I understand that you should disconnect from the Internet when the DAW is open to keep plugins from calling home.

I also think that you can use the firewall to block each plugin. I found the following instructions:

"Windows 7 includes an application-level firewall which you can use to restrict network traffic on a
per-program basis.

To do this:

Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Firewall
Pick 'Advanced Settings' on the left bar
Click 'Outbound Rules' on the left, then 'New Rule' on the right
Select 'Program', Next
Browse to the program's .exe, Next
Select 'Block the connection', Next
Leave all the boxes ticked, Next
Give the rule a name, Finish

Job done ;)"

Sooo...it seems that the easiest thing to do is to simply disconnect from the Internet when using the DAW.

But here's my question. Can plugins call home if the Internet is connected but the DAW is closed?

And what about plugins that are simply Dlls. Can they call home at all?

I'm hoping that I can disconnect from the Internet when using the DAW and connect to the Internet for other reasons when the DAW is closed.

Will this method work to keep plugins from calling home?

What do you think?

Thanks!

 

https://audiosex.pro/threads/how-to-block-daws-internet-access-with-solution.13378/

 

You only can block EXE's not dll's or any other type of plugin with this. I'm sure they are unable to call without using the DAW if it is even possible for a plugin to call to an IP address.

BTW thanks for the tip, I did not know about this feature in Win7.