What will Adobe do about Flash Player download links from third-party websites?

[centaur271188]

For example:

[links removed]
Do Adobe intend to request these sites' owners to remove those files?

[thatsmauri]

I don't think there's much Adobe could do. That's the nature of the Internet. Even if these two links get taken down, it will appear somewhere else - making it a neverending battle essentially.

Adobe does recommend to not download the Flash Player from third-party websites on their Adobe Flash Player EOL General Information Page.

[jeromie_adobe · Accepted solution]

I am not a lawyer.  Our legal team does not read or respond to these forums.  I can't speak on their behalf or speculate about what they may or may not do in terms of enforcing our intellectual property rights. 

What I can say, is that redistribution of Flash Player without a valid license violates the Flash Player EULA.

More information on Flash Player redistribution can be found below; however, given that Flash Player is EOL, it seems unlikely that we would grant new redistribution licenses moving forward. 

https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/distribution.html

Organizations that need Flash Player can license maintained copies of Flash Player from HARMAN for a fee.  Consumers could potentially use one of the several available open-source projects intended to replace Flash Player, and/or contribute to the development of those players.  The actual SWF format itself is an open, published format.

Again, we would strongly discourage people from downloading Flash Player from third-party sources (at the very least, diligently check the digital signatures to ensure you're not getting a bonus malware payload with your installer).  It's going to quickly become very difficult to find a current browser that will run browser plug-ins at all (including Flash), and because Flash Player is no longer maintained, it's a matter of time before exploits targeting old versions end up in the world.  This is why Flash is now disaabled by default. 

We know that motivated users of reasonable skill can work around anything (whether that's advisable is another story).  We also appreciate the importance of archiving digital experiences long-term.  The important point here is that the legacy environments that you create to maintain those legacy experiences are absolutely not suitable to browsing the open web safely.  If you absolutely must use an old browser and Flash Player to preserve some legacy content that you can't live without, you do so at your own risk, and you should be smart about it (i.e. air-gap the installation where possible, limit what content can be viewed using EnableAllowList to minimize your risk of encountering malware through banners, etc).  For the vast majority of users, the best answer -- even if it's annoying in the short term -- is simply "find alternative, modernized content".