Abode CS4 already the victim of software piracy

The ink has barely dried on price tags for the retail version of Adobe Creative Suite 4 image editing and design software, and already it's climbing the charts for number of illegal acquisitions.

Tech site ZDNet.com reported on Friday that CS4, which includes the latest versions of familiar software titles Photoshop and Illustrator, has already shown up in pirated form in large numbers on the web. "Little more than a week after its global launch, Adobe's Creative Suite 4 has shown up on popular BitTorrent tracking sites in large numbers," writes ZDNet Australia's Renai LeMay.

Adobe's product security has historically been somewhat lax, making Photoshop and the other components from previous versions of its pro-grade Creative Suite a popular target for software pirates.

User surveys have cited the cost of Adobe's professional-grade editing software (the current version of Creative Suite Master Collection retails for $2,499 in the U.S.) as contributing to the package's popularity in pirated form, though it seems unlikely to us that most downloaders would be less willing to bypass illegal (but free) channels for acquiring the software were it less expensive.

ZDNet has the full story.

 

There's another side to this, having CS4 out there in pirated form creates an entire generation of users who otherwise might have gone to a cheaper or even free(Gimp) alternative. It has the interesting side effect of building up a talented userbase with Photoshop experience to keep it in the lead position.

One can think of it this way: all the 10 year-olds with a pirated copy of photoshop are learning it's way of working. Whatever fraction of them, as small as it may be, become professionals, Photoshop is what they will insist on using. It doesn't negate the cost of piracy, but it might take the sting out.
Aaron

 

I've been hearing that's why they're lax about it for at least the last 10 years.