Shozam Community

Hi , 

Sorry Razvan and Komotion people but we have to  agree with the previous posts. As professional  photographers we think  it is a great product  but  a little over the top  with the reactivation, DRM  issue instead of the more simple manual key  entry.

What  happens when the product version is not supported any  more and a newer version  is on offer. Will people still  be able to  activate their $300 product if they  had to  reinstall it on their PC 2  or 3 years down the line or will they  have to pay  out for the latest 2009/2010 version?

Worst of all what if..... Digital river went out of business ( highly unlikely but not impossible), or if Komotion  were to  stop  using DRiver/ regnow and used a different  distributor/online activation  system. Where would the customer stand legally,  consumer rights  etc.!!!  They  would have your Shozam on their pc ( or PC's) but they would not be able to activate it.

We all agree it is important that developers protect their software products  from  piracy but using  Digital  Revenue Management will  definiatly have damaging effects on  sales and future profits for your company. Big  Corporations  are able to survive the drop  in  sales  but for the smaller developers it could be  devestating and could even spell  disaster. The things that  upsets most  people about this Digital Revenue Management "softwarePassport Technology" is it's ability for the developer  to  track their digital products online (good idea in  theory  but what  about privacy  issues) and the fact of  single use of application  on a single pc.  When  you  buy  a car or a household appliance,  you  dont expect  the  manufacturer to  keep  track  of it or when  and where  you  use it.  If you  buy the latest  Music CD you  expect to  be able to  play  it on any  stereo  at  home or in the car and to legally make a single copy  for your own  personal use ( as a back up in case the original  gets damaged).

The only people  who possibily  will make large amounts of profit  from DRM  are companies like Digital River and others like them,  not the "poor" developers who  have to  pay for digital  rivers services and certainly  not the end user. Just look at the financial damage Digital Rights Management issues caused in the music industry before it was finally  killed off  in  January  of this year. Music  companies lost  millions in  trying to  develop a  way  of protecting the music but yet guys with  $300 PC World computers were defeated it within days.

Unfortunately we had some photographers ( 3 Pro's and 1 Am) lined up to buy this product on our recommendtion but now that they have a read the forum comments they have  pulled out and going to use  a different company for selling their pictures through. Like the customers  here, 2 cited that  that  they  would have perferred to be able  use the software on their laptops when travelling and on their studio/office  pc's when they  returned. 1  uses only Windows Vista on  his PC, but said he might reconsider if the Vista problems are sorted out quickly. The amature photographer is thinking of going pro soon but would not tell  me why  he has changed his mind. As for ourselves we will  hold off on  buying it for a little while longer to  see how the product  settles down,  Vista bugs are ironed out etc.

No program or software  is perfectly  safe,,,,, just  look at  Microsoft (a company  Razvan know's all to well),  MS dont even know how many  illegal copies of " the most secure yet" Windows XP and Vista are out there already??.  If criminals  are determined to break  the activations or use illegal  codes or what ever they  do to  by pass the security.. they  will  do  it no  matter what the developer or DRM  try  to do to  prevent it. It  is unfair you  force Digital  revenue managment on  the legitimate user. 99% of users who actually use this software are using it for their business. The legitimate users will still  win in the end as  they get, peace of mind, the support  and the free upgrades and hopefully benefit from  the affiliate scheme.

Keep up the good work  on  developing this product, but you got to  seriously  reconsider the use of DRM  in  favour of manual entry key  activation,  if any thing it will  probably save Komotion money  in the long run as you dont have the implementation hassels and support costs.to  pay for DRM.

Am I to understand that the third-party Komotion uses will support unlimited swapping of the license/activation between two computers? 

I could probably limit my swaps to between 25 to 50 per year.  I figure that if the third party could provide this service within a one or two hour window, things might work out -- since I will only be doing license swapping when I have the laptop at home where there is broadband.

Will they need warning when users prepare to swap?  A reservation?  Will both computers need to be online at the same time?

Thanks for the help,

Larry 

Ted, I am sorry the license restricitons were not made clearer. It is spelled out in the EULA which is to be accepted before the program is installed. In any case, we have now updated the Web site to be explicit about requirements and restrictions. Please note the section at the bottom of the page:

http://www.shozam.com/overview/index.htm

Also, we stand behind our product, our licensing agreement and activation restrictions. If anyone feels they have purchased under false pretense, we are happy to issue a full refund (triggering a de-activation of the program).

I appreciate and understand everyone's feedback. Please note that we can ensure continuity of service and functionality of the program without the Digital River activation server. We will prepare further documentation to detail how program activation works, to make it more clear what the process is when you upgrade your computer or other similar circumstances.

We are passionate about Shozam and committed to our users. I believe it shows throughout our product, features and dedication of everyone on our team.

We heard your feedback and it has been noted; thank you for your thoughtful input.

Software protection is not a popular feature by definition. It is also not established by popular consensus. It was a careful decision of trade-offs and will not be further justified here. Discussing our business decisions and licesning strategy in the Forums is no longer productive. It is detracting from actual product development. Consequently, I am closing this thread to future comments.

This Forum was set up to be a helpful support group to users as well as a channel of communication that will enable us to materialize your feature wishes. I welcome feedback from one and all on how we can help you create the most amazing galleries in the easiest way possible. Make it fun, easy and profitable for all.

Thanks, Razvan, for the explanation.  I note in another topic that you have changed the EULA to allow two installation -- which solves my immediate problem.  Also it is comforting to know that there is a pathway to allow moving the program from an obsolete computer to an upgrade.

My thanks to you and your crew for your efforts -- I'm impressed with your quick, personal, head's up response.  That is a rare commodity in today's digital world -- and much appreciated.

Brad.