View Full Version : Adobe cs is yours genuine
I bought mine (at a computer fair), but have seen this another forum.
Adobe have just launched a patch in a hidden auto-update to terminate all cracked versions of Adobe CS3 product's using serials from common Key Generators such as ZWT and Paradox... If you have ANY CS3 product's you will get a "License Invalid" on next startup after auto updating!
.
I'll allow this topic as a warning to people to not buy hooky versions of CS3, because you'll get caught, and it wont be worth the bargain price you paid for it.
However, please don't discuss methods / sources of copyrighted material, or anything that promotes or aids piracy ;).
Thanks!
thanks for the heads up :)
Is this true? I know there's plenty of scare stories like this around.
would be unlikely as key generators, generate random numbers.
or anything that promotes or aids piracy .
Marcel does that include the company itself, as the new pricing structure that makes Adobe Creative Suite CS3 81% more expensivein UK than its US counterparts. Now thats piracy at a coprporate level :D
Not promoting piracy but how did an over priced suite of packages including photoshop become the worlds leading packages. Nobody would just pick up an X priced product to try so somewhere along the line somebody had to try it :lol:
Jimmy_Lemon
11-09-2007, 10:00
Not promoting piracy but how did an over priced suite of packages including photoshop become the worlds leading packages. Nobody would just pick up an X priced product to try so somewhere along the line somebody had to try it :lol:
Hence the 30day free trial ;)
Jonnyreb
11-09-2007, 10:03
If more people paid, rather than stole, a fairer pricing policy may be forthcoming. Or is that naive to expect from either party?
I'm given to understand by my trusted Mac expert (and a professional designer) that CS3 has shedloads of anti-counterfeit features to catch out the unwary. It's really not worth buying anything other than the full retail version. BTW the student edition is apparently not cut down in any way - so find a student of something arty......
If there are anti-conterfeit features in it, then there will be people able to find a way round it. Every 'security' measure has a way round it.
These days if its done on a computer it can be undone, if you have the knowledge and time and inclination. I have none of these btw.
I can't help but feel if Photoshop was £100 - £200 (i.e a lot cheaper) more people would buy it rather than use copies, i think the same is true of Windows and other software as well.
Personally I don't believe any of the "My mates sisters roommates hamsters next door neighbours terrorist ex-boyfriend" stories. *If* CS3 was full of spyware or anti-piracy measure it would be all over the internet. There are forum posts on 3 forums that I found to support paulc's original post, but theres no major "OMG!!" post on any major sites. As for the price, I feel its perfectly justified. When you think about how much time you spend using PS its software L glass. Of course it would be nice if it was cheap, so would an 85mm f/1.2 but its not.
Geordi69
11-09-2007, 11:54
The student edition what you can get via the adobe site direct, all you need is student ID is £140 for CS3 photoshop extended version. I think that is a good saving over the £880 retail price!!!
Lightroom is £82.
It's worth just signing up for a part time evning course at your local college, get your ID then send of for photoshop.
Cheerz:thumbs:
HIMUPNORTH
11-09-2007, 11:55
Gotta agree with Pete.
I started, like many others with a pirate copy of PS software but now have a fully paid for version. They probably accept a certain amount of piracy as a an "intoductory promotion" :lol:
antihero
11-09-2007, 12:21
If you use a pirated version, you deserve all you get if you download updates IMO, and the software companies understandingly have to protect their products. Yes, you can get it very cheap if you are a student, but what about people that aren't students but still want to use it for non-commercial work (and i'm guessing this band has the highest usage of pirated software) ? Maybe there should be another inbetween pricing for them. What would be better for Adobe, £400 or another pirated version floating about?
Hence the 30day free trial
didnt always have 30 day trial.
If more people paid, rather than stole, a fairer pricing policy may be forthcoming. Or is that naive to expect from either party?
Jonnyreb in an ideal world yes.... but opposite side of coin for photoshop etc it was originally aimed at the buisness world ie print houses etc who mainly used MACs, the price was high as it had a limited market. Over the years it has become more appealing to PC owners and general public as a consequence they generally sell more, a lot more ... did they drop the price to be more competitive... emmm no :lol:
I got the student rate after signing for the OU course, (approx £140 for the extended) I certainly wouldn't have paid full price though ( £800 odd) ( or indeed pirated it either)
As for the price, I feel its perfectly justified
Fully justified that the UK version is Adobe Creative Suite CS3 81% more expensive in UK than its US counterparts and proberly more expensive than it is in Europe (though haven't checked up on that)
That must due to the exchange rate or the VAT, or maybe the cost in translating it from American to English. Until companies stop treating the UK as a place to charge more for their products as they know we'll pay it, my mate of a mate of a mate of a mate ( i forget his name and all details) will continue to use his dodgy copy of cs3.
