old one which cost less than $20 at the time. Seemed legit. Although I got it along with a larger collection of EastWest's plugins, I can see how it pisses you off if you want to use just a single plugin.

I managed an apple audio/video lab environment. Coming from a licencing and security standpoint i love USB keys. We used locked housing with alarms and an internal usb port to secure the key. For the instructors they had the fob on a keyring.

The USB key lets you work where ever you are, Lab 1 or Lab 3 Studio 10 or the Studio on 34th and Main st. Take your USB and go. The flexibility is unmatched, i just wish they could sync the licence into a universal fob like a YubiKey

Yup, I had noticed they had some good stuff like Forest Kingdom 2 and Ethno World 5 and their system seems more customer-friendly. I'll just spare some money for a few months :)

They appear to have a distributor in the Benelux : http://www.sonic8.com/benelux/index.php/ilok.html This I-lok seems a "wonderful" idea ( I mean, from a chief beancounter officer point of view ), the kind of "wonderful" (I mean, paranoid, perverted) idea that Ubisoft's management might be tempted to have.It would almost qualify as an "online functionnality" . Everyone knows gamers "want" online "functionnalities" ... /sarcasm