Posted by John Howells on 12/05/05 15:35

"Smarty" <nobody@nobody.com> wrote

> I'm a bit vague on the correct interpretation myself, since I contacted
> Pegasys support to voice my personal complaint about the activation when
the
> new TDAuthor Pro program first came out. Their customer service person
> replied by saying that Pegasys was giving serious consideration to
changing
> the activation approach, by reducing the frequency with which it required
an
> Internet "call home". Apparently the program requires irregular access, no
> less often than every 30 days, and possibly more frequently. I replied to
> the email from Pegasys support stating that I personally would NOT buy the
> program unless the activation were only a single event at program
> installation time. His reply did not indicate the intent of Pegasys to go
> that far as I recall. As I recall, several of us shared opinions at the
time
> with the common opinion being that ANY dependency upon the continuing
> survival of Pegasys or other web-based activation contact was totally
> unacceptable.
>
> Moreover, the new Pro program itself has little or nothing to recommend it
> over its' predecessor, so the incentive to pay more money, get a new
> version, and then suffer this additional issue is not there at all.
>
> I hope my recollections are accurate. I could go back through some
archived
> threads if it would help, but Ken, Mark, and others may have better
> insights.

FWIW, when I complained they told me:

>>
However, our license validation for DVD AUTHOR PRO is basically an
activation - you only need to be connected when you install the program,
reinstall it, or update it. After the license is retrieved, you should be
able to disconnect it from the internet and use it with no problem.

Also, if you check our website at
http://www.tmpg-inc.com/product/tdap_operation.html, you will see where it
says that the internet connection is required for activation.
<<

but I have not upgraded, for much the reasons that others have noted, as (a)
I don't like this activation approach in case the company are not around
when I want to reinstall (b) the new version has little to commend it other
than a 16:9 mode for menus and (I think) the ability to set off the create /
erase / burn sequence at the start, rather than having to be there when the
create phase ends to start the erase / burn phase, and (c) $60 for an
upgrade with little new is a bit steep.

If they (a) go back to the "activation" procedure used in the old version,
and (b) halve the price for an upgrade I might reconsider.

John Howells

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