Jonnyreb
11-09-2007, 15:00
That must due to the exchange rate or the VAT, or maybe the cost in translating it from American to English. Until companies stop treating the UK as a place to charge more for their products as they know we'll pay it, my mate of a mate of a mate of a mate ( i forget his name and all details) will continue to use his dodgy copy of cs3.
VAT and Gordon Brown. Trading position isn't great for Uk companies let alone importing to UK!!!! But, ultimatley, we live in rip-off Britain and have 10 years of scumbags and highwaymen to thank for it.
it is quite true that the invisible update patch exists and on the forum were I got the information from, there have been trusted members (Trusted members who use copied software ha ha ha) who have already had the licence invalid at startup....
I bought a copy at a computer fair (holds hands up) but need a better pc before I am able to run it...so ill stick with my psp.
You seem to be forgetting that Adobe Photoshop is aimed at the Professional and serious amateur photographers.
It is a very powerful piece of software, which requires a lot of development, (which costs money).
Put yourself in their position. Would you sell something you've created at a loss?
Adobe Photoshop Elements is aimed at the Photography enthusiasts.
It has many of the tools used by its bigger brother.
It is very capable of creating the same results as it too.
So ask yourself a question. What category do you come in?
a) Professional and serious amateur photographers.
b) Photography enthusiasts.
If you’re using a none licensed version, and have done for a while.
Maybe its time you started to pay the company back which has given you such a great tool.
ruralscotland
11-09-2007, 16:05
The licence expired problem does not just relate to fake copies!! If you also have a genuine copy, but tried the 30 day free trial then more than likely your genuine copy will also throw up the license expiry problem.
It would appear that the trial software is conflicting with the genuine one and fake ones.
This is easily cured and as I am not breaking any rules, I will share as it's on Adoves own site, in fact no, go to Adobe site and see for yourself.
Allan
Yup, there is a problem with the original Beta and the latest versions.
You need to use the Adobe Photoshop Clean script, available from their site, if it's causing problems.
What happens is that the original Beta might have left some files behind, which are now expiring....
ruralscotland
11-09-2007, 16:12
Told ya:thumbs:
price was nothing to do with exchange rate or VAT as some states in US are probably just as badly taxed . few examples below
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39286561,00.htm
http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx/.3bc396a7
http://wildwinter.blogspot.com/2007/03/adobe-uk-prices.html
It is a very powerful piece of software, which requires a lot of development, (which costs money).
Put yourself in their position. Would you sell something you've created at a loss?
magpieant
11-09-2007, 16:44
Interesting thread this one.
I recently read an article in a photography mag, (may have been photography monthly?), in which the author did a price comparison between the UK and the USA. In the article, the guy flew from London Heathrow to JFK airport, stayed for 2 nights, bought CS3 and flew home. All for cheaper than he'd have paid for it in the UK.
Is this just another example of rip off Britain? (Petrol, CD's, concert tickets, ect).
My personal view .... whilst I appreciate all of the hard wotk that goes into designing these pieces of software, I cannot afford (or justify) spending £800 - 900 on a single piece of software. Yes I use CS 3 (an extended 30 day trial - not 100% sure of the legalities if I'm honest - but no keygen used) on a regular basis. Yes I think it's a fantastic piece of software that does everything I want and more.
But, as stated above, for those of us that are interested in photography enough to use it, not professionals and not students - then I think the asking price is extortion.
***UPDATE*** - mate has just arrived and having read this over my shoulder ... reckons that as I am a teacher, i too can qualify for the educational discount. ***
The reduced / student price is far more acceptable.
Rant over.
;)
Cheers.
Anth
***UPDATE*** - mate has just arrived and having read this over my shoulder ... reckons that as I am a teacher, i too can qualify for the educational discount. ***
The reduced / student price is far more acceptable.
Rant over.
;)
Cheers.
Anth
I am sure you do check it out ( there is a "teacher section on the R/H/S
https://store2.adobe.com/cfusion/store/html/index.cfm?store=OLS-EDU-UK&
The student copy is definately value for money however, the educational licence doesn't cover you for commerical work (making money). You are in the same position with an illegal copy/student copy if you are selling your prints.
I expect that piracy will get its share of the blame too. There's always figures floating around estimating how much piracy is costing the s/w industry all of which are plucked from the air and are based on the number of pirated copies in existence as if somehow that directly relates to the number of lost sales. I can imagine the meeting:
Upper Middle Management: Sir, reports show there are an estimated 100,000 pirated copies of our latest product being downloaded each month.
CEO: Whoa, at $1000 a shot that means we've lost $100,000,000 in sales. We have to recover the loss.
