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Participant
January 2, 2014
Answered

Buying a preloaded computer from ebay, which comes with Adobe software.

  • January 2, 2014
  • 1 reply
  • 1257 views

I know this question was touched on briefly in other discussions, but I would like a clearer answer. Is it legal to purchase a computer on eBay which is preloaded with Adobe programs? I'm aware of piracy laws and licenses. I was looking at macs on ebay lately and saw a few sellers selling CS6 suites preoloaded on used computers. I know there have been a lot of fakes and copies on eBay, and I realize the "to good to be true" rule still stands. But does Adobe track it's products when they are on computers? Some of these sellers have sold quite a few of these computers to buyers with preloaded Adobe products and I don't think the buyers nor sellers are aware of these things.

I am already a happy adobe customer with my own CS4 programs, which I paid for through adobe, so I have no intension of buying one like this, especially if it's illegal. I'm just curious about these things, especially if one day I wanted to sell my Mac with adobe products. I have heard about the license transfer forms, but not sure if that just applies to the actual program discs or not.

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Correct answer John Waller

But does Adobe track it's products when they are on computers?

Adobe tracks serial numbers and product activations per serial number.

Adobe knows invalid serial numbers - and valid ones.

People can blissfully use these computers and even the Adobe software on them, unaware that it's pirated (using invalid or stolen serial numbers). The problems start when they try to reinstall or upgrade their Adobe software and find out that the serial number is invalid.

1 reply

John Waller
Community Expert
John WallerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 2, 2014

But does Adobe track it's products when they are on computers?

Adobe tracks serial numbers and product activations per serial number.

Adobe knows invalid serial numbers - and valid ones.

People can blissfully use these computers and even the Adobe software on them, unaware that it's pirated (using invalid or stolen serial numbers). The problems start when they try to reinstall or upgrade their Adobe software and find out that the serial number is invalid.