“Even if Adobe is fully in the right here with regard to the Dolby dispute, it has the power to force its customers to upgrade to newer more expensive versions at its whim, which illustrates the undue power and influence of EULAs over the lives of consumers,” Gilbert said.
In this new reality, end users are forced to agree to “take it or leave it” end user license agreements (EULAs), in which the licensor can change its terms of service without notice. Gilbert noted that consumers now live in a world in which consumers almost never actually own anything that contains software. “Unless Adobe has violated the terms of its licensing agreement by this sudden discontinuance of support for an earlier software version, which is unlikely, these impacted users have to just grin and bear it,” Gilbert said. Be it a game console that loses features with a firmware update or entertainment products that just suddenly disappear, it’s a problem that’s increasing popping up in the always online era.ĭylan Gilbert, a copyright expert with consumer group Public Knowledge, said in this instance users aren’t likely to have much in the way of legal recourse to the sudden shift. It’s yet another example of how the products we buy in the modern era can lose functionality or stop working entirely on a lark. In a statement to Motherboard, Adobe confirmed the letter's authenticity, but wouldn’t provide any additional detail beyond what was included in the notices. Dolby’s lawsuit accused Adobe of copyright violations related to how the licensing costs Adobe paid to Dolby would be calculated under this new model. In a controversial move, Adobe pivoted away from the standard software model to the cloud-based subscription model in 2013, resulting in notably higher revenues (and higher prices for customers). ]( src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1126905276693667841&refurl=https%3A%2F%%2Farticles%2F19%2F05%2F13%2Fadobe-warning-of-legal-problems-if-users-keep-using-old-versions-of-creative-cloud-apps)The company didn’t inform users why they needed to discontinue use of the software, but the company’s Twitter account indicated the issue stems from “ongoing litigation.” AppleInsider, which first reported the notices, pointed to a copyright lawsuit filed last year by Dolby Labs.
0 kommentar(er)
