As we all know we now have to activate our software when we install it. But did
you know there are limits on the amount of times you may transfer your license?
Now as I understand it, when I purchased my Macromedia software I purchased a
license that would never expire providing I did not breach the conditions of
the software license. I also know that I may install the software and activate
it on two computers legally at any one time providing I never use both installs
concurrently.
I own my own two copies which I install and uninstall regularly... always
making sure that I transfer the activation prior to de-installing and moving to
the next job. (As I understand it this process was supposed to mean that
Adobe/Macromedia could track my software and through the transfer feature I
would never be in a situation where I was exceeding the number of legally
activated installations).
Imagine my surprise when I tried to transfer my license lately when I was told
that I had exceeded the number of "Transfers". The first thing I did was call
the Adobe activation centre where I was informed that an "error" had
occurred... which is a load of rubbish as I have been in this situation once
before.
Macromedia set a limit on the amount of transfers you could do but failed to
tell anyone about it in the software licence documentation. The last time I had
to go through this Macromedia was still Macromedia and I was told the following:
Installs: 25 Transfers maximum
Re-Installs: 100 Transfers maximum
Give Backs: 10 maximum
This time I was told that I had an "error" and that the only way I could
re-install my software would be to call up when I want to activate it the next
time. So in future it begs the question of if I can no longer transfer my
activation, how many times are Adobe going to just take my word for it and
activate my software again.
My license says that it expires "never"... yeah right... provided I "never"
want to upgrade my computer.
The next question is when will Adobe drop the ball and gradually stop allowing
us to use the software we purchased a legal right to use.

....am I the only one that this does not make any sense to? did anyone else
see any details of this when they read their software license?
I am disgusted to find that these limits are in place. Providing I activate
and transfer my activation each time I should be able to do this as often as I
like since each time Adobe/Macromedia should be able to track that it is the
same serial number that is being activated and transferred each time. This
makes a mockery of a license that expires "never" since if for some reason the
folks at Adobe/Macromedia decide to not extend your amount of transfers you are
#@%&*ed!

Well that's my rant and short of a class action what are you gonna do... be
warned though.

Elliot

eliptus wrote:

> Installs: 25 Transfers maximum
> Re-Installs: 100 Transfers maximum
> Give Backs: 10 maximum
> This time I was told that I had an "error" and that the only way I could
> re-install my software would be to call up when I want to activate it the next
> time. So in future it begs the question of if I can no longer transfer my
> activation, how many times are Adobe going to just take my word for it and
> activate my software again.

Elliot, thanks for the heads up on this issue. Those of us who plan to use
FHMX for a long time have good reason to be concerned

Do you think your error could be related to this Flash activation issue?

http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_19466

"Some Macintosh users on computers that have multiple ethernet ports (for
example, the computer has both a built-in ethernet and an Airport card) may
be asked to re-activate when upgrading from an earlier version of Macromedia
Flash MX 2004 to version 7.2. After reactivating Flash MX 2004 version 7.2,
users may see an erroneous alert indicating the serial number has been
activated too many times."

I also found the Adobe activation policy

http://www.adobe.com/products/activation/

Here is a quote from part of the page.

---------------
- What happens if the product is discontinued?

Adobe is fully committed to honoring the terms of its product license
agreements. In the event that a product is discontinued, Adobe will enable
automatic approval of all activation requests for that product or provide a
means to remove activation outright. In either case, the customer will not
experience any change in software capabilities.

- Will I be able to use the software in perpetuity? What happens if Adobe
shuts down?

Adobe's product license agreements typically grant the user of an Adobe
product the right to use it in perpetuity, unless explicitly stated
otherwise. Adobe plans to honor these agreements. In the unlikely event of
the company's shutting down, we will enable automatic approval of all
activation requests or provide other technical means to allow users to
continue using our products.
---------------

Judy Arndt

> ....am I the only one that this does not make any sense to? did anyone
> else
> see any details of this when they read their software license?
> I am disgusted to find that these limits are in place.

I'm disgusted with Adobe in general, but especially in terms of the complete
lack of support for their draconian registration/licensing/install systems.

Alas, what are you going to do? They are a monopoly and know it.

Oh well.

-Darrel

Hi Judy

Thanks for the info re activation. I will have a look into the resource you
linked to see if it could have been the cause.
I suspect that its not the issue in this case as I had been transferring my
activation between a couple of computers without problems in the few months
preceding this latest activation error (I had forgotten about the earlier
experience).
I think what I find most obnoxious about the latest experience is that the
numbers provided to call go to an Adobe centric activation process that is not
relevant to the Macromedia process. You have to persist on hold until it
finally times out and gives you a polite but largely useless support person
reading from a script to talk to.
What would appear to make it even stupider is the fact that the CS3 products
actually encourage you to activate and de-activate without any mention of
limits etc (touch wood). If this is the case then one has to ask why some other
more restrictive and un-supported process is being used for Macromedia products
that are not even under development any more.
Thanks also for finding those excerpts about the licensing. Its good to know
we have something on the public record even if it could take a class action to
get them to stick to their word or implement a policy that is less difficult.
The Adobe support person was polite on the phone but also left me feeling as
if I was being treated like a software pirate. The only information he would
provide me with, was that I would need to call up next time I wanted to install
the software at which point I would be vetted as to my right to have it. He
provided no indication as to if I would have to call them every time from now
on or anything else despite further questions I put to him.
Anyway... enough ranting...

