Monday, March 11th 2019
Maxon Sends Legal Threats to PC Enthusiast Websites Hosting Portable Cinebench R20 Downloads
Maxon last week week posted its Cinebench R20 CPU benchmark. Breaking convention, the company behind rendering software such as Cinema 4D R20, did not host the installer of Cinebench R20 on its own website. Instead, the software is being exclusively distributed through Microsoft Store (for Windows) and Apple App Store (for the MacOS platform). Several reputable PC enthusiast websites such as Guru3D and us, were bombarded by comments from their readers that they didn't like having to get their Cinebench R20 copy from "walled garden DRM platforms," and instead preferred portable versions of the software. Cinebench R20 is freeware, and so with good intentions, many PC enthusiast websites decided to build portable versions of Cinebench R20 that people can just unzip and run. Maxon did not take kindly to this.
Guru3D received legal threats from Maxon to take down their download hosting of Cinebench R20 portable. Facing these threats, Guru3D took down their download and amended their news articles with links to the Microsoft DRM store. The e-mail we received politely asked us to remove the "unauthorized download" but did include a threat that the company "reserves the next legal steps." We believe this behavior by Maxon is unfair, and will alienate a section of PC enthusiasts form Cinebench. No record-seeking PC enthusiast with an LN2 bench painstakingly set up has time to plug their machine to the Internet, launch the UWP store, evade attempts to get them to log in with a Microsoft account, and fetch Cinebench R20 with versions they have no control over. They'd rather install and run their benchmarks and tools off a flash drive, with control over versions, and the ability to keep their machines offline to stabilize their overclock. Many others simply hate DRM platforms for freeware. TechPowerUp has since taken down Cinebench R20 portable from its Downloads section. You can find it on Microsoft UWP Store.
Guru3D received legal threats from Maxon to take down their download hosting of Cinebench R20 portable. Facing these threats, Guru3D took down their download and amended their news articles with links to the Microsoft DRM store. The e-mail we received politely asked us to remove the "unauthorized download" but did include a threat that the company "reserves the next legal steps." We believe this behavior by Maxon is unfair, and will alienate a section of PC enthusiasts form Cinebench. No record-seeking PC enthusiast with an LN2 bench painstakingly set up has time to plug their machine to the Internet, launch the UWP store, evade attempts to get them to log in with a Microsoft account, and fetch Cinebench R20 with versions they have no control over. They'd rather install and run their benchmarks and tools off a flash drive, with control over versions, and the ability to keep their machines offline to stabilize their overclock. Many others simply hate DRM platforms for freeware. TechPowerUp has since taken down Cinebench R20 portable from its Downloads section. You can find it on Microsoft UWP Store.
149 Comments on Maxon Sends Legal Threats to PC Enthusiast Websites Hosting Portable Cinebench R20 Downloads
Seems like quite a dick move to say the least. It reminds me of when EA scrambled to shut down the company that was keeping BF2 and BF:Heroes alive
Let's face it, the OpenGL benchmark was a joke. Cinebench was only useful for CPU benchmarking, and there are plenty of alternatives out there.
Very odd they locked into MS Store.
Next!
Let's just say, if a company pisses enough people off, they won't have interested parties in its use and then well, they just lost their cause for RND of the product didn't they?
www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/cinebench/9pgzkjc81q7j?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
paste in the link download the .appx
extract with winrar. run binary
fuck you maxon
edit apparently something changed with the appx package the above is no longer working correctly
re·sell
/rēˈsel/
verb
verb: resell; 3rd person present: resells; past tense: resold; past participle: resold; gerund or present participle: reselling; verb: re-sell; 3rd person present: re-sells; past tense: re-sold; past participle: re-sold; gerund or present participle: re-selling
sell (something one has bought) to someone else.
"products can be resold on the black market for huge profits"
- Download the MAXONComputerGmbH.Cinebench_20.0.4.0_x64__rsne5bsk8s7tj.appx as described in post #44 of this thread.(Thanks @OneMoar :))
- Use the .appx to install the app(left click on it and select Install).
- Go to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MAXONComputerGmbH.Cinebench_20.0.4.0_x64__rsne5bsk8s7tj and copy the bin folder.
- Paste the bin folder wherever you want to keep your portable version(needs to be saved somewhere else if you're going to uninstall the app afterwards, which will delete it).
- OPTIONAL: Rename the bin folder to whatever you want and uninstall Cinebench R20 via Settings > Apps > Apps & features.
For some reason you need to install it with the .appx to get a working portable version. It doesn't work as portable if you extract the bin folder from the .appx. You need to get the bin folder after installing it(as I described above). But, temporarily installing it is a reasonable compromise IMO. Until someone figures out what gets changed in the bin folder during install. I couldn't find anything with a quick look see.EDIT: Same basic process applies if you install it from the Microsoft Store.
Can't really be upset with Maxon. They are protecting their Software. If people go against the EULA and then get called on it, that's on them. You could always ask for permission and see what they tell you.
I do like how the majority of the community responds in kind by advocating Software piracy.