Sample sets of Sonus Paradisi have always been offered and distributed mostly unprotected by the Hauptwerk dongle system. This makes them vulnerable to unauthorised copying and illegal non-licenced use. For many years this worked fine. Nevertheless, during the last months, the level of piracy reached certain level which I cannot simply tolerate. The easiest way to stop users offering pirated copies of my sample sets is to start using the Hauptwerk encryption and the dongle protection offered by Milan Digital Audio. The decision to use the encryption has far reaching consequences which will affect every user of my sample sets. Therefore, I am kindly but firmly asking every user of my sample set to vote. Please express your opinion about sample set encryption and dongle protection. It will help me to make the decision. Sonus Paradisi stands at crossroad. Since Sonus Paradisi would be nothing without its customers, I feel obliged to take your opinion into account seriously. Although there are also other reasons to be considered, I will most probably do what the significant majority of users will vote for. Hence, to certain extent, the future of Sonus Paradisi is in your hands. Please, vote.
Sample sets can be distributed as encrypted or in plain format (non-encrypted). Both ways of sample set distribution have advantages and disadvantages. Encryption (unless it is broken) prevents piracy and therefore it is seen as a tool to protect the investments into the sample sets on the side of the customer as well as of the side of the producer. It may bring futher benefits to the users: money back guarantee during the first 14 days after the purchase of the sample set, indisputable licence transfer between users (second hand use of the sample sets). On the other hand, encryption limits the usage of the sample set to one single software: Hauptwerk of Milan Digital Audio. It is impossible to use the sample set in any other way. And it is illegal to circumvent the protection, so you must not try to use the encrypted samples in any other application (see, for example, the Bill C-11/C-60/C-61/C-32 of the Canadian Parliament and correspoding laws of other countries). Also, the dongle based protection means that if your dongle gets lost, stolen or damaged, you are not able to use the sample set any longer and in general it also means that your sample sets licences are lost as well. The encrypted sample sets have the disadvantage of being twice as large for the distribution (twice as much DVDs are necessary to distribute the sample set, or the download is twice as big). The increased media cost may be added to the sample set price when ordering.
Non-encrypted sample sets have the advantage of the standardized and opened audio format (wav format) - the audio samples can be read and manipulated by every suitable software tool. The rightful buyer of the sample set can use it in any suitable audio software application. So, if a specific software sampler (such as Hauptwerk or MyOrgan) is no longer available on the market one day, the user can transfer (with some effort) the samples to any software sampler which will be available at that time and continue the use of the sample set. Unfortunately, the opened format of the sample set excludes any form of money back guarantee within the first 14 days after the purchase (from January 2014, I will not be even allowed to deliver the sample set within 14 days after purchase according to the new Czech Civil Code, unless you will expressly instruct me to do so, at the penalty of loosing the money back guarantee). At the moment it also does not allow unequivocal licence transfers between users (such transfers are prohibited by the licence agreement which you agree with when you buy the sample set). The licence to use the sample set is strictly personal and you must not pass it onto anyone else. The disadvantage of the open format of the samples is also the ease to duplicate and distribute the sample sets on the black market or via malware and warez servers.
There may be other reasons for/against the use of the encryption except those which I have mentioned above. Please use your own head to come to an informed opinion on the samle set encryption.
The decision to use the encryption for the Sonus Paradisi sample sets will not affect past releases. The sample sets which were released in plain wave format will continue to be offered as such. The decision to use the encryption will affect only new releases (new sample sets, new versions of old sample sets).
I wish to know your opinion on the usage of the dongle based encryption for the Sonus Paradisi sample sets. How to vote? Registered Sonus Paradisi users only can vote. Please log-into your Sonus Paradisi account to vote. Only those registered users who have bought at least one sample set in past are allowed to vote. Users who spent 0 EUR in Sonus Paradisi sample sets cannot vote. Every qualified user can vote only once! However, the vote has different weight based on the total sum spent in Sonus Paradisi sample sets during the last two years. The weight of the vote is automatically calculated by the Sonus Paradisi server. (Each 1000 EUR spent represents +1 voting unit). The voting form is shown only to the users who have spent at least 1 EUR in Sonus Paradisi sample sets! The poll will be over on Thursday 12th December 2013, at 9:00 in the morning (Eastern European Time).
To vote, you must Log in to your account. The voting form (Poll) will be shown on the Dashboard of your Sonus Paradisi account. Select the choice with you prefer and click vote button. That's it. Thank you for your cooperation.