http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57562515-263/adobe-releases-creative-suite-2-for-free/

Wow, wait, WTF?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/adriankingsleyhughes/2013/01/07/download-adobe-cs2-applications-for-free/

Oh, I see...

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Here's another story about it...

http://www.itworld.com/consumerization-it/334669/free-adobe-creative-suite-cs2-maybe-maybe-not

Out of curiosity, I followed some links there, and found that all the apps are
still available (as I write this)--and at Adobe's own site!

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html

It seems that Adobe had a technical glitch--resulting in the software being made
available for free(!), whether that was intended or not.  Then they did an
about-face and 'clarified' that--but all the software is *still* available(!!),
and without the need for any pre-existing licenses or what-have-you. So who am I
to turn down such a fabulous offer?

This situation reminds me of the old board game MONOPOLY: "Adobe makes error in
your favor, collect free software"  ;-)

I expect some heads to roll at Adobe, over this.

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On 14/01/2013 06:12 AM, Kenneth wrote:

> It seems that Adobe had a technical glitch--resulting in the software being made
> available for free(!), whether that was intended or not.  Then they did an
> about-face and 'clarified' that--but all the software is *still* available(!!),
> and without the need for any pre-existing licenses or what-have-you. So who am I
> to turn down such a fabulous offer?

This *does* seem a pretty special screw-up. I mean, how many seconds 
would it take for Adobe to just take down the page while they sort 
themselves out? The fact that they have not done so makes it clear (to 
me) that nobody really cares about 8-year old software.

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Orchid Win7 v1 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>
> I mean, how many seconds
> would it take for Adobe to just take down the page while they sort
> themselves out? The fact that they have not done so makes it clear (to
> me) that nobody really cares about 8-year old software.

Apparently not (to the benefit of us all.) Yet there's plenty of life still left
in those old bones.  ;-) I expect their download page to quietly disappear in a
puff of pixie dust, at any moment--so I'm picking and choosing some nice
goodies.

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BTW, *THANKS* for posting about this. I wasn't even aware of it.

My only problem so far is my rather slow internet connection! Some of these apps
are 350MB and more. But I'm a patient guy...

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Kenneth <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> It seems that Adobe had a technical glitch--resulting in the software being made
> available for free(!), whether that was intended or not.  Then they did an
> about-face and 'clarified' that--but all the software is *still* available(!!),
> and without the need for any pre-existing licenses or what-have-you. So who am I
> to turn down such a fabulous offer?

"Can be downloaded and installed" does not mean "legal".

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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On Mon 14/01/13 16:14, Warp wrote:
> Kenneth <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>> It seems that Adobe had a technical glitch--resulting in the software being made
>> available for free(!), whether that was intended or not.  Then they did an
>> about-face and 'clarified' that--but all the software is *still* available(!!),
>> and without the need for any pre-existing licenses or what-have-you. So who am I
>> to turn down such a fabulous offer?
>
> "Can be downloaded and installed" does not mean "legal".

Adobe will find it very hard to convince a judge/jury that someone 
downloading that software from their own site should have known they 
needed to already own or buy a license. Unless it states something 
obvious when you install it (not just in amongst a million lines of EULA).

It's common practise for software companies to release old versions of 
their software for free after a certain amount of time, why would 
someone visiting that page think otherwise? The judge would argue that 
it would have taken only a few moments to add something like "You must 
own a license before downloading" to that page, yet they didn't/haven't.

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>> "Can be downloaded and installed" does not mean "legal".
>
> Adobe will find it very hard to convince a judge/jury that someone
> downloading that software from their own site should have known they
> needed to already own or buy a license. Unless it states something
> obvious when you install it (not just in amongst a million lines of EULA).
>
> It's common practise for software companies to release old versions of
> their software for free after a certain amount of time, why would
> someone visiting that page think otherwise? The judge would argue that
> it would have taken only a few moments to add something like "You must
> own a license before downloading" to that page, yet they didn't/haven't.

Indeed. It would take mere seconds to add a large disclaimer to the top 
of the page saying under what conditions it is legal to use this 
software. And yet, they have made no attempt to do so - even though 
several of their employees are apparently aware of the misinformation 
storming the Internet...

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Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote:

>
> "Can be downloaded and installed" does not mean "legal".
>

I agree that there might be an ethical question involved here. If the offerings
were pirated software, I would not have considered downloading any of it. (I'm
not into software pirating.) But the facts mitigate against this: Adobe itself
is offering them; there are no *obvious* legal caveats on that page against
doing so (which would have been ever-so-easy to implement, as others have
mentioned); and the download page is still active!  In essence, Adobe is saying,
"Here, take our software, it's free, regardless of what we say otherwise."
Whether or not that was originally intended is really a question for Adobe's
lawyers--and I assume the company has a few ;-) For an old and wise company like
Adobe to make available software downloads that *anyone* can access (and
*without* a pre-paid license), and then say (elsewhere!) that "This software is
only for people who have already paid money to us and who have a previous
license, so don't download it otherwise" is not only a bone-headed mistake but
the height of naivete as well.

Although I personally can't claim to have innocently 'stumbled' onto their
download page, I imagine that others have (or were perhaps simply told by a
friend that Adobe was offering 'free software' with no other explanation.) In
such a case, there is nothing on that page to indicate that the apps are *not*
freely available to everyone.

Perhaps (and I could be stretching the meaning of that word) Adobe has a hidden
agenda for doing this: To 'whet the appetite' of people who don't yet own many
of these applications but who might find them useful enough to buy the latest
and greatest versions. (I'm a good example; many of these apps are new to me,
and I'd like to try them out.) If so, it might actually make good business
sense, IMO.

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scott <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote:
> > "Can be downloaded and installed" does not mean "legal".

> Adobe will find it very hard to convince a judge/jury that someone 
> downloading that software from their own site should have known they 
> needed to already own or buy a license. Unless it states something 
> obvious when you install it (not just in amongst a million lines of EULA).

They don't have to convince any judge or jury because the law says so.
It doesn't matter *how* you get the software, if you don't have a legal
license, you can't legally use it.

> It's common practise for software companies to release old versions of 
> their software for free after a certain amount of time, why would 
> someone visiting that page think otherwise?

It doesn't matter what they think. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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