UMM: Well I guess we could increase the prices due to the increase in illegal copying...
The truth of the matter is that s/w sales aren't affected by piracy nearly as much as the companies would like you to believe. In order to lose a sale it needs to have been a genuine (not potential) one in the first place.
The other reason is the cost of doing business in the UK/Europe. Using a very basic business model you can see that this reasoning is flawed because the increased price per unit would be the same regardless of the product and not disproportionate as it currently is.
http://www.itsnotarace.com/junk/photoshoplift.jpg
All software for home use should be free, if you make money out of it you should pay full whack.
The truth of the matter is that s/w sales aren't affected by piracy nearly as much as the companies would like you to believe. In order to lose a sale it needs to have been a genuine (not potential) one in the first place.
Quoted for truth, same problem facing the porn studios
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070910-porn-industry-hard-up-for-solutions-to-piracy-problem.html
Piccionelli estimates that no more than 15 or 20 percent of the porn in the wild is legitimate—for an estimated $50 billion industry, that could mean a lot in lost sales, although it is highly debatable whether many of those downloading XXX features on their P2P network of choice would have purchased those titles instead.
I have as a generalisation no sympathy for companies trying to rip us off in Britain.
For example, I quite legally and above board bought UK spec Land Rover Discoveries in Belguim, imported them in, paid the vat ,ran them for a year then sold them for more than I paid in the first place.
OK the differential (ug!!) has now come down as so many people were doing it but why does it happen in the first place??
Another example, the new 1Ds mk 3. Great, £5999 (or $12000) in the UK.
How much in the US?
Order one today on Amazon it's $7999!!
If that isn't a rip off, what is? and I don't buy all this ballocks about taxes etc, Most you'd pay is an extra 17.5% vat on importing.
So wake up Adobe, Canon and all you rip-off merchants and good luck to Kerso and people like him who are trying to give us cheaper products in the UK.
Now don't let me get started on hotel prices here.....!!!:bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk:
shiato storm
11-09-2007, 19:15
get a tent?
magpieant
11-09-2007, 19:37
George - RE the importing - you'd also pay import tax too :) (about 20% me thinks plus your VAT)
Tphoto - re your comment about selling your prints .....
IF I was to buy CS3 on an educational licence, does this mean that I would not be allowed to use that software to enhance a picture that I then sold on ??? Even though I took the photo, own copyright etc in the first place?
Seems crazy saying as it's my image in the first place.
Anth.
Anth, don't think so, no tax on cameras. Will try and find the link tomorrow. VAT, yes.
Any student on any course can purchase a copy, mature student, uni student, school kid, just as long as it is registered in their name. I believe the student version is not upgradable i.e. you cannot upgrade to CS4, but I might be wrong on that.
So, if you have a mate with a school kid, and as long as you get some ID from the school (need to check what), or as already been suggested, get yourself on a course at the local college, you can get CS3 Extended for £145 delivered from Adobe. You can also buy it from Amazon and fill out the form that comes with it for slightly less. You can buy one version a year.
Hope this helps
The student copy is definately value for money however, the educational licence doesn't cover you for commerical work (making money). You are in the same position with an illegal copy/student copy if you are selling your prints.
I find that slightly difficult to believe
Scenario ( and quite a legitimate one at that)
Said student gets CS3 for say £150,
Said student then goes on to get a Bsc or whatever in photography / image manipulation
Said student then starts his own business
( after all that's why he/ she went to uni in the first place, contrary to popular belief :D )
and uses CS3 because they can't afford any upgrade that may be around in a few years time and / or is very comfortable using that particular version.
Are Adobe going to "go after" Said enterprising young person? or ban them from using their software any further
at that point? I doubt it.
Up until quite recently I used to not own a single original product...:nono:
Now ive changed and can see the benefit of using Legit bought software, id say 99% of the software installed on my Macs and Pcs is installed off original disks.
I will admit to having a dodgy CS3 installed on my current computer, but thats because I have bought PSCS3 for Mac, but, I dual boot (MacOSX +WinXP pro) and the Mac license code isnt Windows compatible which basically isnt acceptable... I have paid Full retail price for CS2 and the CS3 update and im unable to legally use it when im booted into WinXPpro... Adobe Lightroom on the other hand, the license is multi-platform, which is good. :)
magpieant
11-09-2007, 21:51
George...
Cheers - never knew that about cameras .. just found this from the AP site ...
"Digital still cameras - currently exempt from import duty because they are classed as information technology products - could fall into the 'camcorder' category because many now include a facility to record short movie sequences."
Everyday's a school day!!!
As for the Photoshop / student sells prints licence discussion - I agree with you too Cobra. How could that possibly be enforced ???
