Do you remember a few years ago, when UHe had released a new Diva version, and he had 'FORGOTTEN' to remove some demo code, from the main retail binary(or something like that), and ALL Diva users had to download the new, proper update, as the 1.2.0.0 (can't remember) would no longer work after x days...
he 'had forgotten', he claimed...

Now, Knowing how absolutely paranoid Steinberg are, regarding the copy protection of their products,
could it be that they released this v12, with some copy protection features disabled on purpose...so they (steinberg) could analyze and see what the audio scene would do...which parts of the protection would be attacked, etc... and they left some demo/trial code, that will revert all cubase pro 12 to demo/other, 2 or 3 weeks from now, thus forcing EVERYBODY to download the new cubase version, with the full copy protection enabled, this time around...

Could they do it ?
Because I'm finding these cracks TOO easy... too suspicious...
There are apps, like the Rapid synth... sylenth3 ... and many other, serial number or C/R based, that still haven't been cracked, since many many years...
... and now, we have cubase pro 12, that gets cracked in '5 minutes'...
I don't believe one single second that a sylenth3 copy protection is more robust than... the steinberg/ Cubase one... with all those layers... serial..C/R..mcfact..etc etc..
Steinberg must have started working on the new licensing system for at least 4 or 5 years.
They would NEVER release an app such as cubase pro 12, if they weren't 100% sure the new copy protection would resist at least 2 or 3 years..

They would never release cubase 12 without a dongle, with the new copy protection and licensing system, without asking top hackers, or even top devs, to try to hack their app.
If they weren't 100% sure, they would have gone like 'ok, guys, we're not 100% sure our copy protection is perfect, so, we will first release a small product, like padshop or retrologue, with the new copy protection, that way, we will limit our losses, if some hackers manage to crack it"

They also know how V.R and other teams do work... which methods they use to crack all kinds of shit..
There are at least 100 top devs, at steinberg, who had to direct or indirectly work on the new copy protection...

Again, I find these cubase cracks too easy... too fast...
Also, if I remember well, steinberg said they would only offer offline activation at the end of the year...
Question: if your new copy protection/ license management/ etc are flawless, and can't be cracked (like the dongle elicenser), why waiting 1 year for the offline registration....

And BTW, are the V.R, and the more recent team RET releases working 100% fine ?

It still amazes me, how they were able to release a cubase 12 pro, so so quickly!

Cool

 

As far as i know....

Protection is quite easy if the cracking team is experienced, otherwise no.
Why?
Because it uses external Authorization Manager, like FXpansion have.
But FXpansion is buggy even for legit users, so Team R2R gave up on them and there is a lot of products to cover, so they could not to manage to keygen everything with bad Auth system...

Why I have mentioned FXpansion?

Well it is similar protection, if not easier, because what Activation Manager does, it stores physical licenses file in the Activation Manager folder, so once you bypass that check, all apps are cracked, but....
Yes, I believe that Steinberg have done this on purpose, but they will not change or implement a lot protection in the future, business wise, it is a smart move, because they were already 99% cracked form Team VR, and now they will reach more users using cracked software, which will then eventually end up buying it...
Remember AVICII Studio Session and Sylenth1 cracked by Team AiR or IDONTKNOWHO, and can not remember who was using cracked FLStudio in the Studio Session, maybe was Martin Garrix I don't remember...
But that was quite a good marketing for both companies, because everyone wanted FLStudio or Sylenth1 to make a new summer hit!
So now more people have Cubase at their disposal and can use it free and make eventually money and buy it, solo or can be shared with 3 friend, which is funny price in that context...
All is marketing, in this moment good for us, but now we have more possibilities to move one from Studio One to Cubase, because most of nowdays Studio One users were Cubase users, but there was not cracked stable Cubase for 12yrs. now, and that way Presonus growth his members and family and not to mention that Studio One commands are very similar to Cubase so diference is in the GUI and some things, but DAW is a DAW if you know how to use it and how to play music.... Good move....
Dongle was to restrictive, I have one Cubase 10.5 in main studio I share with my friends, but when someone needs to use it at home at same time for some work, that is not possible...Now it is.
So another few thousands of dollars is not solution to spent , not for third world country..


And yes, Steinberg is testing cracking teams creativity, but for the big change they will wait for Team R2R or Team AiR to make a proper keygen, and then they can say that they are defeated...
Maybe Team VR make licenses generator, but both sides are waiting for offline activation to come, then it will be a real interesting game...

But point is still the same, they need new customers, so they don't lose much with those cracks, otherwise no one would use Cubase because of Studio One or Reaper...

