
Adobe says it is not providing free copies of Creative Studio 2 - pappyo
http://forums.adobe.com/message/4974662
======
error54
TL;DR

Blogs - "You can grab yourself a free, legitimate copy of Photoshop and the
rest of the Creative Suite 2, right now, direct from Adobe. No
catch."[1][2][3]

Adobe - "You have heard wrong! Adobe is absolutely not providing free copies
of CS2!"

1- [http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/01/grab-photoshop-and-
cs2-for-...](http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2013/01/grab-photoshop-and-cs2-for-
absolutely-free-right-now/)

2- [http://lifehacker.com/5973750/download-adobe-creative-
suite-...](http://lifehacker.com/5973750/download-adobe-creative-
suite-2-including-photoshop-and-illustrator-for-free)

3- [http://www.petapixel.com/2013/01/07/adobe-may-be-
offering-a-...](http://www.petapixel.com/2013/01/07/adobe-may-be-offering-a-
free-and-legal-download-of-creative-suite-2/)

------
ynniv
Lots of comments here say that this doesn't really change anything for
Photoshop, but I think that it does. Compare downloading a cracked version to
downloading this version.

The cracked version might contain terrible malware. It might still contain
activation code that will phone Adobe with your serial number. You probably
downloaded it from BitTorrent, which we know is easily trackable. If a serial
number is still required, you will be using a number that is well known as a
pirated number.

This version will not contain terrible malware (it may even come with updates
from the vendor!) It has been modified by the people who wrote it to
definitely not contain activation code. You will have downloaded it directly
from Adobe at their request, along with their other paying customers. If your
serial number is ever reported, you are indistinguishable from a legitimate
user. The bar has been raised from "this IP reports a pirated copy" or "this
IP downloaded a pirated copy" to individually auditing possibly legitimate
customers in person. Adobe can't even include the hash in the list of hashes
that will trigger ISP copyright enforcement alerting systems such as "six
strikes". Unlike existing cracked versions, the risk for using this is very
low.

I too was expecting an interesting business announcement when I clicked the
link, and I too was disappointed. However, if you think this is a harmless
mistake and no different from the existing Pirate Bay release, you aren't
thinking very scrappy. This could easily make CS2 the version of choice for
students and startups. (And Mac users can run it in VirtualBox on WinXP)

------
toyg
It might have been a screw-up, but Oracle does the exact same thing for all
their products: you are free to download and install everything you want (and
they provide universal license codes for acquired products that might still
need them), but you're not actually allowed to _run_ anything past 30 days
(with some exceptions, like Enteprise Linux, SQLDeveloper, XE etc). Nothing in
the software actually forces you to stop, but should Oracle sue you, you're
screwed. It's a win-win for everyone: users can easily train themselves, and
Oracle gets mindshare and goodwill without renouncing their expensive support
contracts and license renewals.

~~~
shadowmint
Adobe is trying to use it's 'creative cloud' to do this, without the risk of
tonnes of people just taking the software and never paying for it.

This whole CS2 thing is total screw up.

------
campnic
IBM has done this forever. Its called soft licensing. (or at least that is
what their term was)

It not a free copy. If you use this and they have proof, you would be sued for
violating the licenses. Its the same as stealing. Just because they aren't
locking you out doesn't mean you can use it.

~~~
jamiequint
It's not the same as stealing. When you steal something the person who
formerly had it no longer has it. This term is commonly used inappropriately
when talking about software and media licensing.

~~~
kibibu
American Heritage Dictionary: To take (the property of another) without right
or permission.

Collins: to take (something) from someone, etc. without permission or
unlawfully, esp in a secret manner

Both of these trivially apply here.

~~~
thwest
They apply so far as we willingly ignore the distinction between moving and
copying.

------
jiggy2011
So, Adobe is providing copies of CS2 that are activation free and are
providing the serial numbers with the download? So it's basically an honesty
system not to pirate it?

~~~
eli
Photoshop is one of the most pirated pieces of software. It is not hard to
find CS6 online for free. One way or another it's always been the honor
system, no?

