Adobe Revoking License Without Probable Cause

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I have been buying Adobe Products since 2000 from the original Adobe website and its official channels. I spent over $50.000 in the last 25 years from multiple accounts and companies to be able to use the legitimate and the original version of Adobe products.

I am software engineer myself, being said, I always respected digital products while I was able to crack each one of them. But I don't care my abilities. I follow very ethical and strict line with corporate alignment in the ideology. So, at the age of 26, 12 years ago, while no one was buying Adobe licenses, I paid $6400 that worth months of salaries, to be able to have the following 3 licenses:

1x Adobe Master Collection CS6

2x Adobe Design and Web Premium Suite

After short time, I closed my business and I opened new one on another country to be able to have better settings in life. Adobe published Creative Cloud, and I become paying customer of Creative Cloud. However, in 2024, Adobe Creative Cloud increased its price ridiculously tenfold. Yes, it's not 100% or 200% price increase. It's TENFOLD price increase in our region. I decided to turn back to use one of my LIFETIME licenses I paid in the past. Once I entered the serial, it informed me "serial is revoked". What? How?

I am a CORPORATE client with AOO Volume License that literally gives me Serial from the website, and even if someone knows the serial, they need to login the CORPORATE ACCOUNT to be able to make the serial work. No one can use these serials. Literally, no one. However, no one ever used these serials as well. I am the only person who have access to it. I even refused to share serial number with the Adobe representatives each time I reach them from the official Adobe.com domain and Live Chat function. So, if no one knows my Serial numbers, how it can be revoked due to some reasons.

I reached Adobe. They told me to go to community and share there. I am a paying customer and corporate one, I have corporate account and corporate service, I have a product of LIFETIME, and I need to share my experience in community to get support INSTEAD of having support for CORPORATE? Since when Adobe decided to end its mission? What is this behaviour? 

Let's get to the point. Revoking license can be caused by some misuse of product. Okay. I got it.

I am living in the same house and address I put on the on the invoice details of these purchases 12 years ago.

My phone number and e-mail address did not changed in the last 12 years.

My account details and anything related to me did not changed in the 12 years.

I am same person, have same contacts, have every single detail of me same, no one has ever access to my accounts or my serials, no one knows anything about what I have, HOW I MISUSE IT?

WHAT CAN BE REASON? LET'S THINK.

Option 1:

Because of tenfold price increase, I refused to pay Creative Cloud and cancelled my subscription, Adobe decided to cancel my LIFETIME licenses to force me into paying more money instead of giving me a product WHICH I PAID FOR.

Option 2:

Adobe representatives used my serial numbers and I didn't notice it and it become misuse. Since ONLY ADOBE REPRESENTATIVES ASK FOR SERIAL. And only they can reach my account.

Option 3:

I was in Ukraine before 2022, and visited Russia after 2022, Adobe decided to apply sanctions to me just because I have visited Russia despite I am being purely NATO country citizen? I have no political leaning, public speeches, standing for anyone's ideologies, don't even use social media, JUST LinkedIn itself without sharing anything on it. Did I get just sanctioned because of IP logs that collected without the consent or usage of the referred product? I am no one in the eye of internet or in the eye of any measures you can ever calculate by any country on the face of the earth.

Option 4:

Adobe just systematically cancels all the LIFETIME products to enforce former clients into more purchases illegitimately?

Or there is different option we are not aware?

Despite all the licenses I had, I used ONLY PHOTOSHOP from these $6400 licenses on a SINGLE COMPUTER for a total of NO MORE THAN 100 HOURS / YEAR, calculating maximum of 500 HOURS / 12 YEARS.

I informed Adobe. They didn't seem to care. I will be going after every legal options available if this is the case. If Adobe do this to corporate accounts, I am speechless of what might they do to end users. 

[creative explorer · Accepted solution]

@primarch.dll  Your frustration is valid and  concerning that Adobe is treating a lo ng-standing corporate customer in this manner. One of the things that you did mentioned is that you "12 years ago, you paid $6400 for one Adobe Master Collection CS6 and 2 of Adobe Design and Web Premium Suite. Recently, you decided to turn back to use one of my LIFETIME licenses I paid in the past. Once I entered the serial, it informed me "serial is revoked". What? How?

