Yep.

A textbook example of why DRM and server activation schemes are so hated. Adobe's still in business but they can't even activate a 5-year old product. Imagine all the money lost by people that have had similar problems but no phone number to call.

Kudos to Adobe for doing the right thing, plus. But the problem was relying on servers as ultimate gatekeepers of whether you can use something you've already purchased... I mean "licensed."

@From the cubicle of PGibbons: I'm sure part of the problem stems from Adobe's purchase of Macromedia. I'm not defending them or anything (they should have kept the Macromedia's activation servers running in some fashion), but that's most likely the root cause of the problem. Awesome on them taking care of things though.

Criminy. I was just about to do my 2 year Windows format and reinstall, and I have the same version of Dreamweaver. That would really have stunk to try to reinstall and the activation code not work. Thanks for the heads up!

@winshape: Her problem was with activating Macromedia StudioMX, not with Dreamweaver. So if you have Dreamweaver CS4, you're fine with reinstalling.

If you can't activate your purchased software, there are dozens of websites out there that will be happy to provide you with a virus-free activation crack.

@From the cubicle of PGibbons: If nothing else, this a situation where it's defensible to use a crack.

I can't wait for about another 5-10 years to pass, when some large company actually turns off activation servers for a "legacy" product and gets hit with a class action lawsuit. I hope that would have happened to Microsoft had they actually turned off the servers for MSN Music in 2008.

@From the cubicle of PGibbons: Like Donathius, I'm betting the Macromedia merger had something to do with this particular snafu. The MX 2004 products were all natively Macromedia-produced, and the activation scheme was theirs. In 2009, five years and one corporate merger later, perhaps Abobe doesn't have sufficient record of Macromedia's activation scheme to be able to generate a valid, new number.

I for one am impressed. Just giving away a license for a brand-new product isn't what I expected Adobe to do, especially since they've all but gutted the erstwhile Macromedia product line.

I had a similar problem with windows xp. I learned that they have a product activation limit, and had to call them to get a new key so that I could reactivate my OS. At least they took care of it, but a numbered limit on how many times i can activate? (I one time did a hard drive upgrade, then my system crashed. So I built a new computer, and the software crashed trying to install service pack 1, was a fun week.)

Oh, that is sweet. I have a copy of DW2004 that I haven't been able to use for a while and now that I know they will do this I may be able to make use of it again.

I had to go a few rounds with Macrovision once because I ran out of activations on a version of Installshield. Fought with them for three via outsourced email support arguing that activation does not require a support contract. I finally called and spoke to someone who fixed it in 5 minutes.

I may as well have been speaking Greek to the email support guy when I said I needed my activation count reset on their activation server. I hate it when tech support has no clue how things work (which is 90% of the time with big companies).

@From the cubicle of PGibbons: Exactly. This is presented as an "Above and Beyond", and it probably is on the part of the rep herself, but I know I would be pissed if I couldn't use a product I had purchased and would have to use a newer one which may have different features, etc. Imagine for example being unable to activate an old game (say SimCity 2000) and being offered to get a copy of The Sims 2 instead :). Of course this is why I avoid DRMed software for the most part. I really wanted to check out Spore, and I've played a bit at a friend's and it seems fun, but I am not about to spend $50 on it only to be unable to play it when I get the nostalgia 10 years from now.

@Michael Belisle: Dreamweaver is part of StudioMX...

Wow, this is bullshit! If she had pirated the software and used a "krack" to bypass the activation, then she wouldn't be having this problem. But of course, you get punished for paying for your software whenever it's something that uses activation.

This just goes to show that DRM schemes are nothing but bad news. Obviously, not every company will go "above and beyond" like Adobe did. Hell, the company that publishes your software/music/movie might just end up going out of business, then you'll be screwed.

An even bigger problem is with laws such as the DMCA, which gives penalties for trying to bypass copy protection. Aside from preventing fair-use uses of media (i.e. copying copy-protected DVDs), it could ultimately prevent you from using the software (license) that you paid for but cannot use. I find it to be a bigger crime that a company can screw its customers like this.

in the end, I like how Adobe resolved the issue but what I don;t understand is how the Crack and Warez community can pretty much activate any of their software - regardless of age - but they themselves can't activate it? Seems odd to me.

