MYOB software "deactivated" at end of year

Is this Legal

???????

By Chrisfjr1300 on 14 Jun 2011

He's had 4 years

Is this legal? Of course it is. You may as well ask is it legal for the customer to put a gun to the suppliers head and force him to provide support. Products die, new versions come out but there are always some who get umpty and start using the "must" word. Must Ford provide spares for Anglias? What's the difference? This is how we still have people on IE6, to give just one example. This creates dependencies on other software, OS, database, which ripples out to hardware even and then you're caught up in a museum. Upgrade and stop whinging.

By JohnHo1 on 14 Jun 2011

@JohnHo1: Strongly disagree. If you've paid for a product, you don't want an upgrade and you're happy with the way it still works then why should you be forced to stop using it. To counter your analogy, it's not at all like Ford stopping supplying spares for Anglias, it's more like Ford confiscating all the drivers' keys.

By AndyChips on 14 Jun 2011

@JohnHo1

I couldn’t disagree more. Are you suggesting Microsoft should remotely deactivate Windows XP and Server 2003 when product lifecycle comes to an end. Or better disable all software as soon as new version is released! That way everyone will be secure and up-to date.

Your comparison with Ford spares is flawed. We are not talking about support or spares here. If Ford was following Mamut soft approach it would hunt down all Anglias owners, take their cars away and politely offer a discounted upgrade to the latest model Ford Focus.
Cut support, cut updates and companies will move sooner or later. But to remotely disable software people paid for is absolute disgrace!

By aa111 on 14 Jun 2011

Technically theft

Surely this could be classed as theft. They (MYOB)are expiring your license you paid for and killing your software, thus taking it away from you.
A lot of software houses have monthly/yearly subscriptions, when these expire Symantec (for example) don't deactivate your software and leave you unprotected.

If I was an affected user I would take them to court

By DaChimp on 14 Jun 2011

missing the point

Johnho1 might be right that it's legal, but whether it should be legal is another matter altogether - and the point is not whether a customer can demand support (I imagine most users have never called on the support line) - it's whether we should expect indefinite use of a product we have paid for. That's the crux because for most software purchases we are in our minds buying a product, not a service. If a software company can add service features that we want to buy on a subscription basis then that's fine as a clear option, but simply redescribing a product as a service via the legal fiction of a software licence is not acceptable, and I'm astonished that they have been allowed to get away with it. When software like Word was first sold into retail markets the analogy was certainly that of a book - where you don't own the IP behind the book, but you own the object and its unlimited use. That analogy has been undermined in practice, and it's now a grey area, but I wonder if software licences were really tested against other aspects of consumer law whether their terms would be upheld.
Intuit has pulled a similar trick. When I upgraded my main computer and tried to load Quickbooks 2008 onto my shiny new Win7 OS it seemed to work fine but wouldn't register as a legitimate copy. When I called technical support I was told that QB2008 wasn't compatible with Win7 and I would have to upgrade. Well, it didn't seem to be a technical incompatibility, but a commercial decision to force me to shell out another two hundred quid for a "new version" that added no relevant functionality for my business. And even if some technical work was necessary why not offer me a patch and charge me a reasonable amount for it? I'd have been happy to give them another £20 or so.
So I now have to maintain a Vista installation for the sake of my old financial records, and I'll never touch an Intuit product again. Of course Intuit isn't unique in any of this. I've become so irritated with the intrusiveness of licensing and activation practices, which are being used as a substitute for innovation and value creation, that as far as possible now I have turned to open source software, and haven't looked back.

By tennyson09 on 14 Jun 2011

As a software developer..

..we support customers, but we don't "kill" installations that no longer pay maintenance. The users are on their own (i.e. no phone support or updates) but if they wish to use the software, that is their right, having purchased it.

By cheysuli on 14 Jun 2011

Has anyone read the Licence Terms and Conditions?

Since people implicitly, or perhaps explicitly, agreed to them on installing the software, maybe they say something about the possibility of this interesting supplier action?