Cheers Elliot

> The Adobe support person was polite on the phone but also left me feeling
> as
> if I was being treated like a software pirate.

Coffee is for closers.

As far as I can tell, the entire support system at Adobe is to serve one
purpose: Annoy the customer to the point where they just give up and buy a
new/another copy of the software.

They don't hire support staff...they hire sales staff and stick them behind
the support phone numbers.

I'm sure it's a great revenue generator for them.

And, of course, they appear completely ignorant/oblivious to the irony that
their "anti-pirating" implementations pretty much encourage and, at times,
even force their customers to do just that to get the software they
purchased installed.

-Darrel

> As far as I can tell, the entire support system at Adobe is to serve one
> purpose: Annoy the customer to the point where they just give up and buy a
> new/another copy of the software.
>
> They don't hire support staff...they hire sales staff and stick them behind
> the support phone numbers.

It seems that at least Macromedia support staff got new jobs at Adobe. ;-)

Jukka

> It seems that at least Macromedia support staff got new jobs at Adobe. ;-)

Ha! ;o)

-Darrel

Hi Judy

Can you tell me if you have been through the process in the tech note you
directed me to?

I just had a couple of interesting experiences with Adobe activation support
and I am curious about your experiences. I just upgraded one of my computers to
Leopard and it toasted my activation and then I began receiving the activation
error again while trying to get it to re-activate.

In the screen that the tech note refers to, it provides localised phone
numbers for users to call. In Australia one of the numbers is disconnected and
the other transfers to the standard Adobe Activation system...

When I did get a person to talk to the first time, I was told that FreeHand is
not supported under Leopard and therefore they did not have to help me activate
it. I questioned this and was then put on hold and then hung up on.

The next time I called the person I spoke to had no knowledge of the tech note
you refer to, after I gave her the serial number the software mysteriously
activated without any problem the next time I was asked to try... this is
despite repeated attempts over a number of days testing.

I don't want to get into conspiracy theories or anything, however it would
appear that Adobe is actively trying to make the software difficult to activate
in order to drive users to Illustrator instead and effectively terminate the
license by default.

If anyone else runs into this problem I would suggest that they say they are
running OS X 10.3 or 10.4 regardless of what version they happen to be using.
Adobe are trying to use OS X 10.5 as a way to not have to continue providing
activation support which by default renders your software license null if you
can't activate it under the newer OS's.

They could solve this by not forcing us to activate, however then users would
not be forced to buy Illustrator when things don't work.

Another possibility is that internally Adobe will simply turn off activation
(quietly) and force people to call and go through an agonising phone call with
activation support etc. This will also have the net effect of making your
licence unusable and drive people to cross-grade to Illustrator and spend more
$$$.

Adobe should really provide us with an alternative to activation but being the
type of company they are, Im sure this will be the last option they offer
unless it becomes a legal dispute.

Just in case they terminate this thread Im going to mirror it elsewhere just
to be sure they can't brush FreeHand users under the carpet through this
interesting and devious method of not honouring the original licenses.

Let me know if you can add any other info.

Cheers

From discussions I've read on other Adobe forms, product activation is now
handled by a third-party company on contract to Adobe.

> When I did get a person to talk to the first time, I was told that FreeHand is
> not supported under Leopard and therefore they did not have to help me
> activate it. I questioned this and was then put on hold and then hung up on.

Since Leopard (OS 10.5) is the current Mac OS and Adobe still sells FreeHand
MX through its web site, this strikes me as highly unethical.

The Adobe web site gives Mac system requirements for FHMX as " Mac OS 9.1
through OS X 10.3". Maybe activation tech support takes that as an excuse to
refuse to serve you.

http://www.adobe.com/products/freeha...fo/systemreqs/

Judy Arndt

I would love to see them try to support Mac OS 9.1!! Now that would be
funny. I think they are better off trying to support 10.5.

Rich

Judy Arndt wrote:
> From discussions I've read on other Adobe forms, product activation is now
> handled by a third-party company on contract to Adobe.
>
>> When I did get a person to talk to the first time, I was told that FreeHand is
>> not supported under Leopard and therefore they did not have to help me
>> activate it. I questioned this and was then put on hold and then hung up on.
>
> Since Leopard (OS 10.5) is the current Mac OS and Adobe still sells FreeHand
> MX through its web site, this strikes me as highly unethical.
>
> The Adobe web site gives Mac system requirements for FHMX as " Mac OS 9.1
> through OS X 10.3". Maybe activation tech support takes that as an excuse to
> refuse to serve you.
>
> http://www.adobe.com/products/freeha...fo/systemreqs/
>
> Judy Arndt
>