@Goatweed: Indeed! I've heard of companies that have released patches to remove activation or other copy-protection once the software is no longer commercially viable or for other reasons (i.e. the company going under.) You certainly can't count on a company doing that, though. But I wonder why Adobe doesn't do that with Studio MX, considering that they *probably* won't be selling it again?

@Goatweed:
Obviously it means that the "Crack and Warez" community actually made the software themselves and Adobe is just licensing it from them. This means that you are actually just getting a license of part of a license when you actually buy the product..... maybe.

@scootinger:

"But I wonder why Adobe doesn't do that with Studio MX, considering that they *probably* won't be selling it again? "

Because while they aren't selling Studio MX they are selling shiny new versions of Flash and Dreamweaver, and are probably hoping everyone will just upgrade.

Way better than Intuit. I had a client with an old copy of Quickbooks that was running just fine on his Windows 98 machine. When it died, I recovered the data on it and built him a new computer with XP. When I went to install his ancient Quickbooks on the new machine, it installed just fine, took his serial number just fine, and then when I started it up for the first time, it asked for an activation key.

I called the number, thinking it'd be as simple as I give a code and they use it to generate a new activation key. No. Instead, I was placed on hold for about 30 minutes while my "support agent" or whatever was trying to figure out what was going on.

The final word from Intuit : No, you can't activate your legally-purchased and legitimate software. We refuse to. If you want to continue using Quickbooks or to have access to the years of company data you have archived in our proprietary format, you'll need to buy our latest version. At full price.

I told them that this was horrible policy and most likely not legal. They said "Sorry, that's policy. Would you like to go ahead and buy the new software?" I was in shock over the greed/ineptitude. I gave them a few choice parting words, and then set to work. I found the activation key thing on the dead hard drive and had my client back up and going.

My client didn't want the new version. Their ancient software worked just fine for what they wanted to do. Intuit's behavior was just unexplainably horrible.

@Michael Belisle:

Wait until MS turns off Windows XP activation. Unless they offer a patch to turn off the activation, all the (idiots) who decided to use it in various embedded systems will have fun. And, for "corporate" editions, wait until vista/windows 7 activation gets turned off.

Then we will finally get anti-DRM legislation.

@SMSDHubbard:

Intuit's old software rewrote the boot sector on activation, causing damage to non-windows operating systems. I expect you could include "Windows XP" in your non-windows operating systems list if you are running a version that expected windows 98.

If it didn't manage to break your PC, it probably refused to activate (and overwrite your bootsector) to protect it...

@winshape: Her problem seemed to be at least in part due to her old computer crashing and her being unable to "de-activate" it there.

@RvLeshrac: And hundreds of sites with a virus-laden crack. It's Russian Roulette with the download.

Dov? Bing?

Are these real names?

The funny thing is, I feel like I'm the only person who actually BUYS this software. Other graphic/web designers and friends I know all get theirs from torrents or news servers.

$400 is a bit pricey for a piece of software, I will admit.

That was decent of them, but these days I'm impressed by any actual results from Adobe support.

I've been having a problem with Adobe for over 2 months not crediting a $200 overcharge for an online upgrade. It was approved right away back in May, but after many calls, I'm still waiting...

adobe activation is bad. plain and simple.

With prices like those, they better have good customer service. Though, FLEXnet can eat me.

@.Xenn.: Not if you're using it to design websites/graphics.

@shepd: XP embedded needs no auth. Auth (and updates) is contractually required for xp/vista/windows 7 for 5 years after EOL.

MS is one of the few companies to do auth mostly right (phone call in center, ability to self host license servers)

@Coles_Law: Actually warez sites are pretty good about avoiding that, they have reputations to protect. You are much more likely to run into problems with grey market stuff than straight black. No saying it can't happen, but if you keep your wits about you you'll be fine.

@Coles_Law: It's true that you have to be weary when downloading cracks. It's a shame that legit software owners have to resort to downloading cracks just to use the software they already own.

