Photoshop CS3 out for pirates. Customers still waiting….
April 19th, 2007
Well, it’s no surprise. Sooner or later, every application gets cracked and released. The “bad” thing about this one is that, while legit customers are still waiting to buy their paid versions of Adobe Photoshop CS3 (the newest installment of the popular image manipulation software), software pirates are already able to download it for free.
In a matter of 4 hours, over 700 users have already downloaded the software from a single site.
While I don’t necessarily endorse piracy, I do like the message that Pirate Groups implicitly send to software development companies: “Activation schemes are not effective.” Millions of dollars get spent by companies trying to make their software more secure against software pirates. Yet, all they manage to achieve is make their paying customers uncomfortable, and software pirates spend 30 more seconds while they generate a pirated activation key.
How can companies stay ahead of software pirates when it’s easier/faster to download the pirated version than to be a legit owner? Microsoft tried their WGA program, which has proven to be completely ineffective against piracy, and the holy grail of consumers’ dissatisfaction.
April 19th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Locking your front door when you leave the house will not prevent someone who is determined to break in. Yet we still lock the door.
In this case, anyone downloading from an admittedly criminal site is running the keen risk of getting a few extra bits running loose on their computer… botnets are quite valuable in the black market, and it’s folly to think that you might somehow be spared within such an obvious channel.
There may be no absolute protections, but you can raise the cost to those who wish to damage you.
jd/adobe
April 19th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
I certainly see your point. A company needs to protect its interests. But I think a company, no matter how strong their position in the market, should never forget the reason why they are in business: the customers.
Activation schemes make it more “difficult” (to some extent) for software pirates, but many times the customer also pays the price.
Software companies are focusing on fighting the pirates. This results in more expensive development, which is ultimately paid by the loyal customers.
Pirates, on the other hand, are still able to use the software. So a lot of money is being spent on measures that are, at best, completely ineffective.