~~~
robryan
With the difference being that to most people it would appear the second
method is advocated by Adobe whereas no one expects that Adobe wants you to
pickup Photoshop from pirate bay.

~~~
escaped_reddit
I disagree. Adobe actually relies* (not that they could care to admit it and
they shouldn't) on college kids pirating their software so they get familar
with it and when they leave for jobs they can put on on their resume.

------
doodyhead
What I find surprising is that the download page itself contains no mention
whatsoever of licensing. It lists the system requirements and has a big
graphic up the top apparently attempting to upsell you to CS6 / Creative
Cloud.

Would it have been so hard to say something like, 'These downloads and keys
are provided for users who already possess a valid CS2 license. If you have
not paid for any of these products, you are not entitled to use them.' ?

Makes me lean more towards publicity stunt.

------
sycren
Why have they not changed the information on their download page yet?
<http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html>

For news sites that have not redacted or said something about this error, many
of their readers are still going to be pushed towards downloading a free
'legitimate' program.

------
yuhong
For older Macromedia products they just provide special serial numbers:
[http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-
pricing/macromedia...](http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/policy-
pricing/macromedia-legacy-activation-error.html)

------
nthitz
Looks like they released a statement via their blog
[http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/01/update-on-
cs2-a...](http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/01/update-on-cs2-and-
acrobat-7-activation-servers.html)

~~~
loudandskittish
And yet, it still doesn't say outright that random people hitting the download
page aren't allowed to use it. Just: "While this might be interpreted as Adobe
giving away software for free, we did it to help our customers."

------
bernardom
What's the legality of this? Would it be illegal for me to download
proprietary software from the owner's domain if the owner didn't mean to make
available for free?

If a movie studio broadcast a brand-new movie over the air for free by
mistake, would it be illegal for me to record it? Would I have to delete it?
I'm pretty sure I couldn't put it up on a server for free download, otherwise
I could do that with NFL games right now.

Does the fact that they require a license key (or make you click a box saying
"I own a license") change this from legal to illegal?

~~~
tantalor
> Does the fact that they require a license key (or make you click a box
> saying "I own a license") change this from legal to illegal?

Definitely not. They should have released a version that doesn't not require a
license key to use, but they were too lazy to open up the source code so
they're giving out the special keys instead.

The fact is the program is their copyright, so you can't download it (or use
it, or share it) without a license, under penalty of a lawsuit.

~~~
bernardom
At what point does something enter the public domain, though? (I know the
Disney/Sonny Bono 70-odd years rule for copyrights, but this seems different)

If an algorithmic trading company that is killing it happens to mistakenly
leave a link to the copyrighted source code, can I use it? What if they
publish their algorithm on the front page with no explanation? What if they
publish it on the front page with a note saying "Free, take it!" but then
retract that, saying it was a rogue employee? What if the CEO sends it to the
WSJ or posts it to a comment box on another site? What if they make t-shirts
with it, and a huge banner on the side of their building?

Basically, at what point of ridiculousness does the protection break down (if
any)?

~~~
alanctgardner2
The law, contrary to what people in this thread have been saying, recognizes
intent. It's the same principle as the recent, controversial ruling about the
AT&T data leak. Yes, AT&T should have taken better steps to secure their data.
But you retain control over even implicitly private data. Technical measures
like DRM and passwords help to cement the intent, and impede people who would
ignore a written warning.

In this case it's probably buried in the EULA for the non-activation version
that you still need a valid CS2 license. While not all EULAs are enforcable,
this seems like a pretty clear case where that condition would be upheld in
court.

Your examples are all a bit silly, because that's what we have licenses for.
In general, I would say if you found code with no license, or code being made
available contrary to the license in the headers, it's not suitable for
including in any project. I think a court would agree that a reasonable
developer, finding what looks like proprietary code with no license attached,
should not copy or derive code from that sample.

The t-shirts and huge banner are a funny case, because if you consider Oracle
v Google ( or any other IP case involving open source ), it's entirely
possible to make code available and retain control over it. Hell, even
copyleft licenses are based on the idea that you can distribute something but
legally restrict it's use.

In short, if you make a creative work you have broad control over how it's
used, even if it's technically possible to use that work in ways you don't
allow. In the absence of an explicit license, it's only safe to assume that
you have no permission to use anything.

