The word is “no”. I am therefore going anyway.

Okay, this is f’ing ridiculous. Avid Tech Support told me the following, in no uncertain terms:

1. That’s a really old system. Wouldn’t you like to step up to a new one for a mere 20 grand?
2. The dongle is the security system that protects the company’s investment in the software that governs the technology. If you don’t have a dongle, you don’t have an Avid.
3. To transfer ownership, you have to fill out paperwork before we’ll acknowledge you.
4. We can’t unlock the system by remote even if you have that paperwork. You’ll need a new dongle.
5. That system is so old, we’ll have to custom-machine and program a new dongle. This will cost you $10,000.
6. Wouldn’t you rather step up to a new one for a mere 20 grand?

(This portion of the message is behind a ‘duck blind’; only registered users can see it.)
Okay, Avid. Let’s dance the real waltz here. Obviously you’re trying to crush the secondary market under your heels so that there isn’t a single Avid out there changing hands without you raking in at least a few thousand out of the deal. Unfortunately, this creates a backlash. One byproduct of which is that there are still, hypothetically speaking of course, ways for me to get this system up and running and fully functional, ways which wouldn’t put a dime in your pocket. And at this point, having paid for the hardware fair and square, I’m running out of qualms about going down that road. Hypothetically speaking, of course, assuming that Byron, Illinois’ finest don’t run across the stray dongle I’ve asked them to look out for.