Photoshop activation

PH
Posted By
Peter Heckert
Dec 10, 2005
Views
3749
Replies
44
Status
Closed
Hello,

I am trying to activate photoshop.
I have bought a bundle consisting out of Photoshop 4 (not OEM) photoshop 6 (not OEM) and photoshop cs2.
I installed these all.

When I try to activate CS2 then the dialog box says:
"Activation was unsucessful because the activation server is unavailable at this time"

Error code 101:12045
My internet connection is working, as I could see and I deactivated my routers inbuild firewall.

When I try to activate per phone, then the procedure aborts while typing in the activation code, and I get the message (in german) "Service unavailable please call at bussiness time"

Whats wrong here? Did I buy a pirated version?

I cannot use my trial version anymore, because it says "trial period expired". (Normal expiry would have been at 1. january) So I am very unhappy now…

Thanks for hints,

Peter

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

P
Pat
Dec 10, 2005
I am in the USA. When I had trouble activating I had to call during business hours. A problem for me since I am not at home during business hours. They did respond to my e-mails but it took a few days. The copy protection is a pain when things go wrong and Adobe doesn’t respond. I also ended up with nothing working. So I have added some redundancy. I have the software installed on two machines now. I also purchased Corel Suite too.
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 10, 2005
Hello Pat,

Pat wrote:
I am in the USA. When I had trouble activating I had to call during business hours. A problem for me since I am not at home during business hours.
That’s the case for me too.

They did respond to my e-mails but it took a few days. The copy
protection is a pain when things go wrong and Adobe doesn’t respond. I also ended up with nothing working. So I have added some redundancy. I have the software installed on two machines now.
Yes, the license permits this, I know.

I also purchased Corel Suite too.
I use photoline32 (www.pl32.com) which does almost all what I want, the only problem
are artifacts in shadows when doing color-space conversions.

So I am not busted totally 😉

I fear, the protection is made to annoy honest customers, and pirates laugh at it 😐
I would be better if I bought a pirated OEM version ;-/

regards,

Peter
Dec 10, 2005
You know what? You’re right. They’re their own worst enemy. I was going to buy the CS2 upgrade (legit) but after reading so many posts about the copy protection problems, well there are eBay sellers selling "Full Photoshop CS2 with activation codes" for $20. They even say you can register at Adobe for support. Perhaps I’ll try there first.

BTW one main issue is that CS2 can’t work on more than 2 machines. My main system is down in the studio… I have a laptop for travelling and this third one, that I’m on now, is connected online, I send and post stuff from here and sometimes want to make some last minute adjustments to the files.


email usenet at firstaidco dot ca

"Peter Heckert" wrote
I fear, the protection is made to annoy honest customers, and pirates laugh at it 😐
I would be better if I bought a pirated OEM version ;-/

Pat wrote:
I am in the USA. When I had trouble activating I had to call during business hours. A problem for me since I am not at home during business hours.
They did respond to my e-mails but it took a few days. The copy
protection is a pain when things go wrong and Adobe doesn’t respond. I also ended up with nothing working. So I have added some redundancy. I have the software installed on two machines now.
Yes, the license permits this, I know.
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 10, 2005
Hello,

Guns/Zen4 wrote:
You know what? You’re right. They’re their own worst enemy. I was going to buy the CS2 upgrade (legit) but after reading so many posts about the copy protection problems, well there are eBay sellers selling "Full Photoshop CS2 with activation codes" for $20. They even say you can register at Adobe for support. Perhaps I’ll try there first.
No, don’t do it.
I believe, when I can show that the software is purchased and payed legally than it can be activated at someday in future ;-\

BTW one main issue is that CS2 can’t work on more than 2 machines. My main system is down in the studio… I have a laptop for travelling and this third one, that I’m on now, is connected online, I send and post stuff from here and sometimes want to make some last minute adjustments to the files.
I have only one computer, so I cannot say much for this…. However, I hope Adobe reads here and does something about it.

best regards,

Peter
T
Tacit
Dec 10, 2005
In article <dnf21r$k30$>,
Peter Heckert wrote:

I am trying to activate photoshop.
I have bought a bundle consisting out of Photoshop 4 (not OEM) photoshop 6 (not OEM) and photoshop cs2.
I installed these all.

Where did you buy this bundle?

I am unaware of any such bundle available at any legitimate reseller. My suspicion is that you have been suckered into buying bootleg, pirate copies of Photoshop.


Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
T
Tacit
Dec 10, 2005
In article ,
"Guns/Zen4" <usenet at firstaidco dot ca> wrote:

You know what? You’re right. They’re their own worst enemy. I was going to buy the CS2 upgrade (legit) but after reading so many posts about the copy protection problems, well there are eBay sellers selling "Full Photoshop CS2 with activation codes" for $20. They even say you can register at Adobe for support. Perhaps I’ll try there first.

You know, I buy Photoshop from legitimate, aboveboard, legal sources–either PC Mall or direct from Adobe–and I have never, ever had a problem with product activation.

I’ve bought many, many copies of Photoshop CS and CS2, both for my own use and on behalf of many clients, and my clients have never, ever had a problem with activation either. It has always worked instantly, flawlessly, and transparently.

I have to conclude from this that the legions of people who complain about activation problems are, either intentionally or unintentionally, using pirate copies of Photoshop.

If you buy an "OEM" copy of Photoshop, you’re buying a bootleg copy–usually from Russian mafia (Leo Kuvayev, of the so-called Russian Spam Gang, is really big in fake "OEM" copies of Photoshop and other software). If you buy a copy of Photoshop on eBay, you’re probably buying a bootleg. if you buy a Photoshop "bundle" online, you’re probably buying a bootleg copy, again most likely from our buddy Leo–and good luck getting your money back, it’s in Russia or Kazakhstan by the time you get your software.

