Lifetime License: Does It Exist?

Not only does the concept not exist, but Adobe won't supply any product except the current version, or its -1, at all. If you get hold of an older product, you won't be able to activate it beyond its trial period. Adobe recieved legal advice apparently - and apparently also we're not allowed to discuss the reasoning behind this.

The reason for the licencing restriction is different - that's based on the concept of no software ever being determined as 'finished' or 'complete'. If software is said to be either of those, then it has to be registered as such with the government, and that's expensive, so a lot of software vendors simply won't do it. This came about due to the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation that was rushed through with little thought for the consequences. So what companies like Adobe and Microsoft do is to keep issuing 'upgraded' versions, whilst not selling a 'complete' version to anybody - you can only have a rolling licence and the promise of  'upgrades'...