~~~
wnight
How would the EULA be enforceable on software a user reasonably found? That's
like a contact in a book you find on the bus. Without a sale the UCC won't
apply...

Copyright is called that because its about creating new copies, not reading an
existing one.

~~~
alanctgardner2
How is the GPL enforcable? If you download code from Github, the copyright
holder can restrict your usage, up to and including prohibiting anyone from
using it. It's silly to conflate digital works with physical media, copyright
properly refers to a creator's right to control and potentially profit from
their intellectual property.

edit: I find it funny that on one hand, when 'stealing' comes up, people who
reject IP law say 'but it's not like physical objects, they still have it'.
Then when licenses come up, it's like 'finding a book on a bus'.

~~~
wnight
The GPL is enforceable in that it doesn't try to prevent anything. Using it
merely means you share title in your derived work.

This (having GPLed code laying around) is a 'found book' scenario. You've got
a copy that you didn't violate copyright to make, thus it's legal to use.

EULAs are a non-copyright attempt to control this usage. They used to be based
on the idea that any and all copying, incidental or otherwise, was prohibited
and thus to use software (and copy it into memory) you needed a license. But
this has been specifically denied in current US copyright law.

Blanket permission is now given for copying where it's an inherent part of
using the work. This supports the idea that usage is generally unrestricted
(unless you or your agent acquired this specific copy by license). Which makes
sense; they'd have called it UsageRight instead of CopyRight if they meant
that.

Now EULAs are (usually) based on the Uniform Commercial Code but that requires
a contract (of sale) which can, of course, only be binding on the original
parties and their agents.

So again, why would a EULA be enforceable on software a user found?

As for forum humor, do you know what I find funny? It's when someone takes
caricatures of different people's views on different topics, conflates them,
declares them inconsistent, and shoots down an unrelated argument based on
this trail of "logic".

------
brador
Does it really cost that much to keep an activation server running? How much
are we talking here?

~~~
unsignedint
I think it's not only the actual cost of running an activation server, but
supports associated with it. (E.g. People maxing out activation count, etc.)

~~~
CamperBob2
Seems like the best approach would be to replace the activation server with
something that says "Yep, you're activated."

That way you can gather potentially useful data, and perhaps change your mind
later, while not requiring any support and resources beyond 0.001% of a CPU
somewhere.

~~~
unsignedint
That's probably the approach Microsoft is taking with their activation, not
sure if Adobe incorporates similar scheme. Not that Microsoft's server always
respond "yep, you're activated" but I heard from somewhere they do reset
activation counts after a certain period after last activation. (Something
like 6 months.)

------
djt
A good marketing ploy to save money by decommissioning their Validation
servers. Would be interesting to see the cost of maintenance versus.

Having said that, this is bad for the GIMP guys

------
josh2600
I have to believe that Adobe did this on purpose, at least from a marketing
standpoint. If they indeed didn't want blogs releasing this as "free" all of
these major publications (LIKE FORBES) would not be using that word in the
headline.

I think the PR team at Adobe labeled this as free or, at the very least,
pitched at reporters that way, and I frankly don't think this is a problem or
that they're upset about it.

~~~
jspthrowaway2
Anybody can have a blog on Forbes, and it's not Forbes the editorial team
publishing them. It's sad that Forbes hinged its brand on the occasional piles
of malarky that are published on those blogs, especially since you're using
the "It's Forbes!" argument here. Most "Forbes" blogs are around the quality
level of Business Insider (read as: pollution).

~~~
armored_mammal
I often find Forbes blog entries more interesting than the actual magazine
articles, though that is, of course, not the same as saying that the blogs are
on average any good.

------
unreal37
Seems an honest mistake, although it would be brilliant marketing to release
CS2 for free or very cheap because people (companies) who pay $1000+ for Adobe
CS would not still be stuck on CS2...