*shrug* I don’t see Adobe as the enemy here. Pay money for the product from a legitimate source and you’ll be okay.


Art, photography, shareware, polyamory, literature, kink: all at http://www.xeromag.com/franklin.html
NS
Nicholas Sherlock
Dec 10, 2005
Guns/Zen4 wrote:
You know what? You’re right. They’re their own worst enemy. I was going to buy the CS2 upgrade (legit) but after reading so many posts about the copy protection problems, well there are eBay sellers selling "Full Photoshop CS2 with activation codes" for $20. They even say you can register at Adobe for support. Perhaps I’ll try there first.

Buy it, crack it, problem sorted.

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 10, 2005
tacit wrote:
In article ,
"Guns/Zen4" <usenet at firstaidco dot ca> wrote:

buying a bootleg. if you buy a Photoshop "bundle" online, you’re probably buying a bootleg copy

I bought photoshop on ebay, but the seller has a regular "realworld" shop too and is in bussiness for 15 years and has a computer science diploma 😉
*shrug* I don’t see Adobe as the enemy here. Pay money for the product from a legitimate source and you’ll be okay.
I don’t see Adobe as an enemy. I know, they make excellent software 😉

regards,

Peter
P
plew
Dec 10, 2005
On 2005-12-10, Peter Heckert wrote:
tacit wrote:
In article ,
"Guns/Zen4" <usenet at firstaidco dot ca> wrote:

buying a bootleg. if you buy a Photoshop "bundle" online, you’re probably buying a bootleg copy

I bought photoshop on ebay, but the seller has a regular "realworld" shop too and is in bussiness for 15 years and has a computer science diploma 😉
*shrug* I don’t see Adobe as the enemy here. Pay money for the product from a legitimate source and you’ll be okay.
I don’t see Adobe as an enemy. I know, they make excellent software 😉
regards,

Peter

If the problem is the "activation" & it takes Adobe several days to respond for activation, then it is Adobe’s faulty software as the purchased copy was legitimate from the school bookstore.
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 10, 2005
tacit wrote:
In article <dnf21r$k30$>,
Peter Heckert wrote:

Where did you buy this bundle?

I am unaware of any such bundle available at any legitimate reseller. My suspicion is that you have been suckered into buying bootleg, pirate copies of Photoshop.

No, I think, there is a fault somewhere.
I have paid to the seller and so I have a contract with the (german) seller and so I will contact him as soon as possible.

What I don’t understand: Why does the activation dialog box say: "Server not available" ?
On Adobe’s Website they promise availability for 24 hours 7 days a week. Why does the phone registration abort?

regards,

Peter
R
Roberto
Dec 11, 2005
If the activation procedure does not do an adequate check to be certain the user is, indeed, connected and possibly the server is down, then I would be terribly surprised at Adobe’s shortsightedness. A person would think a critical application like this would be be on several named servers.
R
Roberto
Dec 11, 2005
You folks in Germany might have a special circumstance, or special recourse. Photoshop costs what over there? $1000 Euro?
R
Roberto
Dec 11, 2005
"Peter Heckert" wrote in message

I bought photoshop on ebay, but the seller has a regular "realworld" shop too and is in bussiness for 15 years and has a computer science diploma 😉

Diploma means absolutely nothing. A brick-n-mortar shop means a little, but is it true? Post his information. We will find out the truth. Oh, and contact him.
R
Roberto
Dec 11, 2005
"Peter Heckert" wrote in message

What I don’t understand: Why does the activation dialog box say: "Server not available" ?

I’d have to disassemble the code to tell, and won’t because I believe it’s against the license terms, but maybe your copy is not regionalized for Germany. Your country has special license terms compared to other countries. Maybe Adobe has a different server for you, and your copy is trying to touch a US site. Dunno.

A wild thought is that it is a hacked copy and is trying to call home to Russia to screw you somehow.
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 11, 2005
Lorem Ipsum wrote:
"Peter Heckert" wrote in message

I bought photoshop on ebay, but the seller has a regular "realworld" shop too and is in bussiness for 15 years and has a computer science diploma 😉

Diploma means absolutely nothing. A brick-n-mortar shop means a little, but is it true? Post his information. We will find out the truth. Oh, and contact him.
Diplom Informatiker (Univ) means something here.
It means he has a university diploma, because this title is protected by law here.

And no, I dont post private information ;-/

peter
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 11, 2005
Lorem Ipsum wrote:
"Peter Heckert" wrote in message

What I don’t understand: Why does the activation dialog box say: "Server not available" ?

I’d have to disassemble the code to tell, and won’t because I believe it’s against the license terms, but maybe your copy is not regionalized for Germany. Your country has special license terms compared to other countries. Maybe Adobe has a different server for you, and your copy is trying to touch a US site. Dunno.
I dont believe this. This would mean, that an us citizen couldnt reactivate his photoshop when he is in germany…
The internet is international.

I have bought the english version intentionally, because it is easier for me when I read international websites and groups.

However I had installed a german trial version before, which I uninstalled before.

Also I have a nonstandard partioned harddisk, because I used linux and gimp before I installed windows. At adobe website I read the recommendation to reformat the disk, when activation doesnt work, because it stores information in "secure" locations at harddisk, is this true?

A wild thought is that it is a hacked copy and is trying to call home to Russia to screw you somehow.
Nope. It came with english printed manual in retail package.

peter
R
Roberto
Dec 11, 2005
"Peter Heckert" wrote in message
Lorem Ipsum wrote:
A wild thought is that it is a hacked copy and is trying to call home to Russia to screw you somehow.
Nope. It came with english printed manual in retail package.

Hell, I never got a printed manual with CS. How do you rate?