By JohnGray7581 on 14 Jun 2011

Surely it depends on the licensing model

If the customers bought MYOB with a perpetual license, and any annual fee was just support and updates, then turning the software off is indefensible. If they, on the other hand, acquired it under a subscription model and the product's discontinued that's entirely justifiable.

By nichomach0 on 14 Jun 2011

Tax and VAT

What happens if you have an old copy (having moved onto something else) and during a HMRC inspection you need to access the old software.

This will not work and then what?

By TaoistTotty on 14 Jun 2011

As an MYOB user ...

Firstly our MYOB is already dead. Our files are now read-only (at least we can still do that for audit purposes) as the MYOB server stopped confirming our company file last month. We have switched to Sage as paying Mamut's annual charge is extortionate if you don't need the support or upgrades. I don't mind Mamut ceasing to offer support or upgrades, but how much would it cost them to keep the server alive that automatically confirms users files online to allow them to continue to use the software they purchased? That's what makes me angry, the amount of hassle and work caused by this penny-pinching attempt to push clients to their annual fee model. I'm afraid I wouldn't use Mamut just to spite them!

By Caffeine8 on 14 Jun 2011

@JohnGray7581 - T's and C's

Am I correct in that modern T's And C's are meaningless to the average consumer if they are considered to be of an unreasonable length? I'm sure I read about a case where it was argued that the T's and C's on a contract to a consumer was so large and complex that the consumer would have had to have employed legal representation in order to fully understand it. Maybe a legal eagle can confirm this?

By CraigieDD on 14 Jun 2011

ok I got it wrong

You're right. Turning it off is wrong. Withdrawing support on the other hand should not be an issue. Perhaps I spent too long in supportr listening to people whingeing when a solution was to upgrade. I can think of one customer who raised the same incident for years (it's slow). In the end we used to send copies of the reports we'd provided previously to show that a solution was available by upgrading (at little cost) to the latest version and 64 bit. Did they upgrade? Nope. Whingeing is easier.

By the way, congratulations to all for the use of informed debate rather than insults. It works!

By JohnHo1 on 14 Jun 2011

@DaChimp

I think Symantec do disable your software at the end of the licence - i'm sure thats what was threatened when my last NIS licence ran out.

By russell_g on 14 Jun 2011

Well, I’m sure they checked this with their legal department and somewhere in T&C there is a clause allowing them to do this. And I’m sure they will make quite few users to buy their soft this way.

Still, I don’t think this is smart move for forward thinking company. One of the businesses I support will be looking to buy a new accounting package shortly. After this story, there is no chance Mamut will get anywhere near the shortlist.

By aa111 on 14 Jun 2011

Licences

Antivirus programs don't usually stop working at the end of the 12-month subscription: but they do stop updating. You can continue to use your aged protection without further updates.

There are no details of the MYOB product activation process on the install CD or any associated paperwork that is sent out with the CD, but the installation application did link to a page on the MYOB website which detailed what could happen.

The relevant part reads:
"Q: How can I be sure that MYOB won't use the activation/confirmation service to force me to upgrade my software?

A: The process of activation/confirmation is independent of any changes to the software in the future. MYOB will continue to confirm a particular version of the software for a minimum period of 6 years from the first release of the 2004 versions of the MYOB accounting software. We believe that this is a generous period given the substantial changes to business regulations and processes that occur in that period. We believe that every business will have changed their business needs, their software and their computer system during this period."

The page has since been removed, but a copy lives on in the WaybackMachine - http://goo.gl/e725D

Low, and they deserve a good kicking, but they did stick to what they said they'd do. Just.

By DanielUK on 14 Jun 2011

Legalised blackmail

With most uses people employ computers to carry out for them, this kind of thing is simple and straightforward. But with accounts software, it's scandalous. Tax authorities in different countries may ask for access to the original information for up to 10 years, depending on the country (UK six years).

I once used Intuit Quicken to do a tax return, but because of the UK rules on business years and tax years, I was legally allowed to do the bookkeeping for 1995/6 business year in the 1996/7 tax year - but Quicken wouldn't let me enter anything with a date prior to 1996. In other words, my purchase was a complete waste, and the helpdesk were completely unsympathetic. I never bought any of their software again.

