FMS 2 Licensing Changes

Steven,

First, I would like to thank you and MM for stepping up and listening to
the development community and making a change in your licensing (albeit
a small concession). The fact that you've done *something* and admitted
to the shortcomings made in market research is a good thing in my eyes.
VERY few companies would step up to the plate like that.

However, the scary part of this is how badly MM missed the mark on what
people do with their product. It would seem to me then, that not only
the licensing, but the features and whole roadmap of the product may be
out of whack with what people want to use FCS/FMS for.  If you don't
know what people are currently doing with your product, how do you know
what features to add to it? Let me give you some marketing advice... The
first day of my marketing class - the professor took a textbook from a
student, took out a power drill and drilled a hole all the way through
it. Peering through the hole to us he professed, "People don't want 1/2"
power drills, they want 1/2" holes. Marketing can be defined as finding
out what people want and convincing people your product fills their
need."  Simply, MM is working in reverse by creating a product you think
people want and trying to shoehorn it into areas it won't work with this
new licensing strategy.

Here's where you let me down. I'm running FCS 1.5 and need connections
AND bw. If I were to have a need in three weeks for an unlimited
connection/bw license, I'm screwed. Two weeks before the official
release of FMS 2.0, the resellers stop selling the 90 day unlimited
license. MM announces FMS yesterday and declares no more licenses for
FCS 1.5 will be sold and they have informed all resellers they are
prohibited from selling FCS 1.5 licenses.  I now have no way to purchase
unlimited licenses for FCS 1.5 and there are no unlimited connection/bw
licenses available for FMS 2.0 (and even if there was, I'd have no
intention of upgrading without getting new hardware, building new
servers, and spending lots of time testing FMS 2.0 with all my current
applications).  Basically I have no options. This is outrageous.

I know you want to force everyone to FMS 2.0, but you've left no
migration period!!!! My suggestion - allow the continued purchase of FCS
1.5 Pro and Unlimited Licenses at least through some specified time
period without cutting us off cold turkey. Also, offer an unlimited
connection/unlimited BW license for FMS 2.0. I have no intention of
upgrading with an "interim" license until I see everything else set in
stone (although I do admit the offer is certainly an olive branch for
those who are able to see how things play out, kudos again). Offering an
extra 50 connections on top of 100 for a "professional" license is like
offering someone who has been wandering the desert for a week, two drops
of water instead of one out of your canteen.

I can't encode live streaming video using the new codec?  Where's the
SDK that is supposed to let me send any stream (read Windows Media
Server) to the Flash server? Where's the ability to save a JPG out of a
stream?

If you want to kick MS and Real in the gut, you need legions of
developers like myself and those here on the list willing to develop all
kinds of creative apps with your technology. A few larger customers vs.
many smaller customers is a short term gain doomed for long term
failure. Give us the tools and support at a reasonable price and we
won't need to look at other alternatives. I've never heard of Red5 until
this but it sure is getting a lot of attention. Why did ffmpeg get so
much play (just to save a simple jpg out of a stream - is that REALLY
too much to ask)? This new licensing policy is going to cost you more
customers than you will gain by the technology it brings.

Please address - unlimited connection/bw license availability for FCS
1.5 and FMS 2.0.

A dissatisfied customer hoping my time learning, developing with and
championing your technology was not a waste of time and money, but
hopeful by your personal and prompt attention to our concerns.

GatorEye

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