(Has ANYONE received a printed manual with CS or CS2?)
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 11, 2005
Lorem Ipsum wrote:
"Peter Heckert" wrote in message

Nope. It came with english printed manual in retail package.

Hell, I never got a printed manual with CS. How do you rate?
(Has ANYONE received a printed manual with CS or CS2?)
It has 410 pages…

peter
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 11, 2005
Peter Heckert wrote:
I cannot use my trial version anymore, because it says "trial period expired". (Normal expiry would have been at 1. january) So I am very unhappy now…

Ok, now it is activated. (Online activation)
Obviously the server was really unavailable.

Puuuuh 😉

regards,

Peter
D
drjchamberlain
Dec 11, 2005
On 12/10/05 11:26 AM, in article
, "tacit"
wrote:

You know, I buy Photoshop from legitimate, aboveboard, legal sources–either PC Mall or direct from Adobe–and I have never, ever had a problem with product activation.

I’ve bought many, many copies of Photoshop CS and CS2, both for my own use and on behalf of many clients, and my clients have never, ever had a problem with activation either. It has always worked instantly, flawlessly, and transparently.

I have to conclude from this that the legions of people who complain about activation problems are, either intentionally or unintentionally, using pirate copies of Photoshop.

If you buy an "OEM" copy of Photoshop, you’re buying a bootleg copy–usually from Russian mafia (Leo Kuvayev, of the so-called Russian Spam Gang, is really big in fake "OEM" copies of Photoshop and other software). If you buy a copy of Photoshop on eBay, you’re probably buying a bootleg. if you buy a Photoshop "bundle" online, you’re probably buying a bootleg copy, again most likely from our buddy Leo–and good luck getting your money back, it’s in Russia or Kazakhstan by the time you get your software.

*shrug* I don’t see Adobe as the enemy here. Pay money for the product from a legitimate source and you’ll be okay.

Tacit:

I agree with your statements but only partially.

First I must compliment Adobe for the phone activation service being available as I recently needed it on a weekend and was able to reach it. I installed a second larger internal hard disk and wanted to transfer Adobe Creative Suite CS2 to this disk. The online activation process failed and I called their phone activation service.

Although I must compliment the fact that the service was available on a Sunday afternoon, the whole process was a major inconvenience and made me feel very uncomfortable about the way the customer service agent treated me on the phone. During the explanation of what had happened I had to endure questions and a tone of voice that clearly doubted the honesty of what I was describing.

I think activation must be created so as to prevent illegal copies from being installed but not to impose obstacles to those using legitimate copies of the software. Tougher regulations must also be enforced to punish those who either use or distribute/sell pirate software. It must in no way get in the way of the customer who is using a legitimate copy of the software. In my case this is even more of a problem since both my copies of Adobe Creative Suites (CS and CS2) were purchased directly from Adobe and registered. All the customer service agent had to do was to verify their own database.

The inability to install the software in more than 2 systems is also a major inconvenience and a business practice I strongly disagree with. This is a software package that costs $ 1,200 and the user should be able to install it in more machines if necessary. By more machines I don’t mean 50 but a reasonable number that would be compatible with home use or a small office or business. In my case I would like to have a copy installed in my desktop at home, my desktop at my office and my notebook. But I can’t do this unless I choose to give Adobe another $ 1,200 of my money. The software would never be used at the same time on all machines since I am the only one who uses it and can’t be in two (or three) different places at the same time. But (hypothetically speaking) even if I were to run all three installations at the same time (let’s say I am on the road with my notebook running the software, I call the office and ask one of my assistants to go into my desktop to retrieve photos I took of some patients and send to me, and my wife is at home and decided to do some basic tasks using Photoshop) I should be able to do so. This software policy is very restrictive, unfair and ultimately causes Adobe to loose as much if not more business than if they were to be more flexible with customers in regards to software use and number of installations.

I believe in the premise that "All are innocent until proved guilt". This activation process is somewhat of an inconvenience to consumers and it shouldn’t have to be. What if I had a situation where I need to reinstall CS2 at 3 am on a Sunday to finish very important work I had to present on Monday and couldn’t reach Adobe to activate my product ? Would Adobe be held financially responsible for any losses derived from my inability to finish the work I needed to finish ?

Something must be done but it must be done to those who are involved in piracy and not to customers who have legally purchased the software. The current approach punishes honest consumers and transfers to them the responsibility that should fall on companies and the legal system to ensure that those braking the law are caught and punished accordingly.

Best regards,

Joseph



Dr. Joseph Chamberlain
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
P
Pat
Dec 11, 2005
"Joseph Chamberlain, DDS" wrote in message
On 12/10/05 11:26 AM, in article
, "tacit"
wrote:

You know, I buy Photoshop from legitimate, aboveboard, legal sources–either PC Mall or direct from Adobe–and I have never, ever had a problem with product activation.

I’ve bought many, many copies of Photoshop CS and CS2, both for my own use and on behalf of many clients, and my clients have never, ever had a problem with activation either. It has always worked instantly, flawlessly, and transparently.

I have to conclude from this that the legions of people who complain about activation problems are, either intentionally or unintentionally, using pirate copies of Photoshop.

If you buy an "OEM" copy of Photoshop, you’re buying a bootleg copy–usually from Russian mafia (Leo Kuvayev, of the so-called Russian Spam Gang, is really big in fake "OEM" copies of Photoshop and other software). If you buy a copy of Photoshop on eBay, you’re probably buying a bootleg. if you buy a Photoshop "bundle" online, you’re probably buying a bootleg copy, again most likely from our buddy Leo–and good luck getting your money back, it’s in Russia or Kazakhstan by the time you get your software.