By SwissMac on 14 Jun 2011

Current MYOB USER

I am a MYOB Accounting Plus V14 (Windows) user & do not require the payroll functionality, nor do I require tech. support.
I am perfectly happy with the MYOB software & think it is crazy that the datafile reconfirmation process will be terminated on 31 December 2011 !

By MYOB_USER on 14 Jun 2011

Accounting Software

Nearly all accounting packages have some sort of annual fee revenue model to match the need to comply with changing legislaton. in the past both Quickbooks and Microsoft Money have terminated UK products, mainly because sole traders either rip-off software or are to mean to pay for support. The Mamut replacement product costs £79 plus £7 per month -hardly what one might call a rip-off.
And finally this is a piece of business software, not a consumer product.

By milliganp on 14 Jun 2011

Current MYOB USER

I am a MYOB Accounting Plus V14 (Windows) user & do not require the payroll functionality, nor do I require tech. support.
I am perfectly happy with the MYOB software & think it is crazy that the datafile reconfirmation process will be terminated on 31 December 2011 !

By MYOB_USER on 14 Jun 2011

The bottom line is...

...that if they didn't want to run the confirmation server anymore, they could issue a patch to turn off the confirmation for existing users. They're never going to sell another copy, they're not going to provide support, so it costs them almost nothing to do it, but it would save people a LOT of grief and might even lead people to buy their Mamut stuff as opposed to responding by never going near them again?

By nichomach0 on 14 Jun 2011

Re. The bottom line is...

I totally agree. Mamut should issue a patch & let us continue to use the software we paid for !

By MYOB_USER on 14 Jun 2011

Re. The bottom line is...

I totally agree. Mamut should issue a patch & let us continue to use the software we paid for !

By MYOB_USER on 14 Jun 2011

"I think Symantec do disable your software at the end of the licence" - Regarding Symantec software, that might be a lucky break!

By Alperian on 14 Jun 2011

"For copy protection and licensing reasons, MYOB software checks in with a web server every time it's started."

If you look on the web, there's probably a hack to get around this.

Yep, people who've pirated MYOB will get to carry on using it. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

By Lacrobat on 14 Jun 2011

Pirate

This is why people pirate software more and more, how can you trust a company that requires the software to request authentication from a server! It requires and internet connection and they can terminate it when ever they like!
I think for people who have bought this software that pirating it should be legal!

By monotok on 14 Jun 2011

MYOB user since mid 90's

I run a small VAT reg LTD co. and have been 'forced' to join Mammut. I have never needed support other than when the software broke, don't use the payroll/updates as my accountant does that bit, so have been happy with the software and was surprised to received an email saying that £180 plus VAT was due unless I gave 3 months notice within 2 days, so I did... result the software died. Now, I need to get historical data for my accountant so Mammut were 'kind' enough to give me 31 days grace. What now? I've sort of got my head round this is an 'Adobe update so live with it' but actually it's not. The functionality that I have paid for has been taken and the new features are not worthy of £200+ a year. Remember this is accounts software, not Photoshop or something fun. this is boring essential stuff...
Please give me your comments peeps!

By cherryco on 14 Jun 2011

MYOB user since mid 90's

I run a small VAT reg LTD co. and have been 'forced' to join Mammut. I have never needed support other than when the software broke, don't use the payroll/updates as my accountant does that bit, so have been happy with the software and was surprised to received an email saying that £180 plus VAT was due unless I gave 3 months notice within 2 days, so I did... result the software died. Now, I need to get historical data for my accountant so Mammut were 'kind' enough to give me 31 days grace. What now? I've sort of got my head round this is an 'Adobe update so live with it' but actually it's not. The functionality that I have paid for has been taken and the new features are not worthy of £200+ a year. Remember this is accounts software, not Photoshop or something fun. this is boring essential stuff...
Please give me your comments peeps!

