https://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=52330
--- Comment #2 from Christian Frech christian.frech@protonmail.com --- Hi Zebediah,
by "the attempt is visible" I meant, that the analyst from the iZotope support is able to see some communication coming from my client at their back end. So, there is definitely network communication going on, which I suspected at first wouldn't be the case.
A bogus S/N will probably not work, but you can replicate that with a freebie from iZotope (for example: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/vocal-doubler.html). Otherwise I'm happy to provide my serial number. You will need an account and the iZotope Product Portal (both free of charge).
The outcome with wine instead of wine-staging is the same.