*shrug* I don’t see Adobe as the enemy here. Pay money for the product from a legitimate source and you’ll be okay.

Tacit:

I agree with your statements but only partially.

First I must compliment Adobe for the phone activation service being available as I recently needed it on a weekend and was able to reach it. I installed a second larger internal hard disk and wanted to transfer Adobe Creative Suite CS2 to this disk. The online activation process failed and I
called their phone activation service.

Although I must compliment the fact that the service was available on a Sunday afternoon, the whole process was a major inconvenience and made me feel very uncomfortable about the way the customer service agent treated me
on the phone.

I got a message machine telling me to call during business hours on a week day.
T
toby
Dec 11, 2005
Peter Heckert wrote:
Peter Heckert wrote:
I cannot use my trial version anymore, because it says "trial period expired". (Normal expiry would have been at 1. january) So I am very unhappy now…

Ok, now it is activated. (Online activation)
Obviously the server was really unavailable.

Yes, probably DeActivation on its M$ operating system took it offline arbitrarily until Adobe could telephone during business hours and ReActivate the server.

(The above scenario is, AFAIK, just wishful thinking on my part. Their server O/S probably doesn’t use DeActivation [although it’s surely just a matter of time] – retail XP certainly does[1], and is subject to all the hassles that implies[2]. On the other hand, they might have chosen BSD or Linux.)

I still fail to understand why customers continue to pay large amounts of money for products that can be run on a purely discretionary basis. The case against Activation has been made in detail many times yet no case FOR it has ever been made (apart from potential ways to screw customers – forced upgrades, etc). Piracy? Don’t make me laugh.

No clear thinking purchaser could persuade themselves that DeActivation is going to work all the time, or forever; and it’s seriously pissing off legitimate users[3]. So let’s have a little guessing game on how long a CS2 license will actually last. Two years? Three? Five? More than five? How long does a Photoshop 7 license last?

[1]
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/evaluation/features/activ ation.mspx
[2] http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/02/14/07gripe_1.html
http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2005/10/11/030/82390
[3] http://www.aquick.org/blog/2005/06/20/open-letter-to-adobe/

Puuuuh 😉

regards,

Peter
BH
Bill Hilton
Dec 12, 2005
Joseph Chamberlain writes …

The inability to install the software in more than 2 systems is also a major inconvenience and a business practice I strongly disagree with … I would like to have a copy installed in my desktop
at home, my desktop at my office and my notebook

I agree, three is what many of us need for home, work and laptop travel …. I am in the same boat and that’s one of the reasons I haven’t upgraded from CS to CS2 (after purchasing every upgrade since I bought in at 4.0).

But … I activated my two copies on the two computers I use most often, both desktops, and just for the pure hell of it I tried to activate on my laptop before a trip, which would be legal activation license # 3 … I was expecting rejection but to my surprise it went thru in seconds, just like the desktops did. Hmmm …

Just curious, how many of you have tried to activate a third time and gotten thru, especially if the third box was a laptop? Not sure if this was a "reward" for being a loyal registered customer since 4.0 or a glitch in their machine or perhaps Adobe’s unstated policy … anybody else try it and get in or did you get rejected?

Bill
R
Roberto
Dec 12, 2005
"Joseph Chamberlain, DDS" wrote in message

Although I must compliment the fact that the service was available on a Sunday afternoon, the whole process was a major inconvenience and made me feel very uncomfortable about the way the customer service agent treated me
on the phone.

Call and say in a monotone drone, very slowly, "This is Joseph Chamberlain’s calling machine…"
R
rumpledickskin
Dec 13, 2005
$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.

According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC Global Software, the use of pirated software is rampant globally. In 2003, over $80 billon of software was installed worldwide but only $51 billion was licensed software.

Pirated software accounts for 36 percent of all installed software worldwide. This figure equates to a $29 billion dollar loss for the software industry. If the demand for PC software continues to grow at the same rate with the same level of piracy, in five years the figure will weigh in at $40 billion.

The U.S. is currently the most minor offender, with 22 percent of its installed software pirated. This translates into a $6.5 billion dollar loss for the software industry. South of the border, Latin America has a 63 percent software piracy rate.

On the other end of the scale, China and Vietnam have a stunning 92 percent software piracy rate. However, due to volume of total sales, this "only" equates to a $3.8 billion loss for software makers. Eastern Europe is also rife with piracy, clocking in at 71 percent with Western Europe rated a more modest 36 percent software piracy rate.
————————
Paying the Price for Software Piracy

The software industry is losing less money to pirates, but the use of unlicensed apps continues to rise.

David Legard, IDG News Service
Monday, June 10, 2002

Losses to the worldwide software industry caused by the use of unlicensed software amounted to $10.97 billion in 2001, down from $11.75 billion in 2000, according to a report released Monday by antipiracy organization Business Software Alliance.
————————–
TMO Reports – Software Piracy Losses Hit $33 Billion, Study Shows by Brad Gibson, 1:00 AM EDT, May 18th, 2005

35% of the software installed on personal computers worldwide was pirated in 2004, adding up to US$33 billion in losses for software companies like Apple Computer, Adobe Systems and Microsoft, according to a study released Wednesday.
————————–
According to the Business Software Alliance, 35 percent of software installed on personal computers was pirated in 2004, a 1 percent improvement over 2003.

Despite the slight drop in the number of illegal software programs in use, the Washington, D.C.-based association, whose members include Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), said losses attributed to piracy increased from $29 billion in 2003 to $33 billion in 2004.
R
rumpledickskin
Dec 13, 2005
$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.

According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC Global Software, the use of pirated software is rampant globally. In 2003, over $80 billon of software was installed worldwide but only $51 billion was licensed software.