By cherryco on 14 Jun 2011

MYOB user since mid 90's

I run a small VAT reg LTD co. and have been 'forced' to join Mammut. I have never needed support other than when the software broke, don't use the payroll/updates as my accountant does that bit, so have been happy with the software and was surprised to received an email saying that £180 plus VAT was due unless I gave 3 months notice within 2 days, so I did... result the software died. Now, I need to get historical data for my accountant so Mammut were 'kind' enough to give me 31 days grace. What now? I've sort of got my head round this is an 'Adobe update so live with it' but actually it's not. The functionality that I have paid for has been taken and the new features are not worthy of £200+ a year. Remember this is accounts software, not Photoshop or something fun. this is boring essential stuff...
Please give me your comments peeps!

By cherryco on 14 Jun 2011

Sorry for multiple posts .. not intended

Oops!

By cherryco on 14 Jun 2011

Legal Action against Mamut/MYOB

Can us current MYOB users who are happy with our existing MYOB software & do not require technical support not join together & take legal action ?

By MYOB_USER on 14 Jun 2011

@milliganp

£79 plus £84 per year is a lot of money to a one man business. Personally I just use Excel.

By tirons1 on 14 Jun 2011

If I used this software...

I would be looking into creating my own 'patch' to enable me to continue to use my bought and paid for software.

Maybe try capturing & analysing the traffic generated when it 'phones home' for a start, it could be a really simple thing to bypass or spoof.

By Anonymouse on 14 Jun 2011

I'm just thinking that there must be a gap in the market for good, inexpensive, reliable accounting software.

By Alperian on 14 Jun 2011

I'm almost ashamed to admit it...

Even though I repair computers as a career and have access to such software for free, I use an old piece of hardware to do keep accounts, it's called 'Pen and Paper' (with carbon copies)

Tis only a [very] small business though, wouldn't fancy doing it if I was any bigger.

By Anonymouse on 15 Jun 2011

Working offline...

What if you simply block access to the Internet for MYOB so it can't call home? On firewall or via hosts file. It probably wouldn’t stop working if there is no Internet connection…

By aa111 on 15 Jun 2011

Microsoft Money

MS does receive a lot of criticism and often they deserve it. But in this instance Mamut should have learned from MS how to discontinue accounting software. Before switching Money activation servers off MS released a patched version which doesn’t require online activation so people who bought it can keep using and reinstalling it as long as they want. And this wasn’t even business accounting package.

By aa111 on 15 Jun 2011

Re. Working off line

Unfortunately this won’t work as if you do not verify online MYOB will go into read only mode & you have to telephone Mamut for file confirmation code

By MYOB_USER on 15 Jun 2011

@Alperian

Cheap accounting software?

We are talking about accounting software for under 100 quid. That is cheap!

When I first started in computing, Pegasus Accounts cost around 2000 quid a module, so 79 quid is a relative bargain.

By big_D on 15 Jun 2011

So switch to something else

We've been using MYOB for nigh on seven years, and it hasn't worked too badly for us during that period.

It was clear when MYOB sold its UK product to Mamut that there was trouble ahead… there was obviously no way Mamut was going to support someone else's product indefinitely, and even though the Mac version (we're a Mac shop) is apparently not yet affected by this, we started looking around at the alternatives.

Anyway, this year, we switched to Xero, which is excellent (in many respects streets ahead of MYOB); if there are any MYOB users reading this and wondering where to go, I strongly recommend taking a look at Xero's product offering.

By alastair on 15 Jun 2011

There is an alternative ....

Having spoken to a senior person at Mamut there is no way this is all going to be reversed. However, if like me you regard MYOB / AccountEdge for Mac highly and do not want to switch to another product or be forced into mandatory annual maintenance charges there is an alternative (well 2 atually). One is to purchase an unrestricted version direct from Apple at just under £300 with 12 months support and the other is to buy exactly the same unrestricted version from a company on Amazon Markeptplace for £165 including 30 days support. If you've been a long time user you won't need much support anyway. The company on Amazon has been set up by a couple of guys who don't like the current Mamut business model and they are fully licenced to distribute the software.

By cjflanagan on 15 Jun 2011

MS Money

Microsoft provided a "Sunset" version of Money when they discontinued the product but as far as I know it only applied to the US version. The UK version (last updated in Money 2005) is not included. So far, however, although the internet connection no longer goes anywhere the program continues to work. Has anyone got any idea how to download 10 years worth of data
to a format that could be used in another program (assuming there is another - which appears to be somewhat unlikely) or indeed in Excel. You can export some of the data toa csv file but you lose notes and the linked transaction data.

