This is from the "Activation" thread, from September 29, 2003. I couldn't find anything from Stephanie Schaefer, addressing possible changes in policy in future upgrades.

Drew McManus - 044:24pm Oct 2, 2003 Pacific

Hello all:
I just wanted to let you know that we at Adobe have taken note of your activation comments and value your feedback.

We have done extensive research, including a broad market test, that indicates activation can be an effective method to curb the most common forms of piracy. We have worked hard over the past year to ensure that we can implement activation with minimal inconvenience to our customers.

The following addresses some of the questions Ive seen here:

Number of Activations:
Our End User License Agreement still allows you to install Adobe software on two machines. The activation system permits these two installs.

Flexibility:
The system has been built by taking our customer's common usage patterns into account. The activation strategy has been designed to accommodate replacing machines, reconfiguring hardware, uninstalling and reinstalling an application, and many other situations that do not require the need to call or notify Adobe.

In addition, there is a 30-day grace period allowing full use of the software for up to 30-days before activation is required. This helps ensure activation does not get in the way of getting work done.

Customer Service:
Our customer service reps have been thoroughly trained on activation. They are well-equipped to handle customer inquiries, answer questions about the terms of the End User License Agreement, and solve activation-related problems.

Thanks again for the feedback. Your input is important.

Drew McManus
Adobe Systems Incorporated

dave milbut - 08:59am Oct 7, 2003 Pacific

<http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5087695.html>

Zdnet on activation. Drew McManus (Adobe, who commented in this thread) makes a comment in there too. Especially see the talkbalk forums. People everywhere, not just photoshop win users, are saying pretty much the same thing.

Scott Byer - 03:19pm Oct 31, 2003 Pacific (#670 of 716)

The crack isn't completely successful since it kills the control key shortcuts. Also note that even if it does successfully get cracked, it does stop those gutless, cowardly theives from registering under other people's serial numbers, getting tech support, and otherwise costing legitimate users time and/or money.

Cracks also usually come with viruses and/or trojan horses, so people should really consider if their stealing the software is really going to be worth the trouble.

The Mac side of the activation product wasn't ready in time. The playing field will get levelled.

-Scott

Scott Byer - 01:31pm Nov 3, 2003 Pacific

Activation became necessary because Photoshop 7 was very, very pirated. It accounts for the largest single chunk of bandwidth on many of the peer sharing networks, and in at least one case, the majority of the total bandwidth used. I'm under no illusions that activation will stop piracy - locks keep honest people honest - but I don't think many of you realize how bad the problem has become.

Activation isn't about violating privacy. Call up and activate by phone if you're really worried about it. It isn't about stopping you from upgrading or even replacing a machine - provisions are made for that. Ghosting back a partition shouldn't be a problem either, as it still will be recognized by the same machine and should re-activate with no problem.

For those who were "slightly" violating the license before and are now having issue with activation enforcing that, the small volume licensing program is ready for you
(http://www.adobe.com/store/general/openoptions/main.jhtml). If you want to provide feedback that you think there should be a shrinkwrapped 5 license version or some other family/small-shop style licensing outside of the volume licensing program, visit <http://www.adobe.com/activation/main.html> and use the feedback link.

You *know* I wish it weren't necessary. But it is. We'll continue to look for less intrusive mechanisms.

-Scott

Scott Byer - 07:11pm Nov 3, 2003 Pacific

wrote in message

That's as logical as saying: "We had to close the road because too many people were speeding."

You do realize this is done quite a lot for neighborhood streets, right? And the analogy is wrong, anyway. It's more like putting in rumble strips or permanent "Your Speed" signs.

How about lobbying against file sharing services?

That's worked so well for the music industry, hasn't it?

How about closing down the Web sites that give away other people's intellectual property?

Yeah, like we can really close down a site out of China. (Like we should even be able to!) Nope, not workable.

How about hunting down thieves?

Already doing that. It's not enough.

And it's not about trusting the honest person. It's about reminding them, gently, of the licensing they agreed to. I'm sorry if some of you are really trying to avoid seeing it like that. The point is activation has already had a good effect - it's thrown doubts about the solidity of the cracked version into the minds of the casual pirate, because it's no longer the case that you can download exactly what was in the box, you have to rely on some Johnny-in-the-basement unethical hacker to patch in some shakey code. Is 3 seconds of your time really worth that?

So, no, I don't believe "anyone" who wants to get around activation will. I believe the serious pirate and the high school kids will, because they have nothing to lose if parts of the program don't work right or it crashes more often. But there is a large class of users who will decide that it's simply not worth the risk.

I don't think any of us can tell yet if this will be worth the trouble. I think Adobe has taken a much better tack on it than some of the companies that have gone before us. I know that there are going to be some users who don't think you could ever get it "right" (short of removing activation) - there's no pleasing some people, and that's just what we have to live with.

But I'm not willing to put naked bits out there anymore. Bandwidth is too cheap, and the music industry p----- away the opportunity to educate young people about intellectual property, and too many countries (China) refuse to put any teeth into IP protection. In an unconnected world, you could get away with it - the spread of naked bits was slow enough that the losses were tolerable, and any sort of activation scheme was too painful. In a connected world, it's the opposite.

-Scott

Sidney_Gravitz

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