Pirated software accounts for 36 percent of all installed software worldwide. This figure equates to a $29 billion dollar loss for the software industry. If the demand for PC software continues to grow at the same rate with the same level of piracy, in five years the figure will weigh in at $40 billion.

The U.S. is currently the most minor offender, with 22 percent of its installed software pirated. This translates into a $6.5 billion dollar loss for the software industry. South of the border, Latin America has a 63 percent software piracy rate.

On the other end of the scale, China and Vietnam have a stunning 92 percent software piracy rate. However, due to volume of total sales, this "only" equates to a $3.8 billion loss for software makers. Eastern Europe is also rife with piracy, clocking in at 71 percent with Western Europe rated a more modest 36 percent software piracy rate.
————————
Paying the Price for Software Piracy

The software industry is losing less money to pirates, but the use of unlicensed apps continues to rise.

David Legard, IDG News Service
Monday, June 10, 2002

Losses to the worldwide software industry caused by the use of unlicensed software amounted to $10.97 billion in 2001, down from $11.75 billion in 2000, according to a report released Monday by antipiracy organization Business Software Alliance.
————————–
TMO Reports – Software Piracy Losses Hit $33 Billion, Study Shows by Brad Gibson, 1:00 AM EDT, May 18th, 2005

35% of the software installed on personal computers worldwide was pirated in 2004, adding up to US$33 billion in losses for software companies like Apple Computer, Adobe Systems and Microsoft, according to a study released Wednesday.
————————–
According to the Business Software Alliance, 35 percent of software installed on personal computers was pirated in 2004, a 1 percent improvement over 2003.

Despite the slight drop in the number of illegal software programs in use, the Washington, D.C.-based association, whose members include Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), said losses attributed to piracy increased from $29 billion in 2003 to $33 billion in 2004.
NS
Nicholas Sherlock
Dec 13, 2005
rumpledickskin wrote:
$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.

They just pull the number out of their ass. It has no meaning.

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
R
rumpledickskin
Dec 13, 2005
rumpledickskin wrote:
$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.

They just pull the number out of their ass. It has no meaning.
Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
In other words. You are running pirated software.
NS
Nicholas Sherlock
Dec 13, 2005
rumpledickskin wrote:
rumpledickskin wrote:
$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.
They just pull the number out of their ass. It has no meaning.
Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
In other words. You are running pirated software.

Certainly, but the companies have lost no money: If I couldn’t pirate it, I wouldn’t buy it.

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
R
rumpledickskin
Dec 13, 2005
rumpledickskin wrote:
rumpledickskin wrote:
$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.
They just pull the number out of their ass. It has no meaning.
Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
In other words. You are running pirated software.

Certainly, but the companies have lost no money: If I couldn’t pirate it, I wouldn’t buy it.

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock

"If I couldn’t pirate it, I wouldn’t buy it"

You did pirate it.
You didn’t buy it.
What are you saying?
I think what you mean is that you expect something for nothing. Are you giving anything away of value that you’ve worked 100’s of hours at?
NS
Nicholas Sherlock
Dec 13, 2005
rumpledickskin wrote:
"If I couldn’t pirate it, I wouldn’t buy it"

You did pirate it.
You didn’t buy it.
What are you saying?

That if for some reason I was unable to pirate it, I still wouldn’t shell out the money and buy it.

Are you giving anything away of value that you’ve worked 100’s of hours at?

Yes, multiple software programs which I have spent thousands of hours on.

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 13, 2005
Hi toby,

toby wrote:
Peter Heckert wrote:

Peter Heckert wrote:

I cannot use my trial version anymore, because it says "trial period expired". (Normal expiry would have been at 1. january) So I am very unhappy now…

Ok, now it is activated. (Online activation)
Obviously the server was really unavailable.

Yes, probably DeActivation on its M$ operating system took it offline arbitrarily until Adobe could telephone during business hours and ReActivate the server.

(The above scenario is, AFAIK, just wishful thinking on my part. Their server O/S probably doesn’t use DeActivation [although it’s surely just a matter of time] – retail XP certainly does[1], and is subject to all the hassles that implies[2]. On the other hand, they might have chosen BSD or Linux.)
I dont believe in remote deactivation. Even Microsoft doesnt say this. The only thing they will deactivate according to [1] is access to upgrades, if a system has no proper license.

My case was a special case.
I tried the english version for cs2. Then I did not nothing for some months and so the trial period expired. Then I installed german cs2 and I had a trial period of 30 days again, until january.

Then I decided to purchase and install cs2 as english version. Because my english trial version was expired, I had no grace period anymore.

So far I know, microsoft has a minimum grace period of 3 days and this would have solved the problem.

I use only 20% of the full potential of photoshop. The only reason, why I want and need it, is 16 Bit editing and -filters, color-space conversions without errors (which would add digital noise). I dont need all this stuff such as stock photos or pdf editing, I use Openoffice to make my pdf’s. I just need a capable 16 bit editor for techinical image improvement and filtering.

So possibly within 5 years I can use gimp or cinepaint or Krita and Linux again, then I would sell the photoshop license and the license for all upgrades I had puchased in the meantime.

regards,

Peter
GH
Gernot Hoffmann
Dec 13, 2005
Peter,

my opinion as well (at least partly):

‘I use only 20% of the full potential of photoshop. The only reason, why I want and need it, is 16 Bit editing and -filters, color-space conversions without errors (which would add digital noise). I dont need all this stuff such as stock photos or pdf editing, I use Openoffice to make my pdf’s. I just need a capable 16 bit editor for techinical image improvement and filtering.’

I’m still using PhS7. Nothing missing. RAW photos are level-adjusted, converted to 16 bpc by Nikon Capture, and then converted as soon as possible by PhS to 8bpc.
Digital noise for RGB–>CMYK is IMO a fairy tale.
The following rasterizing process (imagesetter, platesetter or RIP) will mix up everything anyway.