By CaptainSmith on 16 Jun 2011

A few things to consider

@CaptainSmith - MS Money Sunset version is available for the UK and runs on Win7. You do have to dig around but Google is your friend here.
Re: Tax / VAT inspections. Good point but here's the thing: you are not obliged to provide records past a certain point and YOU can determine what that point is. You might only wish to keep records for 2 years, for example. HMRC can investigate back 6 years however and if you don't have records then you won't have much defence if they allege some impropriety. You don't need electronic records however - just print out the General Ledger / P&L for each year of history BEFORE the software stops working. You won't be changing any records in those years anyway - all corrections would be applied in the current tax year on your new software as tax and VAT would already have been paid for the periods in question.
And yes, it IS annoying to be forced into an upgrade but for anyone to say that £200 is "a lot" to a small business is talking nonsense. Maybe if you sell the odd knick-knack at a car boot once a month it's a lot but that sort of "business" can easily be managed on paper or in Excel. Any business that needs to handle VAT won't care about £200 per se although no-one likes being pushed around by a software supplier.

By mistersaxn on 16 Jun 2011

@ mistersaxn - B*ll*cks.

I run a one man, VAT registered Ltd. Company. To me £200 IS a substantial amount of money. I'm sure it is to many self employed IT contractors! And even a somewhat larger business will consider £200 substantial. Not everybody turns over £2 million a month...

By skooptech on 16 Jun 2011

£200

On whether this is legal - it really depends on what terms it was sold under.

As I recall, there are significant legal differences between selling a product, and selling a subscription based 'licence to use'. For starters, products have to be fit for purpose . . .

As for the price - how does it compare to your hourly rate?
How many hours of possibly productive work time would it take to shift over to something else?

If B>A then a product is worth the money, even if you'd rather not spend it.

We all resent paying other people!

By JulesLt on 16 Jun 2011

Opportunity

I am an accountant and run a small insolvency practice. I used MYOB to keep my books but not payroll as I thought they were expensive. Accordingly I only needed the accounting package and that has been stable and works fine for the last umpteen versions. No need for me to buy upgrades etc.

When Mamut came along, their annual support contracts were expensive and money down the drain as far as I was concerned. I there fore decided that as a mission critical application I would move

Unfortunately I went to Microsoft Accounts on the recommendation of PCPro. I was not keen on that package in use but after a year, Microsoft ditched it and I was back to square one.

This time I carefully reviewed small business accounting packages and opted for Quickbooks which has been excellent and far better than PCPro's recommended Sage package.

Anyway, on MYOB, why don't users form a user group and acquire the server with the verification data on it and run it themselves. It might even be an opportunity for someone to acquire it from MYOB and charge a nominal fee for maintaining it annually.

By Wemyss_Bay on 16 Jun 2011

It's not unusual...

This licensing model is far from uncommon in the business market even if the action of disabling it at the end of the license is a bit draconian. I have seen a cheque reconciliation package which was only being used for historical records so was not renewed and the operator had to set her PC clock back each time she wanted to open the database. Many packages are on a subscription basis and have to be uninstalled if not renewed, even Symantec Corporate was that way and they kept pestering for confirmation when we switched away.

When considering a new application such as accounts, customer management, stock control etc. I would always ask what are the exit strategies if we wanted to go elswhere and was always suspicious of solutions which had bespoke data packages. At least SQL based systems could be accessed independant of the front end to generate reports to be imported on a new system.

Many software houses seem to make this so difficult you have to stay with them.

By MIssingLink on 16 Jun 2011

MS Money Sunset Edition

Thanks @mistersaxn but a quite extensive google search hasn't found anything to confirm that a "sunset" edition of MS Money will open UK data files. Some comments say there is no problem and others say no chance. If you have a link to somewhere with a positive confirmation I would much appreciate it. I have downloaded the sunset editions in any case and I will give it a go on a spare isolated machine (terrified to lose years of data).