~~~
nnnnni
Maybe where YOU work they're not.

------
hanleybrand
If problems is shorthand for "has a lot of cease and desist paperwork to file"
I agree.

I'm not clear what Adobe did wrong here, other than actually try to not
completely screw people running very old versions of their software.

Sadly, no one would seriously make an accusation that they were screwing up if
they had just shut off the validation servers and posted an note to their
knowledge base, ID #FU-CS2-15-01734-81-CS6-plz.

------
001sky
_What is true is that Adobe is terminating the activation servers for CS2 and
that for existing licensed users of CS2 who need to reinstall their software,
copies of CS2 that don't require activation but do require valid serial
numbers are available._

==From Adobe

------
mxfh
"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." Henry Ford

<https://twitter.com/Adobe/status/288382433391435777>

If this is meant to be related it's borderline genius.

------
tuananh
[that page](<http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html>) is
still up for me with serial #. I didn't even purchase CS2.

------
zdgman
So, CS2 is free but it is actually not free? Interesting that they would make
CS2 free as it is only compatible with PowerPC based Macs.

Should have just made CS4 free and had more people jump onto the upgrade
bandwagon!

~~~
eli
No, I'm pretty sure it's not free at all.

Yes, you can get away with using it without paying for it, but that doesn't
make it free or legal.

~~~
fusiongyro
Yes, it's very clear on the forum that you need to already own a license to
use this. There's just nothing in place to stop you from using it if you
don't.

------
orionblastar
'Own Goal'!

[http://normanconquesttech.blogspot.com/2013/01/adobe-
scores-...](http://normanconquesttech.blogspot.com/2013/01/adobe-scores-major-
own-goal.html)

------
codysoyland
Awful title. I half-expected to see bankruptcy proceedings.

------
jspthrowaway2
I never advocate changing titles, but this one is in need of work. It took me
a bit to realize what was going on.

Also, this seems like a non-issue. As I understand it, they've built a version
that doesn't require activation and takes a special serial number, so they can
phase out the CS2 activation servers. Some blogger (shocker, at Gizmodo) being
fast and loose with the facts, well, got that wrong. Other blogs copied that
mistake (a real problem in the "blogosphere"), Adobe took down the page that
was linked, Monday rolls on. We're talking about software that won't even run
on an Intel Mac here, people.

The rest of this story is, "hey, check out the beating Adobe is taking on
their forum!" Thanks, blogs. You win again.

~~~
richforrester
Candidly, it's not just "in the blogosphere" - it's a staple for media in
general, to the point where one could forgo labeling it a problem, and just
call it an aspect.

Other than that, agree with your post.

~~~
eli
I agree that this problem is not exclusive to the medium, but it is endemic. I
mean, many blogs speculated about Adobe's motivation for releasing "free"
software, but did anyone pick up a phone or send an email to ask them about
it?

~~~
FredFredrickson
Of course they didn't. Mostly because they just wanted to have the story
"first", and secondly because most of them either don't have editors / fact-
checkers or don't care about them.

It's the price we pay for getting news as fast as we do.

~~~
taytus
You're right about they trying to get the story out ASAP, I always wonder why
bloggers won't have the same adrenaline rush to get their facts right.

~~~
uxp
Because those articles are generally boring, disappointing, and come out hours
after all the other sites have amassed 22k shares and likes for their
articles, earning them The Master of the Internet badge on publishers-circle-
leaflet.com for the day. It's a new social site where bloggers get badges for
having other people do all the hard work, and all your positive reputation
gets reset by a rogue cron script at night.

------
drivebyacct2
Oh, so they have a special copy of CS2 with a key that will allow it to work
since Adobe's activation servers are down. That having been said, it is
_intended_ for users that already hold a CS2 license.

------
emeraldd
Sounds like someone at Adobe is having a very bad day.

