There is a lot said about iLok protection and the company behind the iLok, PACE, that is misguided at best, and plain wrong at worst. In this article, we are going to debunk some of the myths regarding PACE and iLok. This article was largely inspired by an email we received from a community member, who said…
“Do we need something like iLok? It is very complicated to understand how it is organized, and if I believe all reactions and complaints on the internet, I’m not the only one.
Why does an organization have the power to block you from using your plugins when they aren’t the company we bought them from. They are absolutely difficult to contact, they only communicate by mail, and their answers do not resolve my questions.
In my opinion, as users, we have no advantage with iLok to manage our paid-for plugins. There are many companies that have chosen not to use iLok.
I write to you, because as a bigger platform maybe you can start some research among your readers and start an initiative to have a better world without iLok. Thank you so much for reading my little complaint, and maybe you can help?”
Myth 1 - We Don’t Need Something Like iLok
“Do we need something like iLok? It is very complicated to understand how it is organised, and if I believe all reactions and complaints on the internet, I’m not the only one”….
We have no doubt that you are not the only one, which is why we are writing this article.
As users, we don’t need something like iLok. It is the software developers who create the tools we use that need something like iLok, or eLicense, which are 3rd party copy protection systems. Setting aside dongle-based systems, some developers like Waves or Plugin Alliance choose to create their own copy protection system to protect their software from theft.
Whatever system software developers choose, they do it because they need a copy protection system to deal with people who would choose to acquire software products without paying for them, thus depriving the developer of income and in some cases putting them out of business. Of all the systems available, a huge proportion of developers consider the iLok as the most secure way of protecting their intellectual property.
Some suggest software piracy is a victimless crime. Not true. Many developers are small, one-person operations and every dollar counts when they are trying to make a living. As content creatives, we get upset if someone doesn’t pay us for the work we have undertaken. However, when it comes to obtaining something that isn’t a physical product, some people’s moral compass changes and it seems that it is OK to acquire a software product without paying for it. We have heard and seen justifications like “it’s not real”. or “they make enough money already so it’s not going to hurt them”. But it does. Software developers have gone out of business as a result of software piracy
iLok gives developers a secure system they can trust to protect their work. Yes, other protection systems exist but for many developers iLok is the one they trust.
Myth 2 - iLok Is All About The Dongle
The iLok is the most recognised part of what we see of what PACE offers. It’s the dongle we use to store and transport all our software licenses. However, what you may not be aware of is that PACE, the makers of iLok, do much more than just make products secure using an iLok dongle. PACE’s Fusion In-App Protection solution has been designed to help keep software developers “ahead of the most advanced attacks”. Then there is White Box Cryptography, which PACE explain as…
“White-Box Works is the newest thinking in the White-Box space. Its unique industry-leading architecture adds new dimensions of security to defend keys and data at the endpoint”.
Then there is Licensing, which is what we are more used to and even here the iLok dongle is only one of the methods to store the software licenses that PACE and software developers use in their battle against software piracy. PACE also offers two alternatives that do not need an iLok to provide protection.
Storing licenses on the host computer
Storing licenses in the cloud using iLok Cloud.
You may be surprised to know that much of the software you use has PACE protection, but you may not realise the vendor is using it. There are numerous plugins, apps and DAWs using PACE protection without making any mention of it, so if you’re avoiding iLok on a matter of principle then it’s entirely possible the software you are using has the same protection, just in another guise.
3 - iLok Has All The Power
This is the single biggest myth about iLok. iLok and PACE, the company behind iLok, and is typified in this extract from our community member’s email…
“Why does an organization have the power to block you from using your plugins when they aren’t the company we bought them from”.
The reality is that PACE provides their iLok customers (the software developers) with a suite of tools to enable them to protect their intellectual property. iLok does not have the power to block users from using plugins, the iLok suite of tools that enable software developers to manage the licenses they issue to their customers - us.
However, in order for PACE to provide their service to their customers (the software developers) there has to be an element of what PACE offers that impacts us, as users of the software.
That junction is most obvious in the iLok License Manager, iLok dongles, the iLok Cloud and Zero Downtime, which are all tools and software provided by iLok, which users use. The moment we spend money with iLok, by buying an iLok or Zero Downtime, we do become iLok customers. However, we are not PACE’s primary customers, they are the software developers. It is the developer who chooses when to deposit or revoke licences in your iLok account NOT iLok.
You can consider it a little like a credit card, if the credit card company picks up a transaction that could possibly be fraudulent, or the card is reported stolen they block the payment and then seek clarification. Then either the credit card company reach out to us or we reach out to them and clarify the situation. I suspect you would prefer the credit card company to block the transaction and then ask, rather than let the transaction go through and then not be able to get the money back that was fraudulently taken from our account. The iLok suite of tools works in a similar way. If the system picks up a suspect license or fraud, it will be locked. As soon as the developer clarifies the situation the licence can be unlocked.
Another example of where iLok does not have the power, it is in the gift of the software developer, is where the iLok licences can be stored - On a dongle, machine or in the cloud. PACE offers their software developer clients all 3 options of where iLok licenses can be stored and it is down to each individual software developer to decide which options to use to protect their intellectual property against software piracy.
It is said, although PACE would never confirm it, that machine-based PACE licensing is not as secure as the dongle or the iLok Cloud. The upshot of this is that brands with high-value products don’t use machine-based licensing, they prefer to use an iLok dongle or iLok Cloud to protect their intellectual property from software piracy. The reality is that the iLok dongle is the most secure and reliable of the 3 options. All iLok protected software will work with an iLok dongle.
Talking of iLok Cloud. It is not clear exactly why, it may have to do with the need for iLok Cloud to have an “always-up” internet connection but after the initial flurry of brands choosing to support iLok Cloud it has all gone quiet. If you are not sure if your plugins support iLok Cloud then you can check in iLok License Manager to see if the software shows a Cloud icon or you can check out our article in which we list all the software, we are aware of, which support iLok Cloud.
Conclusion
There you have it, the key takeaways here are iLok is about protecting software developer’s intellectual property and so PACE primarily answers to the developers and not the software users. When you have a licence problem then speak to the vendor, if you have an iLok issue then speak to PACE.
To summarise;
Software vendors need protection - for many iLok is the answer. If you hate software protection then your argument is with the crackers, not the developers or PACE.
iLok is more than the dongle, it’s a comprehensive suite of protection options for software developers, it includes the dongles, cloud and machine based activation - they choose which one they use.
If you have a problem with a licence then contact the developer, if you have a problem with your iLok account then contact PACE via their support page.
Finally, millions of licences are handled by PACE, when you consider this, then it puts the complaints you see on forums and social media into context.