By CaptainSmith on 16 Jun 2011

MS Money

Microsoft provided a "Sunset" version of Money when they discontinued the product but as far as I know it only applied to the US version. The UK version (last updated in Money 2005) is not included. So far, however, although the internet connection no longer goes anywhere the program continues to work. Has anyone got any idea how to download 10 years worth of data
to a format that could be used in another program (assuming there is another - which appears to be somewhat unlikely) or indeed in Excel. You can export some of the data toa csv file but you lose notes and the linked transaction data.

By CaptainSmith on 16 Jun 2011

Money Data Files

I'm using the "sunset" version of Money- downloaded from the MS site. I am able to open data files which are dated back to 16/12/2005 which appears to be my oldest backup.

By Gwyndy on 16 Jun 2011

Further info re: above

I had noi proiblem using the "US" version in the "UK" other than you may need to create some categories yourself as they tend to use American terminology

By Gwyndy on 16 Jun 2011

MYOB

In the PC Pro article Bryan Richter, Mamut country manager for the UK, is quoted as saying that customers had been given four years to make the switch. He needs to check his facts. The software was still on the shelves on sale in PC World late last year!

The fact of the matter remains is that the MYOB software was sold originally to thousands of small businesses with an "in perpertuity" licence (with or without support option) but there was a hidden risk that was not exposed at the time despite advice on the Web by MYOB to the contrary; i.e that an unethical company might take control of the software and turn it off. The company file verification system was without doubt created for the benefit of the seller not the user.

Trading Standards have indicated that purchasers of MYOB software may have a legitable claim against Mamut for damages.

By Howard13 on 17 Jun 2011

MS Money

I recently downloaded the Money Sunset version. It imported of my MS Money 2005 data file (going back to 2001) with no problems whatsoever. All accounts and categories came over and even the currency is sterling. I'm running the versions in parallel at the moment purely because I can't believe it was so easy.

By Humble_Weeble on 17 Jun 2011

£200 is £200.....

It doesn't matter how big you are, if you have lost touch with the value of £200 you don't deserve to have it IMO.

I'm a small business who pays VAT, only have 3 employees (2 p/t), but £200 is more than a weeks wages for one of the part time lads.

I do my books on paper, but that is not due to cost, I just find it simpler to do.

By Anonymouse on 17 Jun 2011

Hit them where it hurts

Forget whether Mamut is acting legally or not and court cases. They will love that approach and their pockets will be deeper than the people prepared to fight them. If they are prepared to disconnect clients from their MYOB accounting software then Mamut software users should know about it. Accountants who have recommended MYOB to their clients should lobby their professional bodies to make a stink. If these bodies are endorsing any of Mamut’s software – withdraw that endorsement. The most valuable asset of any accountancy software company is their reputation. If Mamut think for one second that this move is going to result in reputational damage and loss of revenue and business from current and future clients they will reverse their decision to cut off existing MYOB clients.

By pstaniland on 18 Jun 2011

Which MYOB version are affected?

Exactly which MYOB version numbers will be affected by the termination of the online validation.

I have looked online and called Mamut but I am still unsure if my "MYOB Plus for Macintosh v11" will stop working by the end of this year.

Does anyone have any information about this?

By Mike_MYOBv11 on 18 Jun 2011

Which MYOB version are affected?

Exactly which MYOB version numbers will be affected by the termination of the online validation.

I have looked online and called Mamut but I am still unsure if my "MYOB Plus for Macintosh v11" will stop working by the end of this year.

Does anyone have any information about this?

By Mike_MYOBv11 on 18 Jun 2011

Which MYOB version are affected?

Exactly which MYOB version numbers will be affected by the termination of the online validation.

I have looked online and called Mamut but I am still unsure if my "MYOB Plus for Macintosh v11" will stop working by the end of this year.

Does anyone have any information about this?

By Mike_MYOBv11 on 18 Jun 2011

MYOB V11

Version 11, which from memory is circa 2002, was the last release before the file activation process was introduced so you're OK. The withdrawal of support for PowerPC apps in Mac OS 10.7 is going to be a problem though.

