Waves cracks down on cracks

  • Thread starter Thread starter fresh101
  • Start date Start date
fresh101

fresh101

New member
Just read this article at Sonicstate news
Crackdown On The Cracks
Waves get heavy with unauthorised users of their plug-ins 09-Aug-07



If you have already listened to this week’s Sonic Talk podcast you’ll know about this one – Waves has instigated a series of investigations aimed at discovering unauthorised users of its software and collecting payment from them.
Our friends at Pro Sound News Europe have an exclusive story on this one. They tell us that Waves has employed undercover agents posing as musicians trying to book time at various UK and US studios and, in the process, gathering evidence of the use of unlicenced or ‘cracked’ copies of Waves software. Secret video footage has been gathered and several users of the software have received an official letter from Waves’s collection agents offering them the chance to pay Waves the cost of the original plug-ins, plus a substantial extra sum on top, or face legal action.

At least six well known London studios and an educational establishment are known to be involved with visits from the Waves’ agents taking place earlier this year followed up by solicitor’s letters. Waves have confirmed that the investigations have taken place as part of BanPiracy, a continuing global campaign.

This is story that is going to run on over the next few weeks. We will be keeping abreast of developments but you can check out the Pro Sound News Europe website for the full story and hear their Editor, Dave Robinson, discussing the matter in today’s Sonic Talk 055 podcast.

More information:

www.prosoundnewseurope.com

This really doesn't affect most of use here (hopefully) but if some strange guy is looking over your shoulder at your next session you'll know why.
s4.gif
 
dee2good said:
this sounds like a fun job. where can i sign up? lol

to bad in most us states its illegal to video tape with out the concent of the party being filmed. I know the laws here in sc are pretty strick about it and it would be tossed out, i guess thats why they started in the uk im not sure how there laws are.
 
FullSpectrum said:
to bad in most us states its illegal to video tape with out the concent of the party being filmed. I know the laws here in sc are pretty strick about it and it would be tossed out, i guess thats why they started in the uk im not sure how there laws are.

in most states, i believe this law only applies when audio is included. if just video, your fine. or so i saw on law and order
 
Last edited:
In sc its any video , regardless of audio or not im not a lawyer but i have seen cases in the news here where video was used to try and trap a individual and the court would not accept it as evidence. I think its great these companys are cracking down but its mostly small home producers who use this software i would think? Plus how do you tell if the plugins are cracked my cpu and dongles are all in a closet for gear so i dont have to hear them, does cracked waves pull up with some sort of noticable diffrence?

Also let me add how much this sucks because more software is going to dongle and online auth and i had a huge problem with battery 3 when i bought it as i did the offline reg and it took me on the phone with tech support a while to get the return auth. Plus how many more dongles am i going to have to buy? My magix samplitude pro runs on a wibu key , wavelab on the steinberg dongle , waves on another dongle ..... where does it end.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't see how they will know what is cracked and what is not
cracked.Even if they start to look for dongles.Anyone can
buy a blank I-lok dongle for 30- 35 dollars.
 
That is one way they go after bars who show pay-per-view fights without purchasing the license. They have private investigators show up and see if the fight is on, then report back. They don't have to video it. They simply offer themselves as a witness that the bar showed the fight. Many bars settle out of court after they get the letter. Some fight it.
 
wow...software piracy agents+

if they paying am in...
 
Last edited:
I feel bad for lots of companies for being ripped off, then there's Waves...They're just being the money hungry bastards they are. All their real customers who've paid thousands to them get treated like common criminals whenever you call the support line or want to get an update because they have it in their heads that everyone steals their software. Now, because no one spung the $7k-11,000(yes, the price of a new toyota)on their Mercury Bundle, the gotta recoup somehow, so they go after unauthorized users of their software. I hope they send someone to my studio so I can show them the box and disk for my L3 Limiter and explain to them why UAD is kicking their overpriced non-supportive azzes. And you can't "hack" UAD, you need the PCI card.

