Hi Sam,

Thanks for your comment! I have to say I would prefer it if MS used some form of USB dongle to validate their software. I can empathise with people who loose money due to piracy, but the way I see it is that the only way to truly beat piracy is when ordinary people come on side with the MPAA, RIAA, MicroSoft and indeed all artists and software developers and come to feel the same way about piracy as they do about car theft or band robbery. However, by treating paying customers as criminals the opposite is happening. People are coming to loath the MPAA, RIAA, MicroSoft etc.. They are being seen as the bad guys, and not the pirates. In deed, often the pirates are being seen as heroes fighting for the ordinary person against the worst evils of corporate America. And each and every time a paying customer is inconvenienced or hindered because they were good enough to actually buy the movie, song, or software the balance slips even further in favour of the pirates.

It takes courage to trust the ordinary man in the street. It's much easier just to treat them all like crooks and hence feel protected, but I don't think that's the way to go. Mind you, I don't have a magic bullet that will make everything better and of all the copy protection methods I've yet come across I like your dongle the best. Simple, un-obtrusive and not a hindrance to your paying customers.

Thanks for reading and for taking the time to write such a well thought out comment.

Bart.