Anth.
Jonnyreb
11-09-2007, 22:19
Using a very basic business model you can see that this reasoning is flawed because the increased price per unit would be the same regardless of the product and not disproportionate as it currently is.
The biggest issue is fluctuations in currency rates. Dependent on the country in which your company is registered, you can gain and also lose in a huge way once conversion is factored into your bottom line. It all looks like figures on a P&L, but has a huge impact depending on which Government creams off your business tax.
I always found PS too cumbersome and overblown for my needs so I've happy sticking to PSP. There's no way I'd support such blatent rip off pricing either. I can understand how some of the practicalities can affect pricing (economy of scale etc) but in the days of digital downloading there's no real reason why a consumer in Europe couldn't just buy software from the US side (as I've done on many occasions for a straight $ conversion) unless you're out for some profiteering.
I've also never understood the attitude that dodgy copies represent 'lost' sales though. You either have £800 or you don't and I'm pretty sure most that skipped payment could never justify such an investment. So not really a lost sale.
Most of those I know with illegal copies never use it for anything much more complex than basic editing and cropping anyway, for them it's the market leader and 'free'.
Doubt it will change much in the near future, despite quality competition from PSP and the like Adobe pretty much have a monopoly and they know it well.
Now ive changed and can see the benefit of using Legit bought software
Which would be?
Which would be?
he can run faster with less lose change in his pocket :lol:
Jonnyreb
12-09-2007, 08:30
I can understand how some of the practicalities can affect pricing (economy of scale etc) but in the days of digital downloading there's no real reason why a consumer in Europe couldn't just buy software from the US side (as I've done on many occasions for a straight $ conversion) unless you're out for some profiteering.
Thats a fair point, but multi-nationals have standards and accounting burdens that do not affect local business'. Your adobe purchases in the UK have to come from Ireland and, ergo, EEC treaties dictate pricing structure and duty.
I'm not defending Adobe's pricing - I think its too high, but I dont think the blame lies solely with them for the price they command in the US and the UK
http://www.amanwithapencil.com/adobe.html is an interesting read...
Jonnyreb
12-09-2007, 08:46
That is interesting, but flawed. The application of sales tax is only sepreate under US law where it varies by state. That aside, it really demonstrates Rip Off Britain very well!
Wonder what a student pays in the US??
Can someone tell me definitively the difference between the Student and full version of CS 3?
Looks b*gger all on the Adobe site!!
Which would be?
Product support for one, ive been able to directly ask companies for help and additional features, shortcuts adding to new versions... Ive been given several alpha and beta releases of some programs for me to use and report on.
Direct news and offers from companies, patches and updates without worrying that its going to fubar the installation. No fear that the photos, files etc.. im exporting have dodgy exif/watermark info letting potential buyers know im using a dodgy version.
cowasaki
12-09-2007, 19:52
If more people paid, rather than stole, a fairer pricing policy may be forthcoming. Or is that naive to expect from either party?
A bit naive I would say. They charge what they can get away with, its as simple as that. My advice is to make sure the kids go to college and get a student discount !!
cowasaki
12-09-2007, 20:02
Just for information, the student version is the same as the normal version as far as I can see.
http://www.student-software.co.uk/
Will show you the various pricing options. You need to place the order as normal and then email a copy of the student card or letter OR teaching qualification.
Photoshop is £139
Design OR Web standard are £162 each
Production OR Design premium are £245 each
Master collection is £410
As far as I can see there is no upgrade path BUT it is 60%+ cheaper than the normal price anyway!
I bought the master collection and saved £1000+ (I think)
The other option of course, is to know someone in the US and get them to send it to you as a "gift." You've paid for the software, but at US prices, not the over inflated UK ones.
Of course, this is reliant on knowing someone in the US ;)
Mattyh, surely you are cheaper getting the student versiion here?
True.. If you are / know a student. If not, then it's better to get it sent over.
I thought everyone under 34 was a student these days thanks to our enlightened lords and masters???:cuckoo::cuckoo::cuckoo:
barbaricacidman
13-09-2007, 13:57
well at the end of the day it really does show how much we are ripped off in this country! i agree that the designers have to make some money from selling their produst but why should we pay so much more than anyone else?
rip off britain!!!!
localisation guys, localisation! :lol:
Well, to sum up, looks like the student version is the most cost effective if indeed it is the same as the full one, if you can lay your hands on it.
Has anyone got one?
The other option of course, is to know someone in the US and get them to send it to you as a "gift." You've paid for the software, but at US prices, not the over inflated UK ones.
Of course, this is reliant on knowing someone in the US ;)
Kerso should go into software :D
vBulletin® v3.7.3, Copyright ©2000-2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.