Tested for offset and large format printing.

Best regards –Gernot Hoffmann
T
toby
Dec 14, 2005
Peter Heckert wrote:
Hi toby,

toby wrote:
Peter Heckert wrote:

Peter Heckert wrote:

I cannot use my trial version anymore, because it says "trial period expired". (Normal expiry would have been at 1. january) So I am very unhappy now…

Ok, now it is activated. (Online activation)
Obviously the server was really unavailable.

Yes, probably DeActivation on its M$ operating system took it offline arbitrarily until Adobe could telephone during business hours and ReActivate the server.

(The above scenario is, AFAIK, just wishful thinking on my part. Their server O/S probably doesn’t use DeActivation [although it’s surely just a matter of time] – retail XP certainly does[1], and is subject to all the hassles that implies[2]. On the other hand, they might have chosen BSD or Linux.)
I dont believe in remote deactivation. Even Microsoft doesnt say this. The only thing they will deactivate according to [1] is access to upgrades, if a system has no proper license.

My case was a special case.
I tried the english version for cs2. Then I did not nothing for some months and so the trial period expired. Then I installed german cs2 and I had a trial period of 30 days again, until january.

Then I decided to purchase and install cs2 as english version. Because my english trial version was expired, I had no grace period anymore.
So far I know, microsoft has a minimum grace period of 3 days and this would have solved the problem.

I use only 20% of the full potential of photoshop. The only reason, why I want and need it, is 16 Bit editing and -filters, color-space conversions without errors (which would add digital noise). I dont need all this stuff such as stock photos or pdf editing, I use Openoffice to make my pdf’s. I just need a capable 16 bit editor for techinical image improvement and filtering.

So possibly within 5 years I can use gimp or cinepaint or Krita and Linux again, then I would sell the photoshop license and the license for all upgrades I had puchased in the meantime.

I hope it’s still worth something then.

regards,

Peter
PH
Peter Heckert
Dec 15, 2005
toby wrote:
Peter Heckert wrote:

I dont need all this stuff such as stock photos or pdf editing, I use Openoffice to make my pdf’s. I just need a capable 16 bit editor for techinical image improvement and filtering.

So possibly within 5 years I can use gimp or cinepaint or Krita and Linux again, then I would sell the photoshop license and the license for all upgrades I had puchased in the meantime.

I hope it’s still worth something then.

I hope I am still alive and have a job then….
I am 51 and I need this stuff /NOW/ *;-/*

peter
K
kel____in
Dec 19, 2005
On Sun, 11 Dec 2005 03:30:41 -0600, Joseph Chamberlain, DDS wrote (in article <BFC131BF.338EA%>):

On 12/10/05 11:26 AM, in article
, "tacit"
wrote:

You know, I buy Photoshop from legitimate, aboveboard, legal sources–either PC Mall or direct from Adobe–and I have never, ever had a problem with product activation.

I’ve bought many, many copies of Photoshop CS and CS2, both for my own use and on behalf of many clients, and my clients have never, ever had a problem with activation either. It has always worked instantly, flawlessly, and transparently.

I have to conclude from this that the legions of people who complain about activation problems are, either intentionally or unintentionally, using pirate copies of Photoshop.

If you buy an "OEM" copy of Photoshop, you’re buying a bootleg copy–usually from Russian mafia (Leo Kuvayev, of the so-called Russian Spam Gang, is really big in fake "OEM" copies of Photoshop and other software). If you buy a copy of Photoshop on eBay, you’re probably buying a bootleg. if you buy a Photoshop "bundle" online, you’re probably buying a bootleg copy, again most likely from our buddy Leo–and good luck getting your money back, it’s in Russia or Kazakhstan by the time you get your software.

*shrug* I don’t see Adobe as the enemy here. Pay money for the product from a legitimate source and you’ll be okay.

Tacit:

I agree with your statements but only partially.

First I must compliment Adobe for the phone activation service being available as I recently needed it on a weekend and was able to reach it. I installed a second larger internal hard disk and wanted to transfer Adobe Creative Suite CS2 to this disk. The online activation process failed and I called their phone activation service.

Although I must compliment the fact that the service was available on a Sunday afternoon, the whole process was a major inconvenience and made me feel very uncomfortable about the way the customer service agent treated me on the phone. During the explanation of what had happened I had to endure questions and a tone of voice that clearly doubted the honesty of what I was describing.

I think activation must be created so as to prevent illegal copies from being installed but not to impose obstacles to those using legitimate copies of the software. Tougher regulations must also be enforced to punish those who either use or distribute/sell pirate software. It must in no way get in the way of the customer who is using a legitimate copy of the software. In my case this is even more of a problem since both my copies of Adobe Creative Suites (CS and CS2) were purchased directly from Adobe and registered. All the customer service agent had to do was to verify their own database.

The inability to install the software in more than 2 systems is also a major inconvenience and a business practice I strongly disagree with. This is a software package that costs $ 1,200 and the user should be able to install it in more machines if necessary. By more machines I don’t mean 50 but a reasonable number that would be compatible with home use or a small office or business. In my case I would like to have a copy installed in my desktop at home, my desktop at my office and my notebook. But I can’t do this unless I choose to give Adobe another $ 1,200 of my money. The software would never be used at the same time on all machines since I am the only one who uses it and can’t be in two (or three) different places at the same time. But (hypothetically speaking) even if I were to run all three installations at the same time (let’s say I am on the road with my notebook running the software, I call the office and ask one of my assistants to go into my desktop to retrieve photos I took of some patients and send to me, and my wife is at home and decided to do some basic tasks using Photoshop) I should be able to do so. This software policy is very restrictive, unfair and ultimately causes Adobe to loose as much if not more business than if they were to be more flexible with customers in regards to software use and number of installations.

