aquasuite licensing system
Ensuring long-term software development even for older devices

The development costs for the aquasuite are becoming ever greater by the growing possibilities of the software. In addition, we have an ever-growing circle of old customers with partly very old equipment. If a customer with very old hardware installs a new aquasuite after a longtime, the Aqua Computer support will be more often contacted due the high number of new features. This also generates costs for us, which we can not simply ignore. Many of our products cost just 29.95 € and it should be clear to everyone that you can not afford the free software support for the
existing profit margin for many years.

For us there was therefore the consideration in the future either to offer no software support for older devices or to find a compromise.
Wehave opted for a customer-friendly system: from now on, customers receive a license for the current year's version and for the following year, when purchasing a new device. For products purchased today, this means a license for the aquasuites 2017 and 2018.

The software can then be used indefinitely in time. In addition, (as far as possible) serious errors and problems in old versions are also fixed in the future! However, there is no support for these versions.

The most important points regarding the licensing system:

• Licenses are in most cases acquired through the purchase of Aqua Computer equipment at no extra costs
  
• New devices receive a license for the current version and the subsequent year version
  
• Purchase of licenses is possible from the aquasuite (payment by PayPal or prepayment)
• The licenses are binded to devices (this also applies to purchased licenses)
• A device with license is sufficient to use all devices with the aquasuite
• Internet connection is only necessary when the software is activated
• No exchange of personal data via the Internet
• If, however, the purchase of a license is necessary, this costs 9.90 € for one year or 14.90 € for two years
  

The licensing system in detail
Each new device is licensed to use the aqusuite with all existing devices of the customer. Whoever purchases a product every two years, for example, has no restriction.
For example it is possible to buy a farbwerkor a poweradjust at 29.90 € to get another support for two more software versions. All updates of the respective year version are included.In addition, all aquaero XT and aquaduct XT series devices are supported for three years.

This results in the following situation:

For all existing customers (excepted aquaero XT and aquaduct XT) this means that all versions of the aquasuite 2016 can still be used at no costs. A change to version 2017 requires a current device or a purchased license key. The purchase will be done directly from the aquasuite 2017 (currently 9.90 € incl. 19% VAT). In addition, a favorable license is offered for two years (€ 14.90).

For all existing customers with aquaero 5/6 XT or aquaduct XT (no matter how old), we grant a free license for the aquasuite 2017. The devices automatically activate the software without an additional license key.

Same for all other aquaero and aquaduct customers with a total running time of less than 2160 hours (90 days continuous operation). All owners of aquastream ULTIMATE also receive a free license for the aquasuite 2017.

Customerswho purchase an AquaComputer product from today will receive a license key with the product or a product that already contains an electronic license key. These devices will bring a license for the 2017 and 2018 annual versions. If the products are an aquaero XT or an aquaduct XT, the license is extended until 2019.

This is illustrated in the following diagram:


On the technically side the system works by activating the software installation via our license server. Currently delivered devices bring a license key on the packaging. This key is entered after installing the aquasuite and assigned to a connected USB device. Subsequently, our license server activates the installation on this computer and sends the client a license file.



If the device with the binded license is disconnected, the aquasuite continues to work with all the devices available at the time of installation. If, however, a device is added or if the aquasuite has to be re-installed (or an update is installed) then either the device with the license has to be plugged in or another device with a valid license. At this time, the license is reapplied by the license server. As long as the system runs without changes to the configuration, it does not need any contact with the license server.

No personal data will be exchanged during the activation and creation of the license. Only the serial numbers of the existing Aqua computer devices, a calculated number for the identification of the computer and the license key are transmitted.
In the coming months, we will expand our devices with an integrated electronic license key. These devices are recognizable in the transition time to the following sticker:



With these devices, no key is needed, as the devices bring the license already in the device memory. Important for the start date of the upgrade-license is the time of the first activation (not purchase or production).It is clear to us that this leads to costs to get the newest software for some customers. We see however no alternative because we do not like to stop support for older products.

Therefore, we think that most of our customers appreciate an up-to-date software for their devices.


A link to a PDF with some samples.