By Numberjack on 19 Jun 2011

There are free alternatives

Saw this article and was saddened but not surprised.

Never used support in the 3 years I have used the software and don't believe the price in question is value for money.

I won't be buying Mamut's software as I found TasBooks do a basic free package that meets my needs. it can be found http://www.tassoftware.co.uk/site/tas_accounts_sof
tware/basics

Free to download but no support. They do have a basic accounting system that comes with support (and yes there would be an annual charge).

I used their software many years ago and found it to be pretty good accounting software and very reasonable (multi user/multi company was about £500 14 years)

So will be giving their free version a try.

By Higgs on 26 Jun 2011

Oops

actually Tas's first chargable accounts package actually works out close to the cost of MYOB, although they do provide an option just to buy it outright

the Free version is very basic but does VAT returns (including Flat Rate VAT) so should be enough for a single person business like my own

By Higgs on 26 Jun 2011

Hackers needed!

I have been a MYOB user since 2002 - small two man (woman) business. Have dutifully paid my "upgrades" every year and am now on V17- I agree that £200 to upgrade to Mamut would neither make nor break me - but once Mamut have got you - they have got you. Who is to say that this charge will not rise considerably in future years - or that Mamut themselves might sell out so we go through the whole process all over again. My accountant has heard "on the grapevine" that this may be just what they are intending to do - having captured the MYOB customers in the UK. So I for one will not touch them with a bargepole!
What we need is an inspired "hacker" who can work out how to turn off the verification or get round it. I don't need upgrades nor support but I do want to carry on using the system I am comfortable with and which does everything I need it to do - which is why I bought it in the first place!
Any hackers out there?! I am guessing that there are a lot of MYOB users would be quite happy to "subscribe" to a website which gives them a solution - I certainly would! I don't normally agree with hacking or pirating software - but in this case I would make an exception!

By ambahall on 4 Jul 2011

It's not the cost of the software it is the hours and hours of setting up the accounts and adding the data. I can't begin to imagine having to start from scratch with just 3 of us in the business. MYOB targets small businesses that do not have the resources to start again. Simple solution: we need a crack/patch for the validation. Someone must know someone! And please anyone with version 11 please upload it to torrent.

By ghome1971 on 6 Jul 2011

MYOB Version 11 offered

We are happy to send you a free copy of MYOB version 11 - as long as you can prove that you already have a current licence (just so we have justification if Mamut query it). You will also need a version 11 datafile. Have a look at our website, http://www.simpleaccounting.co.uk/ we have done alot of research into the options for MYOB users and we are happy to give free advice.

By SimpleAccounting on 14 Jul 2011

MYOB Version 11 offered

We are happy to send you a free copy of MYOB version 11 - as long as you can prove that you already have a current licence (just so we have justification if Mamut query it). You will also need a version 11 datafile. Have a look at our website, http://www.simpleaccounting.co.uk/ we have done alot of research into the options for MYOB users and we are happy to give free advice.

By SimpleAccounting on 14 Jul 2011

MYOB - a solution

A MYOB user group has been formed and for a very modest annual subscription will supply validation codes for existing MYOB licences: www.myobusergroup.co.uk

No connection - just a very relieved MYOB user.

By rmbaron on 12 Oct 2011

MYOB - a solution

A MYOB user group has been formed and for a very modest annual subscription will supply validation codes for existing MYOB licences: www.myobusergroup.co.uk

No connection - just a very relieved MYOB user.

By rmbaron on 12 Oct 2011

MYOB UK news Article

Have a look at this recent Aust news article.

http://www.crn.com.au/News/276137,mad-british-user
-group-to-bust-myob-drm.aspx

By Pavel on 14 Oct 2011

MAMUT - a rip off

They do exactly the same with their software. We went with it when Microsoft Accounting was taken over by them. It was a poor bloated system that made simple tasks complicated. Once we stopped the service agreement we could not access our records. In the small print you have to give them 3 months notice to terminate the service agreement. Miss that and you are stuck with another years contract. I would advise anyone to avoid Mamut at all costs.

By cbeeeeee on 13 Nov 2011