Quark is the only software producer that has ever given me a problem when I attempted to install (my purchased from them so legitimately owned) software on a second computer, a laptop. Gave me a big argument on the phone and everything. Told me I could install on laptop if I purchased another license for $79.00.

Check with Adobe to see if you can purchase just a license to cover the third computer.

Lapses in time between installation of software might explain being able to install on third machine or reinstall on computer without problems. I purchased PScs last year and installed it on two computers. I had to format the HD on my main computer just recently and had no problem re-activating any software including Quark.

It annoys me no end to have to keep registering the same software everytime I reinstall it. I do so cause I have to but I do it with glee thinking they now have the 3rd or 4th registration of that same software from me. Of course it is also an invasion of privacy because they are essentially monitoring my computer use.

I believe in the premise that "All are innocent until proved guilt". This activation process is somewhat of an inconvenience to consumers and it shouldn’t have to be. What if I had a situation where I need to reinstall CS2 at 3 am on a Sunday to finish very important work I had to present on Monday and couldn’t reach Adobe to activate my product ? Would Adobe be held financially responsible for any losses derived from my inability to finish the work I needed to finish ?

Something must be done but it must be done to those who are involved in piracy and not to customers who have legally purchased the software. The current approach punishes honest consumers and transfers to them the responsibility that should fall on companies and the legal system to ensure that those braking the law are caught and punished accordingly.
Best regards,

Joseph



Dr. Joseph Chamberlain
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
K
kel____in
Dec 19, 2005
On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 13:26:31 -0600, tacit wrote
(in article ):

In article ,
"Guns/Zen4" <usenet at firstaidco dot ca> wrote:
You know what? You’re right. They’re their own worst enemy. I was going to buy the CS2 upgrade (legit) but after reading so many posts about the copy protection problems, well there are eBay sellers selling "Full Photoshop CS2
with activation codes" for $20. They even say you can register at Adobe for support. Perhaps I’ll try there first.

You know, I buy Photoshop from legitimate, aboveboard, legal sources–either PC Mall or direct from Adobe–and I have never, ever had a problem with product activation.

I’ve bought many, many copies of Photoshop CS and CS2, both for my own use and on behalf of many clients, and my clients have never, ever had a problem with activation either. It has always worked instantly, flawlessly, and transparently.

I have to conclude from this that the legions of people who complain about activation problems are, either intentionally or unintentionally, using pirate copies of Photoshop.

Do people who are knowingly using pirated copies of software actually call the software manufacturer for activation? That seems to me to be a very foolish move.

This then leads to the attitude of Customer Service personal at different companies and why they are treating their legitimate customers like they are thieves? They all seem to think you want something for nothing and you believe that you have spent a lot of money on a product so it is yours to use as you please and they are stopping you. This concept of your not owning the product and are just being allowed to use it at a cost of $1200.00 is completely foreign to our natures and I feel illegal.

If you buy an "OEM" copy of Photoshop, you’re buying a bootleg copy–usually from Russian mafia (Leo Kuvayev, of the so-called Russian Spam Gang, is really big in fake "OEM" copies of Photoshop and other software). If you buy a copy of Photoshop on eBay, you’re probably buying a bootleg. if you buy a Photoshop "bundle" online, you’re probably buying a bootleg copy, again most likely from our buddy Leo–and good luck getting your money back, it’s in Russia or Kazakhstan by the time you get your software.

*shrug* I don’t see Adobe as the enemy here. Pay money for the product from a legitimate source and you’ll be okay.

FK
Father Kodak
Jan 19, 2006
On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 03:48:42 GMT, rumpledickskin
wrote:

$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.

According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and IDC Global Software, the use of pirated software is rampant globally. In 2003, over $80 billon of software was installed worldwide but only $51 billion was licensed software.

Pirated software accounts for 36 percent of all installed software worldwide. This figure equates to a $29 billion dollar loss for the software industry. If the demand for PC software continues to grow at the same rate with the same level of piracy, in five years the figure will weigh in at $40 billion.

I’m not trying to condone piracy. Far from it. But, but, but, the BSA is like any other trade group. They try to tell their story the best they can, in the hopes of influencing Congress to pay more attention to this issue. The unstated theme is that these losses affect the US Balance of Payments as well as jobs. Even a Congressman who has never used MS Word can understand employment levels in his or her district.

The flaw in the BSA reasoning is simple: How much of the pirated software is used by people who are actually using it, and would "have to buy it" if a pirated copy were not available? I suspect that in countries like China or Viet Nam, the answers would be different than in say the US or many European countries.

The problem that software vendors face is that their only hope for truly effective licensing requires some sort of online verification. As others have discussed in this thread, sometime that process doesn’t make things "easy" for the honest end-user.

Aside from online verification, another effective means of protection is a hardware dongle, but those are costly for the vendor, and users _hate_ them.

This is not a simple issue. If it were, it would have been solved years ago.

Father Kodak
R
reply
Jan 19, 2006
"Father Kodak" wrote in message
On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 03:48:42 GMT, rumpledickskin
wrote:

The flaw in the BSA reasoning is simple: How much of the pirated software is used by people who are actually using it, and would "have to buy it" if a pirated copy were not available? I suspect that in countries like China or Viet Nam, the answers would be different than in say the US or many European countries.

The problem that software vendors face is that their only hope for truly effective licensing requires some sort of online verification. As others have discussed in this thread, sometime that process doesn’t make things "easy" for the honest end-user.

Aside from online verification, another effective means of protection is a hardware dongle, but those are costly for the vendor, and users _hate_ them.

This is not a simple issue. If it were, it would have been solved years ago.