 

Last edited: Mar 7, 2022

That's all about correct. It is why I mentioned in another thread, that I do not care to test it out on Mac because I have no intention on buying it for Mac. And I think that is what some people will end up having to do, so they do not lose work done in it.

But one person breaking a retail soft like Cubase being "easy",in a day? Tall order.

 

Last edited: Mar 7, 2022

gfhgfhfhg

 

Last edited: Aug 12, 2022

Scanning Steinberg's new licence notes, this in particular caught my eye:

"Later in 2022, we will also be introducing dedicated support for institutional and enterprise licensing, making it easier for schools, colleges, universities, and businesses to deploy, manage and use Steinberg software."

Imho Steinberg finally realised that nowadays there's far more reliable income to be made by targeting the educational & institutional sectors - bulk licence purchases for college classrooms, as well as securing that crucial initial cubase purchase from students compelled to buy personal educational licences to do the course - rather than trying to squeeze yet more cash out of scurvy home producers & musicians - especially now that the quality DAW market is so over-saturated.

 

Last edited: Mar 7, 2022

i think this was done in order to gain more users in the long run i mean i have a vr release of cubase 12 pro and someday when i can afford it i will definitely buy the real deal

 

What makes more sense is - each copy has a VIN that can be traced from the cracked version back to the place of purchase and the purchaser. go after them to teach a lesson to the hacking and warez community. Yamaha is a greedy conglomerate, not do gooders with a heart sacrificing profits for the musicians.
IMO

 

they do not go from hiding behind a hardware dongle to tracking down software suppliers of the warez scene forefront like they are the Mossad. lol. Some 80 yr old lady from Florida is probably going to be like "Cubase? Never heard of it. " when they finally get around to that sort of thing anyway.

 

Last edited: Mar 7, 2022

If Rome could be built in a day then why couldn't Cubase be cracked so well and as quickly?

 

..... because Rome wasn't built in a day

 

An interesting point but ultimately it doesn't matter:
If it's indeed time bombed, we will know soon enough and will get back to the DAW we were using before and that's it.
It's not like we have any influence on what Steinberg will / might / plan to do, life is too short to bother with that.

 

VR are working on eLicenser injection method since 2019 at least (for Element 10), no doubt that they are *very* experienced to give us a fast "crack" for Cubase 12.
It's not a brand new crack method.

 

where have you got those numbers? just estimate the costs, for steinberg... round about 1 millions "top developer" hours, how much units do you think steinberg is selling, to recoup the copy protection alone?

 

They started about 18 months ago.

 

Last edited: Nov 16, 2023

Has been cured, latest version actually.

But its not unpacked. Like N3, the cracker repacked the cracked version, in case of Sylenth1 it is VMProtect3. Not many people know how to unpack and devirtualize VMProtect3 and there is obviously little public knowledge lying around in some obscure forums about it, so dev can't find out what was cured either. FL uses the same.

 

Right, but that is the point. They know all this too. So some people do not really believe they were stupid enough to just throw this out there and say "oh well, have at it".

 

I think they just decided that the hardware protection was not working for them, but against sales in this age. They might have lost a lot of apple sales, with no usb ports. And for laptops in general, which are now powerful enough for full production and not to many usb ports, with people who can't or will not buy into dongeled software. The dongle was complained about by current and future owners.
They might not be that interested in cracked or not any more anyway. People who buy their stuff, will buy and people who use cracked for whatever reason have plenty of good choices. In a distant past it was Protools vs Steinbergs cubase and nuendo, in the end you bought into one of the two. Not any more, so the dongle and any copy protection instead of forcing to buy, drove to the competition, with easier protection, cheaper and also very capable. BTW I have been a legit cubase user for forever (Atari)

 

All companies do it...
When sony releases a ps4 by nov 2013, and start working on the ps5, they already have a small team working on the future ps6, that will eventually release by 2026. Only 3 or 4 guys..but enough to start prototyping, analyzing the market, talking to some devs, checking the roadmaps from big component/ parts suppliers, like memory, gpu, etc.
That team will slowly evolve over time, to 20 guys...50..200..1000..

Steinberg have had more than enough time to think about the new copy protection.
They started talking about it, almost 2 years ago... so I assume, 4 or 5 years ago, they already had a small team, with a couple of devs, charged with checking for a new and better solution...

 

Tested both releases without any 3rd party plugins. BOTH are unstable, and crash here and there (Win10).
I don't ownlegit CUbase12, but i seriously doubt the original behaves in the same unstable manner.