need help / opinions?

[KieCollins]

yo, by any means i am NOT promoting piracy for sofware, i have the FULL un pirated version of photoshop & illustrator that i pay for each month. and will continue to pay for each month.

im just wondering what are the consequences of having cracked versions of the software? a few designers i have spoke with say they got EVERYTHING on the creative cloud for nothing and said they have never payed for it ever, but i spoke to smomeone and he said its a very dangeroud game as adobe are trying to crack down on all this! can i have anyones opinion? just never seen a thread like this. thanks.

 

[hankscorpio]

It's your risk to take.

I suppose, you wouldn't get any official support from Adobe if anything went wrong.

There are documented law cases
http://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/f...ver-the-retailers-pirated-copies-of-photoshop

That's the most recognisable one of late.


The thing is - you can use software that is pirated - but it's your risk. If you piss someone off they can report you to the company in question, in this case Adobe.
This could include things like potential staff you have down the line if you decide to take on an employee, and you use pirated software, piss off your employee they could report you and your company - and then that would not end well for you or your company.

Wiil Adobe find out? Probably, if someone reports it.

https://www.adobe.com/ie/genuine.html
https://adobe.allegiancetech.com/cgi-bin/qwebcorporate.dll?idx=AGSBBD

Another piece
https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/genuine/faq.html


It's up to you - you run the risk of being caught.


Did any of us use illegal pirated software sometime in the past?
Yes, I know I did. But I pay for it now that I'm older, wiser and making good money from it.
And if I make money from it - then who am I to deny the people who made the software, that make me money, to make money too.

 

[Paul Murray]

Forget about it. If they can prove you're using their software without an appropriate license, they have ever legal right to enforce their terms and take you to court, maybe even make an example of you with a huge fine. Everyone thinks it will never happen to them, but there have been cases in the past of pirates getting served with legal documents from using services like Napster back in the day. Not to mention, most cracked software is running malware and probably tracking your every move, possibly even turning your machine into part of a botnet. You don't want to find out you've unwillingly been part of a DDoS attack on a big name's server because that WILL get you in some serious shit.

If people don't pay for software eventually it won't exist. Cracking down on piracy is likely one of the reasons Adobe switched to monthly billing. Making it more affordable by spreading the cost is good, but some people will pirate anything if they can because that's just their nature. Paying £50 a month for a software subscription can be a lot to some people, but Adobe literally give you access to everything for that £50 (whether you'll ever use even half of it is another matter entirely).

If you're using software as a hobbyist or just learning then I personally don't see much harm in it. Pirate versions of Adobe were everywhere when I was at uni, even with the massive student discount you get. But if you're making money from pirated software then I believe you absolutely should be paying for it. I pay close to £1000 a year just for all the software I need which is factored into the rates I charge. Studios it's probably 10x that, even more for some. If someone's not making enough money to pay for their subscription then they should either switch to cheaper software, or get more work.