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Janette:
<<<<<<<<<<
Some of you recently have expressed concern over the security features in
TradeStation 5.0. We welcome your feedback and will take your concerns
into
consideration. >>>>>>>>>
Thank you for the opportunity to give you feedback on your anti-piracy
approach.
To start, I position trade futures and options and I day trade the S&P and
currencies using TradeStation 4.0.
I have been developing computer software products for the past 18 years.
I currently have 18 products in the marketplace. My products range in
price from $300 to over $5,000. The only protection that I have used is an
expiration date. I have only one known case of illegal copying of one of
my products. Even that was settled with a phone call.
The dongle, as you probably know, is an irritation. It can fail, and it
can cause problems with other parallel devices connected to it.
I don't understand why you protect the data server. If I am traveling and
I do travel at least 2 weeks a month, I have to use the dongle with my
laptop. Therefore may desktop computer at home is no longer able to gather
quotes. When I return home, I have to spend hours downloading and pasting
data. Why not just have the charting program test for the dongle? That
is the valuable portion of TS.
As for a solution using the hardware, I have had a similar product in the
past. It used a floppy and allowed for 2 installed copies. It was still a
problem as I upgraded from one computer to another or I had a hard disk
crash. I can assure you, that if I have any other options available at
all, I will not buy another product that keys to the hardware. I am
constantly switching between my laptop and my desktop and I will not settle
for having to call every week or every other week to get a password so that
I can switch machines. Further, I have redundant laptops and desktops in
case of a failure. Having to go through a long process to get a password
would totally defeat the purpose of having redundant hardware to minimize
downtime.
I would urge you to strongly consider the expiring type password. Calling
in once a year to get a new password is a hassle, but far less hassle than
the other options. You may loose a few copies each year to piracy, but if
the program is good and a user is truely using it, then he will call and
buy the product when it quits working.
Thank you.
Paul Weston, CDP, CTA
President
Helios Consulting, Inc
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