PSP4 claims my copy is PIRATED and will be DEACTIVATED!

[brucet]

I've been following this thread with much interest. As someone who has use PSP from way back. (PSP7 and the first Draw). I'm a past System Analyst and programer so I have a basic understanding of how things work. I'm also a retired business owner. From what I can see here we have a situation that has two parties that will have to agree to disagree.
But my main comment here is addressed to Corel. No amount of product, regardless of its quality, features or dollar value will succeed without good PR. Corel would be wise to shift a few dollars away from new features or future products and work on the now growing public dissatisfaction. Forums such as this may only touch a very small minority of users. But users of forums such as this are unpaid PR for Corel. The word spread from these forums will and does affect Corels bottom line to some extent.
I for one have now started to migrate away from Corel products for fear of losing business due to a PSP/Corel problem. Firms such as Topaz now offer fine products. But most importantly Topaz has a GREAT PR attitude. They have folks who actually respond on forums and answer questions. They don't hide from issues. Cost? I have no idea what it's cost Topaz but I do know that firms such as Topaz are costing Corel business. The sooner Corel figures out what real PR means then the better off they, and us, will be.
Will things change at Corel? I have my doubts as arrogance is a flaw that is see by all but those who have it!!

regards

[Rick Champagne]

Hi Larry,

I'm sorry to hear this news, but I understand your decision. We are truly sorry for the anti-piracy glitch and the poor customer experience you've been through, and I would be happy to help get you a full refund. I will also forward your feedback to the support team.

For anyone else who experienced this issue, the PaintShop Pro and Support teams believe we have reached out to every single individual that experienced the glitch at this point and new serial numbers or refunds were generated. If there is anyone still out there who has not been in touch with a Corel representative, please send me a message and I will assist with your case.

Thank you,

Rick

[Rick Champagne]

Hi Bruce,

Thank you for your comments regarding PR. Your point is very well taken and I'd love to learn more about your experiences with Corel and other companies you feel are setting a benchmark. If you would be interested in talking over the phone, please feel free to send me an email. This kind of feedback is very important to us...

Kind Regards,

Rick

[Rick Champagne]

Hi Everyone,

One final note from me on this thread...

I realize that this is a "User To User" web board, but I still feel it necessary to thank Dan (df), Ken Berry, BrianCee, hartpaul, LeviFiction, and Simone (Corel UK) for offering up suggestions or directing people to the facebook page where Corel employees were actively dealing with this piracy protection glitch. It's very much appreciated...

Kind Regards,

Rick

[JStanley]

Regarding Corel software in accordance with this issue:

I have noticed that my Video Studio Pro X3 (13) won't work anymore after installing PaintShop Pro X5 (15), most likely because VSProX3 uses Protexis V1 and PSPX5 uses Protexis V2 and had overwritten and supplanted the stupid DRM protection.

I have upgraded to VSPro X5 since then (which does work with Protexis V2), but that does not explain why the older software won't work or start anymore in the name of copyright protection.

My AfterShot Pro, which works without DRM, seems unaffected by this (probably because it originated fom Bibble), but we'll see. Just wait until legal gets its claws on this one...

There may be a serious issue with using licensed Protexis DRM software when it is really not backward compatible properly with previous DRM software of the same breed to allow previous version software to install and/or run properly.

This is the linchpin in future software. It's not like the conversion from x86 to x64 is the same as 16-bit to 32-bit. You're inadvertently calling us software pirates and causing ridiculous runtime errors.

I actually like most Corel software; price-wise it is a Godsend. I often use Corel software, including CorelDRAW, WordPerfect, Paintshop Pro, WinDVD, AfterShot Pro, and others(first-tier, third-tier, and otherwise). I actually have all of this Corel software on my main computer... However, this DRM really should stop. It doesn't add to the user experience except to provide more frustration. It seems to be just for the profit stream and not for the end-user experience.

I don't want to buy a toaster that only works with authorized bread sometimes. I want a toaster that works with all appropriate bread. DUH.

I haven't experienced the problems listed in this thread yet, but c'mon. There is no reason why these problems should even exist.

[df]

I have both Protexis and Protexis2 services running on my computer. PSP 9 and I believe X are Protexis while PSP X3, X4 and X5 are version 2. All programs run on my computer. You should be able to run both services as they are independent. You should be able to run VS X3 with PSP X5 on the same computer as they are independent. I know I'm not offering any solutions but you shouldn't have one knocked out by the use of the other.

[LarrySH]

Dear Simone and Rick,

Your reassurances are, apparently, incorrect. Both of you state (as I quoted below) that only PSP is impacted by your stupid software deactivation code/ Once again, tonight, more than 2 weeks after my original complaint, yet another user, Donna, finds her CorelDraw software creating the very same issue for her. She states that her software was, like mine, purchased directly from the Corel website.

Your assurances and hollow promises and words of thanks mean nothing to those who continue to rely on your software to get their work done, like Donna and the others who have complained here.

You Corel folks should be ashamed of yourselves.

Kind Regards,
Larry

___________________________________________________________Re: PSP4 claims my

Post by Simone Corel UK on Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:57 am

Please note that the Draw message has nothing to do with that what happened with PSP. These are two different message.
I can confirm that the Draw message is working correctly and there is no original purchased Draw version receiving this message.

