Joining Ed Foster in a Product Activation Gripe

Perhaps the biggest talking point about Photoshop CS has been the addition of product activation for Windows purchasers. Our forum members have had a bit to say about it in a recent forum discussion and poll. Currently, 63% of the voters say they won't upgrade to Photoshop CS due to product activation. Symantec is another company that's jumped on the product activation bandwagon, and Ed Foster recently posted some interesting comments about their new "digital rights management" policies, exposing some of the problems and pitfalls of this heavy-handed protection scheme.

"DRM is never about the customer's interests. And that brings back to the bigger question: what is Symantec's purpose in implementing product activation? Symantec officials continue to insist that it's all about reducing large-scale counterfeiting. But will it? Won't those Asian operations just keep on cranking out those 50-cent CDs anyway? After all, the counterfeiters and the spammers can slap a logo on whatever and say it's Norton AntiVirus 2004. How is having product activation in the real thing going to stop them?" [Ed Foster's Gripelog: Symantec's DRM of Choice]

First Microsoft, then Symantec, Macromedia, and now Adobe. While I have no doubt that Photoshop is one of the most frequently pirated software programs worldwide, I can't help being disappointed with Adobe's "follow-the-leader" approach. I would have expected them to pioneer an innovative and truly effective solution to the problem - as they so often do with their software. And for the record, I think the "CS" moniker is silly, too. What do you think? Come discuss it in the forum.
Also see: How to Spot and Avoid Software Piracy and Scams