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VW 2012 and piracy...


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I just got my company to buy me the latest Vectorworks 2012 Architect. I go to come some resources I made using 2009 student edition during Masters and I get a notification saying that copying geometry into 2012 will watermark my entire file.

What!?!

Has Nemetscheke become that paranoid? I go to open another resource file that I downloaded ages ago and it refuses to open because apparently it was made with a pirated copy of VW. Ok, I guess I have to take VW's word for it? Guilty until proven innocent?

What's next, USB dongles for running your software?

Consider the market penetration and succes of AutoCAD, Adobe CS, Sketchup, 3dsMAX.... ever consider why they've penetrated their markets so well? It's not because they're better but because they're easy to obtain and crack. AutoCAD is probably is one the clunkiest pieces of software I have ever used, but it is also one of the easiest to obtain. Every single student in my graduating class used AutoCAD because everyone could get it. Only a handful used Vectorworks, even though most were on Macintoshes...

I don't understand the reasoning behind these VW 2012 draconian policies. The watermarking of EDU files copied is simply annoying. For now I'm exporting to DWG and importing back.

Nemetschek, please relax your obtuse policies.

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from the student portal.

As a student, you need the flexibility to do it all, so we offer you a FREE copy of Vectorworks Designer with Renderworks.

In other words there's no need to crack the software, just register and gain a fully loaded, fully supported, functional copy for free!

Yes, making the criteria for registration open to those 'studying' vectorworks would allow the grey market benefit accrue to Nemetschek without undermining their legal ownership.

Making it clear within the software that there is an easy & legitimate watermark removal path for your drawing library for those who do buy the software to use it professionally would also help streamline process.

perhaps also worth consideration is to sell old versions of VW at a trivial price. eg VW 12.5 for $12.50. I cannot see any danger of cannibalization.

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Consider the market penetration and succes of AutoCAD, Adobe CS, Sketchup, 3dsMAX.... ever consider why they've penetrated their markets so well? It's not because they're better but because they're easy to obtain and crack.

Are you suggesting that vendors (of any product) should make their product easy to steal to increase their market penetration? {:-O

BTW; The free student versions of Autodesk products work in exactly the same way as VW: they apply a watermark and will "stain" any files they come "in contact with"

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