Sorry for the rant, I haven't liked them much lately.
 
well, its certainly one way to try and stop piracy, if only everyone took it that seriously...
 
i aint givin them $hit!

breal said:
I don't see how they will know what is cracked and what is not
cracked.Even if they start to look for dongles.Anyone can
buy a blank I-lok dongle for 30- 35 dollars.
i dont think they will come after the little people. atleast not right away this is just something to scare consumers. now if you are a good sized establishment then you have a lot to worry about

deRaNged 4 Phuk'dup said:
I feel bad for lots of companies for being ripped off, then there's Waves...They're just being the money hungry bastards they are. All their real customers who've paid thousands to them get treated like common criminals whenever you call the support line or want to get an update because they have it in their heads that everyone steals their software. Now, because no one spung the $7k-11,000(yes, the price of a new toyota)on their Mercury Bundle, the gotta recoup somehow, so they go after unauthorized users of their software. I hope they send someone to my studio so I can show them the box and disk for my L3 Limiter and explain to them why UAD is kicking their overpriced non-supportive azzes. And you can't "hack" UAD, you need the PCI card.

Sorry for the rant, I haven't liked them much lately.
pretty much why i wont buy it. that and the price tag. their plug in bundles cost more than everything in my house combined lol

xtrordinare said:
well, its certainly one way to try and stop piracy, if only everyone took it that seriously...
image line will likely follow suit
 
Last edited:
fl studio doesnt deserve to be pirated but waves. **** em. i dont use it but they deserve. they charge like 10k for their ****. is it that great? i mean it might be good but good enough to warrant that price tag? i doubt it. and they're just mad that no one buys their rip off **** products.
 
what makes them deserve to be robbed tho? having a high price tag is no reason for anyone to deserve it. A Benz will get u from point a to point b like a civic would are you going to steal a benz since you can't afford one?
 
what's so great about Waves. bunch of compressors and eqs, I'm satisfied with KORG MDE-X, Does waves got a good Chorus or Reverb?
 
Whatever I Been Waiting On The Waves V3 Series For Hella Long Holla!!!
 
To clarify, I don't feel anyone should be ripped off, I don't agree with pirating any software, but I do feel when I pay the price I paid for my sequencer for 1 plug in, I should be treated like King Jeffery Jofer when I want to update or have technical issues. Rose pedals thrown at my feet and everything.

Cakewalk and Image-Line kiss my azz like I'm the only guy who gives them money. And I'm sure they have a ton more customers to look out for than Waves.

Waves "rips off" paying customers the same way hackers rip them off, so now, their paying customers have bailed for better plugs, so they target guys who would've never been a factor in the sales of their products in the 1st place. That's like blaming gas prices on the War....
 
Xabiton said:
what makes them deserve to be robbed tho? having a high price tag is no reason for anyone to deserve it. A Benz will get u from point a to point b like a civic would are you going to steal a benz since you can't afford one?
yeah but a benz is 100000x better than a civic. is a waves plugin thaaat much better?

since i don't own waves **** (i don't bootleg it, i had them but i deleted it cuz i'm fine with just using FL plugins) but based on deranged's comments on them. they seem like pretty big assholes. not the kind of treatment u want after spending 10k on some ****ing plugins.
 
All i got was the L3 Ultra/Multimaximizer. I was gonna purchase the SSL4000 series off a dissatisfied friend, but after they gave us the 3rd degree when I tried to switch over licenses and install it on my computer, I said phuk it. The problem is, they treat me like someone on eBay would if I spent $5 bucks with them and bought the cheapest thing they were selling. That L3 costed me $500 bucks, i don't care if I didn't get your $4,000 bundle, I deserve red carpet treatment when I spend what people everywhere but Cali spend on their rent!!!

Now it's coming back to haunt them, because plugs by Focusrite, UAD, TC(Powercore), ect. give you the power of DSP and actually treat you like you're important even if you do go for their cheapest installments.

I know people from Waves cruise this site, they should be aware, they were so busy chasing the 10s of thousands of dollars from big studios, they missed us little guys who give our hard earned hundreds. Now everyone's moved on, and you're force to scrape up your money by haggling hackers. Oh how the elite has fallen!!!!
 
Back
Top