Honestly, it's highly unlikely that Adobe would directly revoke a perpetual license simply because you canceled a subscription. A serious accusation that Adobe customer service would be a significant breach of trust and security on Adobe's part. While technically possible, it's less probable without any evidence of such activity. Adobe has systems in place to track account access and actions.

Software companies sometimes implement measures based on location or potential sanctions. However, revoking a license based solely on a visit to a specific country, especially for a long-standing customer with no other indicators of policy violation, seems extreme and potentially problematic legally. Adobe would likely need a clear legal basis for such an action. Collecting IP logs without consent and retroactively applying them to a purchased license would also raise serious privacy concerns. 

While highly improbable for a perpetual license you already paid for, there's a remote possibility of changes in Adobe's overall licensing terms that they might argue affect even older licenses. While you purchased a "lifetime" license, the software itself has an end-of-life and support date. Adobe no longer supports CS6. It's possible that their licensing servers for older versions have been decommissioned, and as a result, the activation is no longer valid. This wouldn't necessarily be a "revocation" due to misuse but a consequence of the product lifecycle.... it might be a 'red' flag as you have also paid for Creative Cloud and then going backwards in using an older version of CS6. 

Although, on the original packaging of CS6, the serial numbers are on there. How do I know this? Because I am looking at my older copy of CS5 and CS6, and it's printed out. Could someone share that? Yes, easily. They can either type it out or take a photo and share it with someone else. Heck, my children, could do that and I would never know! 

Personally, I do think it's going from CS6 to Creative Cloud and back to CS6 where the software server are decommissioned which means the activation is no longer valid. 

[primarch.dll]

I don't have physical copy of the products since the beginning, it was always digitally on the official website. It allow us to retrieve licenses, download software, see our invoices, check our list of companies and assign contact persons etc. System is fully functional and still allows you to do every action you were able to do 12 years ago. There is no way to leak this license. Simply, no way. I work in sealed environment. It's not somewhere accessible. My computer requires multiple security protocols including biometrics such as retina and fingerprint. I have much more valuable things than some licenses. But I mentioned it, even if you have the serial number, it asks you to login the account that serial number attached to. So, someone sees a serial number scenario doesn't apply.

I tried to reach Adobe multiple times about some other matters. Each time they asked my serial number to be able to provide me a support on live chat, that never happened in the past, I refused to share serial number even to the official representatives. 

My Creative Cloud can end, and I can go back to even Macromedia times. It's the choice of the customer. You are not obligated to use Windows 11. You can still use even Windows 95 as long as you have license for it and software for it. You will just get no updates or support. That's all. It cannot raise any flags of any level. I still use different very old software versions of different systems to analyze the historic technological advancements. 

I downloaded software a short time ago in 2025, and activated serial on my computer without any problem. After the usage of some time, possibly raised a flag that I visited Russia, suddenly it started to give me serial error. Why? Did I sign a document that I should not visit Russia when I purchased this product? I am obligated to follow agreements that are made before I made the purchase. This is the laws. I didn't fire a missile to some countries. I didn't even visited Eastern Ukraine or Western Russia. While I was using Creative Cloud, I was in Ukraine. I am owner of the Ukrainian company since 2015. It doesn't make me supporter of Ukraine or Russia. 

Legally, you cannot revoke the license because of person visits Russia. That's lawfully impossible. Even with the sanctions. Because sanctions limit the new sales and support to the regions. You may block access to the website or services. It cannot revoke the license of 12 years under any circumstances due to some IP logs. I visited over 100 countries in these years. I am an entrepreneur. Moreover, even if there were new laws or new sanctions that limits this, it will not apply to me, because at the time I purchased this licenses, I purchased according to the agreement of 2013. No new agreements apply to me without my authorized consent. I will have to have lifetime access to my account and licences as long as I don't misuse it or I don't violate the Terms of 2013. That's a fact.

Silence of Supervisors and Legal Teams of Adobe despite my attempts to reach them just puts more possibility into this option. Because if they admit it, they are going to expect a serious lawsuit. I tried to reach one more time to them with expecting a call from someone in charge. I don't feel like it will happen.