Autodesk loses in court case

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/ne...ftware.ars

It is being appealed, but getting closer.

We had a similar situation at our forum where a licensee offered some CD collections for sale. We received a DMCA notice from the publisher demanding we take down the ads because their EULA specifically prohibits transfer of ownership of the license. While we complied with the DMCA notice, a discussion thread about it followed. The publisher made the mistake of posting in a rather arrogant way and ended up with a huge backlash of opinion against his position. I'm sure it cost him tens of thousands of dollars in business as well.

I don't see Adobe as a problem. You can buy a used Adobe product and they have no objection. You just won't receive support or discounts on upgrades. The offer a straightforward transfer of ownership set of documents for buyers to take advantage of that then allows for support and upgrade discounts. The seller gives up his license in writing and the buyer gets to take over the license without any penalty ... just activate it over the internet.

What you should also consider is the benefit provided by higher prices ... if they can be upheld. They represent a barrier to entry by unqualified competition. For example, in my industry, we have more than $11K tied up in our primary software which has security dongles. Yet we compete with many others who go out on the internet and buy the same programs that have been cracked for less than $200.

The big players like Adobe are moving away from boxed product anyway. In a couple of years we will see much of our software truly leased and accessed by subscription over the internet. It's a more logical way to deliver their tools anyway whether it brings prices down or not.