In article , Mayayana
wrote:

| Have you tried either GIMP or Photoshop CS2? The latter is free now,
|
| cs2 is *not* free.
|
| it's available for those with existing licenses.
|
| So much the better then since I've stopped using it. I say 'so much
| the better' meaning I'm not violating anything.

That's an interesting situation. They posted all of their
v. C2 programs with keys and a notice that use of them
was only valid if they were obtained from Adobe. Check.

But apparently they didn't expect that a lot of people
would be content to use an old version rather than buy
new. (I'm guessing it was originally intended as a way to
dump support for their old customers while also releasing
a teaser demo to get new customers. It backfired.)

as usual, you guess wrong.

at the time the cs2 activation servers were taken offline, cs2 was
roughly a decade old and didn't work on then current systems (even less
so now), so there was no point in keeping them online anymore. nobody
was buying new copies of cs2.

however, existing cs2 customers might need to reinstall on the hardware
they had, so adobe needed to provide a solution for that situation.

in other words, it's the exact *opposite* of dumping support for their
old customers. adobe went out of their way to continue supporting them.

So later they posted a notice that the software and
keys were only for people with existing licenses and I think
they required personal info. Why would they offer a
download if the keys were only for people who already
had the software? Their patch-up on the situation made
no sense.

it wasn't a patch-up, it makes perfect sense, and they don't require
personal info.

again, the cs2 keys were for *existing* cs2 users who needed to
reinstall on their existing hardware. extended support.

it was never intended as a freebie for everyone. people incorrectly
*assumed* that.

So... If you downloaded it from an unrestricted link
then it's perfectly legal. On the other hand, Adobe has
a lot more money and lawyers than you do... So your
legal rights don't mean much.

it's not legal to use unless someone previously purchased cs2. period.

however, the reality is that it's impossible to enforce and people will
pirate it anyway, which they were doing all along.