I have recently purchased a second license for a CAM SW which happens to resort to USB key protection. The reason I needed a second license is because my first USB key decided to kick the bucket and there was no way to get a replacement other than buying a new license. Not to mention how much this irritates me, as this is not a $25 license, I am looking for ways to somehow make a copy of this USB key. I am wondering if anybody here has had experience with these little buggers before?
I am thinking that perhaps I can use some sort of USB sniffer for years, log all of the data packets into and from the USB key and then reuse the recorded combinations in the event the new key decides to die again. It may not contain all of the possible calls, but alt least can get me by during an emergency. However, something tells me this may be an useless attempt as it is possible these USB keys are encrypted, in which case I am quite beyond day dreaming.
I am also aware there are some “services” where I can read my key and for a fee these entities will send me a SW which bypasses that particular key. Seems too illegal for my taste. All I am trying to do is protect my investment, not bypass the protection.
Oh, I am positive it is quite the touchy topic. And I do realize that copying an USB key in order to use a SW for which you haven’t paid, clearly violates copyright laws and license agreements of all sorts and kinds.
With that being said, if I can prove that I have paid for the license and I am only using it in one computer at a time, I should not be breaking any laws. Sounds like Food for lawyers, though.
Anyway, this may be why when the USB key dies you are pretty much hosed and are made to purchase a new license (as is basically happening to me now). Sounds unethical to me, though… So which one is more unethical?
Have you called SW support, I’m sure you’re not the first person this has happened to, this sounds like a horrible policy and would ruin some businesses especially for a per seat cost.
Is it a physical key they sent you, or is it something that you loaded onto a USB stick. Many times what you think is just a USB flash drive is really a microcontroller with encryption/decryption software on it that verifies your right to use the software. Most likely if it is the latter, you aren’t going to sniff anything useful.
@paulstaf is right. If it’s a symmetric key setup for instance, you would never sniff anything useful. At that point it’d be reverse engineering executables etc.
I presume you have already contacted the company and they essentially told you that they will not honor your license (even if you produce/send back the defective USB key or “dongle” as it is typically known for this particular application) and show your receipt for purchase of the software license?
IF that is the case, I don’t care what the EULA says - that is “mighty whitey” of them. But instead of suing the company in small claims, I STRONGLY recommend you contact them one more time and try to negotiate a fair settlement. If they refuse, tell them you will get the Better Business Bureau involved.
For a government agency, I have found them to be astonishingly effective. They allegedly have a 70% resolution rate but my experience has been in the several times I have employed them as my “big stick”, they have always turned things around in my favor. (100 % success rate).
I even took down AOL/Time Warner Corporate inside of less than a week after contacting the BBB and got them to give me a full refund over an advertising contract dispute. (it is a somewhat interesting story, but a bit lengthy)
And for free, you can’t beat that. A lot less hassle and cost before going the court route.
A couple of years ago, I had the exact same issue with a dead key for some embroidery graphics software that cost $2995. Our business had 2 licenses, and 2 keys and one of them died. I asked them how much for a replacement key and they said $2995. I told them I would send back the dead key with the receipt. They said “no need” to send in the receipt because they already had us in the database. So I asked them how much for another USB key if I send back the old broken key, and they said $2995. So being the hardheaded guy that I am, I took to Twitter and Facebook and a Users group on Yahoo and I shared my story at every opportunity. Within a couple of weeks, I had a free replacement USB dongle. We have since moved to other software, but I still share my story at every opportunity. To deny the use of a product that you paid for over a technicality lacks integrity and is nothing short of poor and clueless customer relations. The only way to fight back is by giving them bad publicity which hits them in the wallet directly. Twitter and Facebook are perfect ways to do do that.
So being the hardheaded guy that I am, I took to Twitter and Facebook
and a Users group on Yahoo and I shared my story at every opportunity.
Within a couple of weeks, I had a free replacement USB dongle.
Social networking pressure - nicely played.
I appreciate your “hardheaded” stance as I am also someone who does not take “No” for an answer, especially when confronted with a BS policy.
Like Mark said, you have to make the cost of denying your request more expensive than the request itself.
Well, I have made it a point to announce in forums and such how blasted ridiculous this key policy is. I don’t think I am going to get a new one, but perhaps in the future the main company moves away from this obsolete technology.
Basically what happened is that I purchased my Sprutcam 7 license in 2011. The key died in 2014 and by then Sprutcam 7 was obsolete. Apparently there was no way to recreate the key. If I wanted a new key it would have to be for Sprutcam 8, but for that I would need to pay an upgrade fee which was basically half of the license. The company that sells the SW (Tormach) always tries their best to be very nice to their customers, so realizing I had a right to use the SW, they moved me to a SW license. However, they only do this for 1 year (which happened to end yesterday) and then you are out of luck. If you make it a point to be a pain in their butt they will renew for one more year, but I don’t want to need to resort to being a PITA because I didn’t obtain this license as a present. I PAID FOR IT!!! I should be able to use this SW FOREVER!
I imagined the key was going to be encrypted and that sniffing wasn’t going to work that well. I have no idea how to “hack” into the executable and remove the checks, but will start searching on this direction. My goal is not to crack a SW and make it available to whoever wants to unlawfully use it. My goal is to be able to use something for which I paid for with my own sweat!
