Consumer rights topic: software permanent licenses and company disabling the activation servers

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Consumer rights topic: software permanent licenses and company disabling the activation servers

Posted: 5/25/2022 11:06:06 AM EDT

Any legal experts on this topic?

Long story short. A software company acquired another and shortly after decided to shut down the activation servers for the software of the company it acquired, making the owners of permanent licenses (not subscriptions) of the software not able to activate; therefore not able to use them. Its customer support even suggested buying the software of the company that purchased the other software company because the "old one" is no longer supported. Software isn't even that old (circa 2014). There should be legislation covering this issue. This is not supporting software, it's preventing its owners from using it.

What are the legal recourses in this case?

Besides filing a complaint on the BBB, are there other recourses? Are there other agencies where to formalize a complaint?

Going public on social media exposing the scammer can help?

Thanks in advance!

Posted: 5/25/2022 12:19:43 PM EDT

[#1]

2014 is old and it is likely that the TOS for the software will have a clause for this.

Posted: 5/25/2022 12:36:37 PM EDT

[#2]

Realistically, you should look at this as an opportunity to get better software. Using the old software for several years, you now know what it does well and what it sucks at. Take this opportunity to find a product that actually meets your needs better than the old software.

Posted: 5/26/2022 12:27:20 AM EDT

[#3]

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2014 is old and it is likely that the TOS for the software will have a clause for this.

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Did not see anything related to this. The customer support even recognized that the decision to turn the serves off is recent.

Posted: 5/26/2022 12:34:24 AM EDT

[#4]

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Quoted:
Realistically, you should look at this as an opportunity to get better software. Using the old software for several years, you now know what it does well and what it sucks at. Take this opportunity to find a product that actually meets your needs better than the old software.

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The software was one of the best at the time. It's Cakewalk, which is used to manage music and its metadata. It was purchased by Bandlab, some kind of opportunistic parasite company without any business ethics.

I started looking for an alternative. And this time will not have any qualms about using a pirate copy if I find one. I've been respecting the software companies' property rights but after seeing that they cannot care less about the consumers' rights I lost all respect for them.

So, it's two different things. One is I'll get a replacement. The other is exposing those parasites.

Posted: 5/26/2022 11:00:48 PM EDT

[#5]

Welcome to Adobe.

Oh, that software you purchased and have all your work product in? Yeah, your activation is now invalid, we're deprecating the activation servers, and if you want access to your stuff, you have to sign up for our subscription model.

Sorry, that's all I got.

Posted: 5/27/2022 3:35:46 PM EDT

[#6]

Licenses are all about the revenue stream, and you are right they don't care about you, you paid the last guys, not them... My suggestion is search for open source software that does what you need, even if you have to buy a license because you are commercial, you are still better off. Pm me if you have questions...

Posted: 5/27/2022 3:39:43 PM EDT

[#7]

Well, you can sue anyone for just about anything, but best read that license agreement in detail first.

Posted: 6/7/2022 10:00:01 AM EDT

[#8]

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Quoted:
Welcome to Adobe.

Oh, that software you purchased and have all your work product in? Yeah, your activation is now invalid, we're deprecating the activation servers, and if you want access to your stuff, you have to sign up for our subscription model.

Sorry, that's all I got.

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Adobe is infamous for that. While doing some online reading, I found many complaints about this practice there. It seems that besides its crappy software, it's unethical business practices follow the same pattern.

I stopped using their junk a long time ago.

Posted: 6/7/2022 10:01:51 AM EDT

[#9]

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Quoted:
Licenses are all about the revenue stream, and you are right they don't care about you, you paid the last guys, not them... My suggestion is search for open source software that does what you need, even if you have to buy a license because you are commercial, you are still better off. Pm me if you have questions...

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I'm currently looking for a replacement and will no longer care about paying for the license. Since this is the game they play, consumers can do the same.

Posted: 6/7/2022 10:04:55 AM EDT

[#10]

autodesk

Posted: 6/7/2022 10:06:30 AM EDT

[#11]

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Quoted:
Well, you can sue anyone for just about anything, but best read that license agreement in detail first.

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It's not worth filing lawsuits for 100 bucks. The best in this case is exposing them and diverting potential customers to other companies. That will cost them more.

And there's nothing on the license agreement about this. At that time the shitty unethical parasites were not so prevalent in corporate like nowadays. Seeing how tech companies tend to be left leaning, it's not a surprise to see this behavior.

Posted: 6/7/2022 10:09:27 AM EDT

[#12]

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autodesk

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I saw that Autodesk moved to subscription. So, they also disabled the activation of older software versions?

Posted: 6/7/2022 11:01:58 AM EDT

[#13]

This is why as the IT admin I do everything possible to keep our software licenses non subscription and license server runs local on our hardware.
With a generator we can operate completely off grid.
Companies selling out and leaving prior customers screwed happens all the time.

Posted: 6/7/2022 11:03:56 AM EDT

[#14]

Sadly, this is pretty normal in the software/IT world. Almost everyone is trying to force consumers into subscription models so they have recurring revenue. One-time purchases are almost not a thing anymore.

Posted: 6/7/2022 11:05:26 AM EDT

[#15]

What they SHOULD do is allow those 'permanent' licenses to remain active, but stop providing any support or updates.
The flip side is that doing so can add security risks to the application ecosystem.

Posted: 6/7/2022 11:05:59 AM EDT

[#16]

Quote History

Quoted:

It's not worth filing lawsuits for 100 bucks. The best in this case is exposing them and diverting potential customers to other companies. That will cost them more.

And there's nothing on the license agreement about this. At that time the shitty unethical parasites were not so prevalent in corporate like nowadays. Seeing how tech companies tend to be left leaning, it's not a surprise to see this behavior.

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Call your state AGs office and ask for the consumer fraud section. Let them be your free lawyers.

Posted: 6/7/2022 11:10:00 AM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:

It's not worth filing lawsuits for 100 bucks. The best in this case is exposing them and diverting potential customers to other companies. That will cost them more.

And there's nothing on the license agreement about this. At that time the shitty unethical parasites were not so prevalent in corporate like nowadays. Seeing how tech companies tend to be left leaning, it's not a surprise to see this behavior.

View Quote

That's why class action lawsuits are a thing.