Needed: Advice on farming out my CAD/CAM

[dstryr]

Offender had to buy the number of seats they were caught using as extra.

Threat of a big law suit

 

[implmex]

Yep...me too.
Mastercam loaded onto a Defiance mill I bought from a machinery dealer who was also a local Mastercam reseller and didn't bother to look what was on the PC that controls the machine before he sold it to me.
Even still had a dongle hanging from the parallel port so it was a street legal copy; just not registered to me.
Used it for years until a buddy inadvertently spilled the beans at a Mastercam training seminar.

Much hopping about and threats of dire consequences.
I eventually bought a seat at a discount just to shut them up.

Cheers

Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
www.vancouverwireedm.com

 

[goooose]

Offender had to buy the number of seats they were caught using as extra.

Threat of a big law suit

Assuming the only way this stuff comes to light is with disgruntled ex employees?

^^posted before the above comment. I guess sometimes it is by accident.

 

[goooose]

Offender had to buy the number of seats they were caught using as extra.

Threat of a big law suit

So he was able to steal the software until he was caught and the penalty was he had to buy it. That should deter future pirates lol


sorry for the hijack OP.

 

[Dan B]

BSA.org

These guys will come after you. It happened to us when ownership of the company changed hands. The previous owner wasn't real strict on software compliance. And we weren't big enough to have a dedicated IT department to keep track of this. They came in and did an audit and found software installed that shouldn't have been. Mostly on "hand me down" computers that moved from engineering to other less demanding applications. We argued (and documented proof) that the users didn't use the software, didn't know how to use the software, and had no need for the software. Didn't matter. Huge fine or threats to go to court. We paid the fine, and it woke us up to the fact that we needed a real IT department. We now have 5 full-time university educated IT guys. That won't happen again.

Dan

 

[THCustoms]

Assuming the only way this stuff comes to light is with disgruntled ex employees?

When you think about it... great basis to blackmail your employer

 

[SeaMoss]

BSA.org

These guys will come after you. It happened to us when ownership of the company changed hands.

Did they have a warrant ? Describing exactly the places to be searched and the items to be searched for ?

Otherwise, shoot the bastards.

 

[Shawnrs]

Yeah, odderwise Guido and da boys may have ta stop by and see how youse knees is holdin' up ... got a nice liddul biznuss heah, ya wouldn't want nuttin' ta happen to it, eh ?

Seriously, I didn't mean to run the company on it for five years. Stick it on a laptop that's not connected to the internet and try a few out. I can never tell doodly from the sales literature. According to the brochures they are all God's Gift to Mankind, but some people like one program, other people like another. Personal taste.

But I agree, back there in the Home of the Brave and Land of the Free you really do have to worry about who is looking over your shoulder ... not a good idea for everyone, for sure.

Even if you get a pirated version of a software package most people would not have any clue on how to use the software. Personally I would call up a few resellers of Cad/Cam and request a demos and find out which looks the best. Invest money into learning a software package and make it work for you.

 

[Shawnrs]

It's not like any CAD or CAM software company is out there busting downloaders. Have you ever heard of a shop getting pinched for this? And I don't mean you heard from a friend of your uncles old boss's mother in law...does anyone have first hand knowledge of a company who's been caught with an illegal install of, say...Mastercam or SolidWorks?

If I know you are doing something illegal and I get fired or leave on bad terms there is a possibility I turn you it. I have seen this at former places with people calling OSHA on the company. I am sure companies have been fined yet I doubt it is a big bust that will make national news.

 

[rlockwood]

Suggest giving Fusion a shot, as suggested. It's basically free, and has a giant community of people you can outsource programming to, but still retain the ability to tweak on the fly. It's more capable than most here will give credit to, in the right users hands.

Then, if your parts demand more capability (as is likely to happen) determine if outsourcing the difficult stuff makes more sense than purchasing additional capability through another software.

 

[Atomkinder]

Suggest giving Fusion a shot, as suggested. It's basically free, and has a giant community of people you can outsource programming to, but still retain the ability to tweak on the fly. It's more capable than most here will give credit to, in the right users hands.

Then, if your parts demand more capability (as is likely to happen) determine if outsourcing the difficult stuff makes more sense than purchasing additional capability through another software.

Plus others can be invited to projects, program them, then the workflow and methodology can be studied to learn more, as well as direct collaboration. It really is a cool feature (well, the whole point of its cloud-based nature really) and troubleshooting with multiple sets of eyes is very easy to manage.

 

[avongil]

Don't pirate CAM these days. You will be busted.

In my opinion I would get a used machine and budget 20K for software and training if 4+1 is what you are after. If its just 3+1 then budget 10K for 5K of software and 5K of training.

 

[gkoenig]

I like that there are still people who think there should be any difference between being a "machinist" and being a "programmer." It must be cool living in 1995 still.

 

[plastikdreams]

i work with a guy like that...still does all hand drawings with the stencils...i call it plasticad, guess who gets to program the wires and complex parts when he needs them lol