Company caught

snipped-for-privacy@excite.com wrote: ...

I would say that 50% of the companies I've worked at or visited here in L.A. have some cracked copies. Usually they own one legal seat then add a couple "extras". Most consider this only way to compete. I disagree but that is their perception. And, as we all know perception is reality... btw, the trend is growing in IMHO.

-- Bill

I know in our shop the biggest hassle is chasing down the USB key some days. Had one guy take it home in his pocket one day. We have two seats but each has different capabilities.

I'm fortunate enough to be the only one that uses Featurecam at our shop. I keep the dongle on my keyring.

You're making quite the invalid assumption from your observation of the lack of hardware locks.

Come to the shop I work at and you'll not find a single SIM/HASP on any workstation in the building and all the software installed company wide is 100% legitimate, documented, and audited several times per year.

If you're that interested in seeing hardware locks though (don't need anybody jumping to invalid conclusions now), you may wish to stroll upstairs to the IT department and take a peek at the back of the license server.

Putting hardware locks on workstations on the shop floor is simply an invitation for them to become damaged or stolen. Using a license server prevents that and has the advantage of being a single point of license administration.

That works great at larger companies. But small houses like us, it makes more sense to use USB keys. I often do work at home, and don't feel like screwing with license server issues.

Being _the_ goto guy here for design, and the funky/gnarly 3D stuff, makes it nearly impossible for me to have a stress free vacation without traveling licenses. With the dongles, I can take my company supplied laptop, and go on my yearly 3-4 week vacation to New England :)

Steve,

I would agree and that was my initial thought. For larger companies, if I didn't see a key then chances are the system was network purchased.

gary

Steve Mackay wrote:

Black Dragon wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bdhi.local:

Agreed, we also have a licensing server to handle the massive amount of licensing, with a second machine being redundancy. The audits are a PITA. I just had to dig up paperwork on some MSSQL stuff we bought in 2000.

Must be a lotta businesses treating ther employees 'fairly' then, I'd ASSume....

I workee cheep...own mastercam copy....

They're by no means a large company. ~20 man tool room (includes B & C shifts), ~35ish total employees. The owners understand the need for a well designed network and are computer savvy themselves.

Note, I did say "larger". And just about any tool & die place is larger than us.

We have a total of 9 full time, and 1 part time employees :)

A license server just wouldn't work for us. And the theft issue, isn't one here, unless someone breaks in. And if they do, well, that's what insurance is for.

I did misplace a usb dongle last year. Scared the bejesus out of me. I thought I had dropped it in the parking lot at the local college that I was taking some classes at. I figured it fell out of my pocket while reaching for the key to my bike. Spent 2 hours scouring the parking lot where I had parked the night before. Come to find out, it was just sitting on my desk at home... Doooh'! The Cad/Cam VAR *WAS* going to replace it for me, after I told them the story, and filled out a report at the college, and sent it to them. Luckily, they didn't have to.

I now have a VERY large key ring attached to it, and make sure it's in a zippered & snapped pocket on my jacket.