I would have pirated Dreamweaver right after the activation service failed. Forget going through the hassle of dealing with that mess.

Another reason why I dipped my hand into the pirate's treasure chest: unusable legitimately owned software. I bought Bioshock, it wouldn't work for some unknown reason. So I went and procured another version that would work.

@.Xenn.: $400 isn't very pricey for software if you're using professionally. You build the cost of software into your rate or project fee... just as you would do with any other business. I use the entire adobe suite every day professionally and the thought of $2,000 for the suite isn't bad. In one year, that's five bucks a day to use the sofware... If you're charging $25-50 an hour, 5 bucks a day is hardly noticed.

@DaBull: Spending hundreds of dollars on legit software only to have to go download a crack to make it work right due to some stupid DRM issue does not do much to motivate people to again spend hundreds of dollars to put themselves in the same position yet again.

@scootinger: Right now a copy of CS4 Suite is going for $500-$750. This is not chump change. To spend that kind of money on a product that could potentially cease working due to DRM at some point is not good.

I have a full cracked copy of CS3 that doesn't need activation.

@SpruceStreetPhil - doggarn bike thieves: As long as you paid for Bioshock, it's cool. :)

@DjDynasty: Good for you.

@SMSDHubbard: I second the hate towards Intuit. I pray that gnucash becomes an easy to use alternative soon.

@.Xenn.:
So rather than make a purchase for their business, write it off as a business expense for tax purposes and have a legitimate copy of a product that is vital for their livelihood, they do not give any money to the company to support development efforts and risk infecting their computer with viruses by downloading a cracked version off of torrent sites (and I know if you're careful the chances of these viruses are slim, but based off the above I'm assuming they may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer).

This also doesn't take into account the legal issues with using pirated software for an activity that you are profiting from.

Xenn, some of your friends are apparently really dumb.

@.Xenn.: If you think $400 is expensive, you have never looked at the cost of retail copies of Microsoft software.

Years ago I had something similarl happen with Adobe Illustrator. I have found Adobe's customer service stellar.

It's quite possible that the reason they were not able to resolve the activation problem was because most of Adobe shut down last week.

@mykie: Dov is undoubtedly Dov Isaacs, kind of a celebrity in certain circles. He's always been a very helpful troubleshooter on the Adobe forums and (back in the day) industry mailing lists.

@Coles_Law:

What yasth said. The larger sites, which it would probably be bad to mention here, are very big on 'clean' downloads. They likely do a far better job than any end-user would at scanning their files.

The bigger issue is with the ad banners on the sites, but a decent antivirus app (NOD32, KAV, AntiVir), antispyware app (SUPERAntiSpyware, MWBAM), and you're good to go.

@skizsrodt:

The activation limit for XP is somewhat roundabout. For the same hardware signature (the same hardware), you can activate an unlimited number of times within a certain period of time (a week, two, something like that). After that, you have to wait ~6 months between activations or go through the phone activation process.

If your hardware signature changes, you will nearly always have to call to activate.

In the case of OEM software, it clearly states in the OEM license that an OEM install is ONLY good for the ORIGINAL system on which it was installed.

That, of course, is complete BS, and typically can be taken care of with activation-by-phone.

Post-XP, MS has become substantially better about the licenses (no more non-transferrable OEM licenses), but reactivation still follows the same general rules.

@Quarkie:

Because paying for it obviously gets you a better experience, when your software suddenly stops working one day.

I'm all for paying for the software, seriously, but companies make it so incredibly difficult to use the software you've paid for - it is frequently easier to buy the software and then grab a cracked version to actually *use*.

@Megalomania:

Or *real* Adobe software, AutoCAD, MAS, Peachtree Accounting, Intuit business packages, Oracle, HP/UX, AIX, or Solaris.......

MS server packages run in the thousands of dollars for small to mid-size businesses, several of the above run into the *dozens* of thousands.

For Enterprise systems, you're looking at a $25k per-processor license for MSSQL, and that's the most expensive piece of kit from MS. You're looking at that much simply for a required service agreement from HP, IBM, or Sun, let alone the costs of the hardware and software.