Thanks
Simone

___________________________________________________________

Post by Rick Champagne on Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:34 am
Hi Larry & AireXaris,

My name is Rick Champagne and I am the Senior Product Manager for Corel PaintShop Pro.

The latest information I have is that up to 20 people have received a notice who should not have. Again, my sincerest apologies for this. The error is unique to a small batch of legitimate PaintShop Pro serial numbers - which has in no way affected other Corel products.

_


__________________________________________________________


Here is Donna's post:


Donna55 replied on Sun, Mar 17 2013 16:50
rated by 0 users

Well the same thing just happened to me and I have A LOT of work to do today and support is closed! I've emailed Gerard directly - I hope he can help me otherwise someone in support is going to get a blast from me tomorrow and I'm sorry it's not their fault but this service is horrible... I have all my information and my copy looks legit... ordered from the Corel site and it wasn't 50-90% off! How can they do this!!


http://coreldraw.com/forums/t/38222.aspx?PageIndex=2

[Joelle]

Thank you most sincerely Ken, Dan, and Brian for your kind assistance.

I am not a Facebook user and really do not wish to establish a Facebook presence to resolve this type of matter. I will, if Corel fails to provide some type of remedy, resort to using not only Facebook but a number of public forums to report on how this matter arose and how it was ultimately settled or not.

I want to ask a question regarding the "Online Support" which I found mentioned on the Corel support page. They operate only Monday to Friday but it appears they may have some type of human contact possible. Anybody know if this is true and if so can I make use of this, and if so, is there also a fee involved?

Incidentally, I have now gotten my final "Deactivation Notice" from Corel. I will copy it below.

Thanks again for the help,

Larry

Deactivation notice.JPG

Maybe your computer has been compromised and this has nothing to do with Corel?
There are so many scams doing the rounds, that this could be another one.
Just a thought.

Joëlle

[LarrySH]

Joelle,

This problem is acknowledged by Corel as being of their creation, and they are even willing to state that 20 users have been affected.

I encourage you to read this entire thread, and also a second thread on this forum from another victim of Corel software malfunctioning creating deactivation, at:

http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=49932

Also see similar posts on another Corel user forum for the CorelDraw software, which (supposedly according to 2 Corel employees) is not affected by this bug, despite users complaining otherwise including those who purchased directly from the Corel web site, as I and others did.

http://coreldraw.com/forums/t/38222.aspx?PageIndex=1

This has EVERYTHING to do with Corel, and my computer has not been compromised !!

Larry

[Joelle]

Joelle,

This problem is acknowledged by Corel as being of their creation, and they are even willing to state that 20 users have been affected.

I encourage you to read this entire thread, and also a second thread on this forum from another victim of Corel software malfunctioning creating deactivation, at:

http://forum.corel.com/EN/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=49932

Also see similar posts on another Corel user forum for the CorelDraw software, which (supposedly according to 2 Corel employees) is not affected by this bug, despite users complaining otherwise including those who purchased directly from the Corel web site, as I and others did.

http://coreldraw.com/forums/t/38222.aspx?PageIndex=1

This has EVERYTHING to do with Corel, and my computer has not been compromised !!

Larry

Ooo, ouch, don't bite.
I was only offering an opinion.
Over and out.

Joëlle

[LarrySH]

Sorry to be so blunt Joelle.

There has been a steady pattern of blaming the victim in this and other similar deactivation threads. It is bad enough that a problem of this type suddenly shows up and causes the deactivation process, but Corel support is so crummy and their claims and promises are so filled with B.S. that the last thing any of us who have dealt with this issue want to hear is that the problem is really not of Corel's making.

Reading the entire thread as well as the other threads makes the evidence very obvious, and I just want to avoid the tendency of a perhaps casual reader to dismiss this problem as being a compromised computer, user error, or, as Corel likes to claim, software purchased from the wrong place. It is none of the above.

Sorry if I over-reacted. The complaints continue to come in, and Corel smugly continues to deny that other products are affected, and has the outright gall to tell the affected customers that this protection software which is now malfunctioning is there for the benefit of the user.

I just wanted to be sure you have read and understood the total situation from all of us who have been forced to come here seeking help. Frankly, your first reply strongly suggested to me that you had not seen the comments and replies of the two threads on this forum nor the CorelDraw forum thread describing the same complaint from other users.

Larry

[Rick Champagne]

Hi Larry,

Thank you for the heads up regarding Donna. Someone from the CorelDRAW team will be in touch with her to look into what happened in this particular case. As I posted earlier in this thread, there was an error with PaintShop Pro that affected up to 20 people before the piracy protection program was put on pause (again, our sincerest apologies to the people who were affected!) This error was very specific to a handful of PaintShop Pro serial numbers, so I suspect something else is going on here. We won't know until we speak to Donna though. Thanks again for flagging this...

Rick

[bohintze]

I've been dealing with Corel Support since February on this same issue; popup message claiming that I have an illegal copy of PSP x7 that was registered with Corel and worked for many years. I've emailed copies of the original sales information from Amazon, as well as the Product Code and all other infor that they have requested. Numerous suggestions have not been successful in resolving my problem. I have not received any replies to my email asking that a support supervisor intervene. Since May 1, I have not received any follow up email response. I opened another ticket by going back to the Support link and reposting the last response that I received and a request for someone else in Corel Support to help with my issue.

Anyone have a suggestion on how to contact Rick Champagne or s suggestion to get my request for support elixated to s supervisor?

Thanks in advance