Lifetime License: Does It Exist?

[Timo Saarela]

Is it possible to acquire software on my own lifetime license, mainly interested in new / older working programs for Adobe Audition? Lifetime License: Does It Exist?

[emmrecs · Accepted solution]

Simple answer: No, sorry!

[SteveG_AudioMasters_ · Accepted solution]

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'...

[Minh26058915sgi0]

Thanks you for the explanation - helped a lot

[viflaiban]

its nice that you have this amazing legal background

i think a simpler answer is, money

many companies are choosing this payment method because it is a lot more profitable then selling a standalone, that will wokr for a decade or 5years, and you'll only see your customer again 5 years from now.

to me, from a natural point of view of things, all these laws are just a cover-up to make you keep paying, keep paying, forever and ever.

it makes so much 0 sense that, versioning loses its sense as well. why would i have a version of the software, if i can't sel it as a finished product? the version becomes irrelevant from the customer point of view.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Yes, but if I'd just said 'money' - which quite frankly is pretty obvious - that wouldn't have explained anything. And anyway, the reality isn't just money - it's also about Adobe's shareholders. If Adobe keep making money on a regular basis, their dividends increase. And that is, quite frankly, rather more important than keeping the end-users happy. Unless of course those end-users are the ones with millions of seats (yes they exist, believe me). They are the ones who effectively determine product development, not us lot at the bottom of the heap.

All the information I have about this came from a well-placed inside source, FWIW.

[p0lym4th]

No, which is why I don't even use Adobe any more.  I'll go out of my way to use anything else.  I'm wondering though if we shouldn't find as a collective a way to express the value in this.  I don't believe in monthly subscriptions for software.  It's garbage and makes me feel nickle-and-dimed.