Just like Microsoft would be screwed without pirated copies of Windows floating around street corners across the globe.
Without pirated copies of Photoshop, it would have a truly limited market. Look at the bloody price of it to figure out why.
Pirates plunder Adobe Creative Suite 4
Summary
Adobe's Creative Suite 4 has shown up on popular BitTorrent tracking sites in large numbers, little more than a week after its global launch
Topics
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.
The software represents updates to Adobe's flagship Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat and InDesign products, among others, with the full Master Collection edition, which includes the entire range, selling in the UK for around £1,969 (ex VAT).
However, several casual searches conducted by ZDNet.com.au revealed what appeared to be copies of CS4 and its various included products littered across most of the popular BitTorrent tracking sites--although the files were not downloaded to verify if they were genuine.
For example, on The Pirate Bay, hundreds of people were downloading the Mac OS X version of Photoshop (a 1GB file), while others were splashing out for the 7.2GB Master Collection edition, which appeared to be a leaked pre-lease version of the software. A number of beta versions of the software were also popular, as were illicit serial numbers.
The downloading frenzy even spread to the training field, with videos from educational site Lynda.com (which charges for its content on a subscription model) explaining CS4's new features available for BitTorrent download.
It was a similar case at Mininova, where several dozen people were downloading Photoshop CS4, although Flash CS4 was also generating interest.
In a curious phenomenon, despite the availability of Photoshop CS4, the previous version, CS3, which was released in early 2007, was still much more popular than the latest version.
On the Pirate Bay, thousands of people were downloading or hosting downloads of Photoshop CS3 and the complete CS3 Master Collection. It was a similar situation on Mininova, but on a smaller scale. Lynda's CS3 training suites were also extremely popular, as were ebooks, or scanned copies of real books, that dealt with CS3 training.
Adobe Australia declined to comment on the pirating effort.
Creative Suite is Adobe's software aimed at content professionals; the company also sells an 'Elements' line at a substantially cheaper price that offers a reduced feature set to consumers.
Talkback Most Recent of 25 Talkback(s)
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Henaway2nd Oct 2008 -
Incorrect
Adobe became the de-facto standard
with the professional graphics trade because they make an excellent and
reliable product. The cost of the
product is miniscule compared to the
value of the product produced by it.
Any graphics shop with reasonable
business can recoup the cost of the
entire Creative Suite package in a day.
There is no reason for the home user to
buy Photoshop or the other professional
Adobe products. All contain many
features that are only of use to
professional graphics users. There are
many low priced graphics products for
home users, including Photoshop
elements.
j.m.galvin2nd Oct 2008 -
Home users?
I think you are misunderstanding what 'home' users want the software for.
Many people who use Photoshop - at least in my experience, in the groups I have collaborated with - want something more extensive than MS Paint or Corel Snapfire, but are not graphics professionals. This includes many people who produce graphics for free use on the Internet. Your assumption is flawed and over-generalized.
lassarina2nd Oct 2008 -
Ever hear of Photoshop Elements or PSP?
Quote
"I think you are misunderstanding what 'home' users want the software for."
I have to counter that you don't understand either and that your assumption is flawed and over-generalized.
Photoshop appx $699 and Photoshop Elements appx $139 are targeted to different "audiences". The full Photoshop CS4/CS3/CS2 etc were targeted for graphic professionals.
Photoshop Elements is targeted for home users.
A competing program similar to Photoshop Elements from Corel is called Paint Shop Pro appx $100.
Quote
"Many people who use Photoshop - at least in my experience, in the groups I have collaborated with - want something more extensive than MS Paint or Corel Snapfire, but are not graphics professionals."
That would be Photoshop Elements or Corel Paint Shop Pro. These have those features beyond MS Paint but ARE NOT $699. Those are often bundled with digi cams, printers and scanners.
I just love all these "experts" that post here ....
YOU DID NOT READ THE POST YOU DISAGREE WITH CAREFULLY DUUUUHHHHHH !!!!!!!!
ibtechnologies@...6th Nov 2008 -
All the experts that post here
You probably complain about all the sinners in church too...
deanders7th Nov 2008 -
Hey, my wife specifically wanted Photoshop on her PC...
just so she can resize and crop her digital photos...
go figure...
