License Managers

I now have 20 license managers installed on my system for audio editing software and plugins. This covers far more than 20 publishers, because some of the managers (e.g., iLok) cover lots of plugin developers. Generally I view this as near-madness, but IK Multimedia’s Authorization Manager is so well-executed and thorough that I’m not even upset that I just paid to download a free product. (Sound downloads expire after a time, so you have to pay a reactivation fee after that period ends, even though the thing is still available for free on the IK website.) You’d think if any industry were going to understand the pitfalls of DRM…