Black screen has me concerned about licensing...

[jbl77 3]

So I am currently month to month deciding if I want to pull the trigger in finally moving from WMC...and my wife has already told me to buy the lifetime (she like Emby as much as I do).  But now I am concerned....I know everything in my setup is right.  I know I didn't install any updates and I know none were installed.  One by one each of my computers with ET on them went down....the latest is my Surface Pro. 

 

Even the installer won't work now!

 

So my concern is that with me doing absolutely nothing, it seems my operation hinges 100% on the ability of something to check in somewhere on the internet?  I am loving the product but I (and likely a great number of Emby users) have already been bit in the ass in the last 12 months with a supposed lifetime subscription in regards to my media setup and with this, I do not want to lose my 10 foot interface because something somewhere somehow screws me out of it at any given time (or potentially forever).

 

Is the mere operation of Emby dependent of checking in to remote services?  I don't mind checking for updates....but the fact you could pull the plug on me (us) at anytime after paying for a lifetime "subscription" (a la Slysoft) or leave me inoperable at any time because you are having problems leaves me a little leery about going all-in.

 

 

[Luke 37219]

Hi there, apologies for the issue. It was not licensing related, just an update that had a defect. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

[jbl77 3]

Thanks Luke...but I guess my question is if you guys close the doors (which I don't know your business model so not sure if there are "doors" to close ) or if servers go down etc. will ET continue to function?  I just  don't want to be left scrambling or dangling in the wind.  Thanks again.  Your solution worked great.

Edited December 7, 2016 by jbl77

[Theduke 2]

Ok it works fine now, i had to come back to Plex for a day damned. Thanks for your action Luke.

[ebr 14955]

Is the mere operation of Emby dependent of checking in to remote services?  I don't mind checking for updates....but the fact you could pull the plug on me (us) at anytime after paying for a lifetime "subscription" (a la Slysoft) or leave me inoperable at any time because you are having problems leaves me a little leery about going all-in.

 

As you know now, this issue was completely unrelated to any licensing, but, to address your question:

 

Slysoft is really a very different case as they shut down because they had a legal issue (meaning the software itself was considered illegal).  That was a government forced shutdown.  Emby does not risk that scenario, and there would have been nothing that Slysoft could have done to ensure that you wouldn't have had the issue you experienced other than not offer the software in the first place.

 

Part of what we provide is a service and does require us to provide some external components.  There are a  lot of users that utilize Emby without Internet connection (and therefore without any connection access to us), however there are some services that don't function without it. 

 

However, it is our intention and we are working very hard to provide the absolute best possible value for your media dollars and to continue to provide this product for a very long time to come.  I think many of our customers and long time premier subscribers would agree that we have always put the customer first here.  The product has grown a huge amount in the past couple years and we have even bigger plans ahead.

[jbl77 3]

Thanks ebr.  I understand the differences between you guys and Slysoft from a legality standpoint and this was unrelated to licensing. I don't wanna get wrapped up in that or you guys thinking that is what I am hung up on.  Perhaps this is why I am an analyst for a living (and something my wife accuses me of doing too much of....over-analyzing ). 

 

My concern is: something obviously reached out somewhere and knocked us all out....so is there a reliance on external services you guys provide that if for whatever reason they are unavailable for whatever duration of time we as users are left with (for the lack of a better example) another black screen?  Like I said, I'm paying month to month (needed WAF) and now that my wife is onboard and told me to go lifetime...this got me thinking.  I know you guys aren't planning on going anywhere...but life happens and am just looking for that re-assurance that even if you guys pulled the plug we can carry on.

 

That said, you better not go anywhere!  You got the best interface out there!

 

Thanks again and loving ET. 

Edited December 7, 2016 by jbl77

[Jdiesel 1114]

There is risk with purchasing anything whether it be a physical object like a phone, a service like having your home painted, or a license to use software like Emby. Only you can decide if it is worth committing to paying for 20 months of Emby Premiere up front with the potential of savings for every month after that. My advice to anyone on the fence would be to pay for a month or two to see if you like/need Emby Premiere then upgrade to the lifetime membership right away. I understand that everyone's financial situation is different and $100 for a license can be a lot or insignificant. I would not be concerned with MediaBrowser/Emby going away anytime soon as it is an established business offering a legitimate product. Not to mention Emby provided supporters from way back in MediaBrowser days with lifetime Premiere memberships when they changed the pay structure.

[ebr 14955]

Nothing "reached out" and knocked you all out.  It was simply a bug in an update to the app. 

[jbl77 3]

There is risk with purchasing anything whether it be a physical object like a phone, a service like having your home painted, or a license to use software like Emby. Only you can decide if it is worth committing to paying for 20 months of Emby Premiere up front with the potential of savings for every month after that. My advice to anyone on the fence would be to pay for a month or two to see if you like/need Emby Premiere then upgrade to the lifetime membership right away. I understand that everyone's financial situation is different and $100 for a license can be a lot or insignificant. I would not be concerned with MediaBrowser/Emby going away anytime soon as it is an established business offering a legitimate product. Not to mention Emby provided supporters from way back in MediaBrowser days with lifetime Premiere memberships when they changed the pay structure.

 

I get that.  But I also have a license (actually 4) to TMT which when Arcsoft discontinued the app without warning or explanation I maintained the right to use the app. It isn't about me investing any period of months.   It is about will the product be around for me (in whatever final iteration there is) even when the company won't be.  It isn't the financial aspect of the investment that is the reason for this inquiry.

 

 

 

Nothing "reached out" and knocked you all out.  It was simply a bug in an update to the app. 

 

 

My concern is: something obviously reached out somewhere and knocked us all out....so is there a reliance on external services you guys provide that if for whatever reason they are unavailable for whatever duration of time we as users are left with (for the lack of a better example) another black screen?  Like I said, I'm paying month to month (needed WAF) and now that my wife is onboard and told me to go lifetime...this got me thinking.  I know you guys aren't planning on going anywhere...but life happens and am just looking for that re-assurance that even if you guys pulled the plug we can carry on.

Edited December 7, 2016 by jbl77