Father Kodak
My reasoning with these figures is that alternative programs exist. I won’t get into the argument of how good (or bad) they are but they do exist. Recently a friend set up his studio (advanced amateur) entirely on open source software. He decoded his RAW files with DCraw and uses Gimp to manipulate his images. The PC cost him the same as any PC would except he got it from a local assembler who was happy to sell it with a full house of RAM in place of loading it with Windows.

I am amazed at this man’s tenacity. He was determined from the outset not to spend money on software or get involved in piracy. His photos are just as good as anyone else’s. He has mastered Gimp – something I’d never bother with, I can tell you but the bottom line is: This man is an accomplished Photographer Faced with spending over $2400 AUD for computer software, he elected to spend the money on a better camera outfit and use open source software.

Now if he can do it so (relatively) easily, what makes the BSA think that a very large percentage of today’s pirates wouldn’t do the same if they were forced to? Just making it harder for us to install and maintain Photoshop and a plethora of other software, is not going to turn the pirates into buyers, they’ll simply find alternative software to use. If the BSA had any figures to show an abnormal rise in sales after introducing activation, I’d be very surprised indeed.
R
Ricknospam
Jan 19, 2006
"Douglas" wrote in message
"Father Kodak" wrote in message
On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 03:48:42 GMT, rumpledickskin
wrote:

The flaw in the BSA reasoning is simple: How much of the pirated software is used by people who are actually using it, and would "have to buy it" if a pirated copy were not available? I suspect that in countries like China or Viet Nam, the answers would be different than in say the US or many European countries.

The problem that software vendors face is that their only hope for truly effective licensing requires some sort of online verification. As others have discussed in this thread, sometime that process doesn’t make things "easy" for the honest end-user.

Aside from online verification, another effective means of protection is a hardware dongle, but those are costly for the vendor, and users _hate_ them.

This is not a simple issue. If it were, it would have been solved years ago.

Father Kodak
My reasoning with these figures is that alternative programs exist. I won’t get into the argument of how good (or bad) they are but they do exist. Recently a friend set up his studio (advanced amateur) entirely on open source software. He decoded his RAW files with DCraw and uses Gimp to manipulate his images. The PC cost him the same as any PC would except he got it from a local assembler who was happy to sell it with a full house of RAM in place of loading it with Windows.

I am amazed at this man’s tenacity. He was determined from the outset not to spend money on software or get involved in piracy. His photos are just as good as anyone else’s. He has mastered Gimp – something I’d never bother with, I can tell you but the bottom line is: This man is an accomplished Photographer Faced with spending over $2400 AUD for computer software, he elected to spend the money on a better camera outfit and use open source software.

Now if he can do it so (relatively) easily, what makes the BSA think that a very large percentage of today’s pirates wouldn’t do the same if they were forced to? Just making it harder for us to install and maintain Photoshop and a plethora of other software, is not going to turn the pirates into buyers, they’ll simply find alternative software to use. If the BSA had any figures to show an abnormal rise in sales after introducing activation, I’d be very surprised indeed.

The BSA can’t show these figures, because they don’t exist. In the PC realm this nonsense goes way back, all the way to Lotus 1-2-3, Novell Netware etc. In every case, software protection did absolutely nothing to increase revenues and wound up costing tons of money to implement and support.

As a point of fact, there’s never been a single study that showed piracy actually costs software developers anything in lost revenue. Not a single one.

Copy protection is a solution in search of a problem.
T
toby
Jan 19, 2006
Father Kodak wrote:
On Tue, 13 Dec 2005 03:48:42 GMT, rumpledickskin
wrote:

$29 billion is a nice round number and that is what the software industry lost to piracy last year.

According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) …

I’m not trying to condone piracy. Far from it. But, but, but, the BSA is like any other trade group. They try to tell their story the best they can, in the hopes of influencing Congress to pay more attention to this issue. The unstated theme is that these losses affect the US Balance of Payments as well as jobs.

If so, you would think they might be sympathetic to the analogous damage to foreign economies caused by needless billions wasted on importing mediocre, overpriced American software. You would think. But in practice they exist, like all lobby groups, to perpetuate a system of undue favour at all levels.


This is not a simple issue. If it were, it would have been solved years ago.

It was: http://www.fsf.org/

Father Kodak
LI
Lorem Ipsum
Jan 19, 2006
"Father Kodak" wrote in message

The flaw in the BSA reasoning is simple: How much of the pirated software is used by people who are actually using it,

We do not know, and that is the problem, but theft by persons who could pay is probably significant if my experience is typical. I can point to at least twenty professionals who make a living in design and photography who use illegal copies of Adobe products. It is an interesting aside that most of them are unscrupulous in other ways, too.

Aside from online verification, another effective means of protection is a hardware dongle, but those are costly for the vendor, and users _hate_ them.

Imagine the number of dongles, all chained together, that would be required. Crazy.
B
Bill
Jan 20, 2006
Some software companies *use* software piracy as ‘marketing tip’. Sure if a software product is well protected and its cracked vesion is not available most of people from poor countries will neither buy it nor even know about it. And in all case honest people will pay for software even when its serials and keygens will be available on warez.

However my own experience shows that when the program is well protected and there is no free illegal copies available during a few months there come more of *honest* users who have to pay and pay for apps.

As for dongles I guess they’re very uncomfortable to use for secure copying.

I can say today there’s some proof software copy protection systems (for example EXECryptor from strongbit.com) able to stop and prevent applications cracks and piracy.
LI
Lorem Ipsum
Jan 20, 2006
"Bill" wrote in message
Some software companies *use* software piracy as ‘marketing tip’.

Who?

Or do you mean people like Adobe who offer full-fledged free versions on a trial basis?

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