Roon Labs LLC - I too would like to hear an answer to Christoph’s question. It seems you should be able to flip a bit in a lifetime subscriber’s server application that disables future checks of a valid license. That functionality needs to be added.
Thanks
This, from Roon’s COO, doesn’t answer the question?
Use search, you will find your answer. Don’t expect RoonLabs to respond on this AGAIN, they’ve been quite clear in the past, as linked by @xxx
Slim’s quote is of Danny answering Christoph’s question. Not sure he is trolling, and as Danny has in the intervening years referenced that post as the answer, imho, it stands as the official response.
Seems pretty direct to me, a final update that would kill all cloud service dependencies and any license check for lifetime holders only. I can keep on using Roon to manage my local library. For monthly subscribers, Roon would just stop working.
Any such switch would do more than just kill license checks, it would also disable all cloud meta-data, etc. I am not sure why Roon would bother with the time/energy of that exercise until it was actually needed, but, that is just my opinion. If you think that they should do so, then a Feature Request about it would be the next step.
If Danny’s response is not what you are looking for than you might need to clarify.
Oh, shoot!
Even with a version with web dependencies eliminated, which I am skeptical Roon would create with its last bit of capital or which its creditors, trustees, or investors would allow be created, this version would not make for a particularly great product. I suspect many lifetime subscribers would bail from that software within just a few weeks.
I also just don’t see this reliably happening. One has to understand what happens when companies fail. It is not always, or even mostly, a neat and tidy “good bye and thanks” type of situation.
Most likely, especially in a scenario where Roon has licensors and other trading partners (i.e. creditors interested in assets) in related industries,. you would be looking at a bankruptcy or other turnaround scenario where assets are maximized for value and sold. While Roon LLC would be in breach of contract for dishonoring lifetime licenses, some future purchaser of the software asset would not be subject to that obligation.
This means that when the company would be going through this process, it’s very possible that the release of such a final version would literally be contrary to law, because it’s not Roon management in control - it’s a trustee, or a receiver, or an assignee for the benefit of creditors, and the release of such a version would dramatically reduce the value of the estate for creditors, which is the primary, and legally enforced, objective at that time.
Thus, this idea that, on the way out the door, Roon could (1) release such a version as described or (2) that such a version would have any long–lasting value to lifetime subs, is a bit if fantasy and fiction without a lot of thought behind it.
The only way this would really work, and this is coming from an IP attorney who has been through bankruptcy workouts, would be if Roon had a legal agreement with lifetime subscribers that was currently in place, with this fictitious non-dependent version in software escrow, with automatic release to each such subscriber upon bankruptcy filing or similar event, and all of this has to be properly papered with references to Section 365(n) of the bankruptcy code, among other things.
Point being, in practical terms a lifetime subscription is the shorter of the lifetime of Roon or the subscriber. Sound of gavel hitting bench.
Good points. I’ve learnt:
So, enjoy the music, worry less, and if something untoward happens, remember there’s always UPnP to pick up the pieces. In the mean time, make sure your files are properly tagged, so if Roon does retreat to a tax free desert island somewhere, you’ll be in a good position to recover and move on.
Oh so totally right. This is why I really wish Roon would play like the other library managers when it comes to file-embedded metadata. Inter-operability!
Who said that it would be a bankruptcy that would come into play? I have worked for companies that shut down before reaching the point of being bankrupt. Roon could easily do the same.
Not saying it’s impossible. It’s a far cry from reliably happening. This clean shut-down as you describe it would also mean that there is literally zero value left in the company, because sure as heck it will have creditors because it has licensors that would be interested in doing more than eviscerating the software value by releasing a non-dependent version into the wild…
I’ve been here with a few companies. These were orgs in a similar position to Roon’s. Customers were concerned about the value of their investment should the company go under. Put simply software escrow is a sh*tshow and I’ve yet to see real evidence of any good coming from it. Building and testing a reliable application from source isn’t trivial. Arrangements for providing security updates for dependencies alone is enough to have sane folks running for cover.
I have never been a big proponent of software escrow either, and relying on the escrow firm’s own engineers to validate source to an executable is definitely as you described it.
This was just the best way I see to give this some actual possibility of working. And I wasn’t thinking it would be source code escrow. I was thinking that Roon would create a stand-alone/non-dependent version that would be the equivalent of a downloadable local-only application, in executable form, and that is what would be in escrow.
Not having a go at all, in fact I thought your summary was spot on. This was the sound of me agreeing with you 
I bought Roon lifetime two-years-ago.
If Roon folded tomorrow, I’d just be grateful for two-years of wonderful auditory experiences 
This is an issue not worth worrying about. If this is your biggest worry in life, consider yourself lucky. If Roon is sold, your lifetime license will probably still function. Even if Roon filed for bankruptcy protection, they might continue to operate. If Roon simply closes down, we’ll all find other music player programs.
Lifetime has always been a marketing thing to bend us over and get the 500 quid. I am enjoying it every day.
‘Lifetime’ has always been ‘fast food’ for Roon, as previously described by @danny
A quick cash injection is essential for any SME, and that’s why Roon has previously offered ‘Lifetime’ - it kept Roon ‘breathing’ before it could accrue the critical number of regular subscribers to sustain its business model, and its cash-flow requirements.
As Danny has already hinted-at, ‘Lifetime’ is a ‘time-limited offer’. And so it should be. Lifetime members (which, ironically includes myself) are in essence just ‘dead weight’. The best Roon can hope for, is that Lifetime members recruit additional subscribers, and contribute positively to the forum.
If you’re a lifetime-member, think yourself bloody lucky!
To be clear, I don’t mean to attack the lifetime subscription model or those subscribers. Only saying that this idea of an independent release on Roon ceasing to exist is built more on hope than practicality.
I also agree it’s a high end problem. Like, my Porsche is in the shop so I have to drive the Subaru. Boo hoo!
Roon would prefer you go annual for 5,6,7 years or so.
Even potentially more money to be made by going monthly…
Although the risk of cancelation before a year is up would also be higher.