Four-Eyes6th Nov 2008 -
Actually very correct.
Without pirated copies where do you think people gain skills in using professional products like photoshop?
You don't actually think that the average lab time a student gets in a technical or traditional college is time enough do you?
No, they have pirated versions and they start editing for fun on photos of family of friends or even enter the occasional Fark.com Photoshop contest.
I know this was the case with me installing a Windows domain, exchange, SQL at my house and continually gaining skill in using and administering those programs.
Later I eventually did the Same with Linux, Apache, Mysql, PHP & Perl.
Products like photoshop are an acquired taste and takes quite a while to become proficient at.
Suicida|6th Oct 2008 -
Actually very correct?
Quote
"Products like photoshop are an acquired taste and takes quite a while to become proficient at."
THAT IS WHY THERE ARE CHEAPER VERSIONS FOR HOME USERS **DUH** $138 vs $699
All you "experts" should know there are home user versions of PS like "Elements" and PRO Versions of PS like CS4.
Theft is theft, that is why Adobe and many other companies offer home users a great price break so they don't have to STEAL the PRO version. 90% of CS4 features are in "Elements" the missing 10% are only somthing a real PRO would need.ibtechnologies@...6th Nov 2008 -
This is news?
I'm sure you could type "paraplegic hooker" into BitTorrent,
and it'd have something relevant for you.
Pirates are plundering every program anyone's charging
money for.
Why not write an article on people stealing copies of, I
dunno, Super Solitaire?
Also, given the ten times lower price of the educational
version, I don't think people really need to be pirating this.
Adobe's software is the 'de-facto standard' because it's
the best.
GrubLord2nd Oct 2008 -
Alas, the limitations of the Internet...
I could not find a single torrent related to the term "paraplegic hooker". Perhaps this CS4 piracy is a big deal after all.
A. Cepek8th Oct 2008 -
RE: Pirates plunder Adobe Creative Suite 4
I would agree with other posts here. This is NOT news. ANY software can be found within torrent searches.
Windows '95? Yup. Is this important news to anyone who has been reading news reports for the last 5 years? No. In fact, I believe the story was written primarily to allow the writer to use the cute tite: "Pirates Plunder..". ANY software, movie, or song title could have been used.
As far as this being news? Sure; just as my special report below is news too!
NEWS BULLETIN:
The STATE of California is STILL a state of the United States of America! I will report this to you every SINGLE day...until it is no longer a state...which by the way, WOULD actually be news...
profsmichael@...2nd Oct 2008 -
ARRRRG!!!!
Pirates on the Internets?
Never heard of such a thing!!! What a silly notion. I think the author is making this up. Next thing you know ppl will be complaining about ppl pirating MP3s. Lord knows THAT will never happen.
Duke E. Love4th Oct 2008 -
Grrr.....
Beat me to it.Suicida|6th Oct 2008 -
RE: Pirates plunder Adobe Creative Suite 4
What do they expect when they ask more than Microsoft does for the Operating system that runs there computer?
I would never pay that for CS4
ikit-claw6th Oct 2008 -
Love all these experts
Of course **YOU** wouldn't pay $699 for CS4.
If you had a clue you would know that Photoshop Elements is about $139 and has most of the features that an average home user with a digicam would ever need. That should be a program that **YOU** should buy.
graphic PROS like myself DO pay $699 for PS CS4 BECAUSE WE MAKE OUR LIVING FROM IT and the extras that it has that PS Elements doesn't ... we need those and the casual user doesn't.
Do you suppose Adobe is so foolish to charge $699 for when nobody would buy it? They charge that much because **there is a demand for it** and it is a awesome tool for those that truly need the power.
For those that don't need PRO capability you can buy a more affordable version at $139 for those that don't need the extra power.
Comparing CS4 to to a MS OS ... just love all you experts here.ibtechnologies@...6th Nov 2008
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