From: Rich Gauszka 

I don't disagree. The notable constant though is that people are including
DRM in their complaints just because they can. If DRM was as beneficial for
consumers as the industry propagandists spout I highly doubt you'd see this
trend.


Rich wrote:
>    It's not just DRM and this, it's DRM and anything people want to
> complain about that can be stretched to garner more support.  Broadly I
> see it used for anything that restricts access, copying, or similar.  I
> think people believe they will get more sympathy for their position from
> a certain audience if they apply the term DRM than if they are honest.
>
> Rich
>
>
>     "Rich Gauszka"      > wrote in message
>     news:45e4b899{at}w3.nls.net...
>     I understand the point you are making. Unfortunately, like it or not,
>     DRM and Activation are starting to be used interchangeably in everyday
>     use ( as in the Infoworld Gripeline blog )
>
>
>     Rich wrote:
>      >    This is neither a content nor a service which is one reason I
>      > questioned the use of DRM.  I think the new subject is appropriate.
>      >
>      > Rich
>      >
>      >
>      >     "Rich Gauszka"      
>      >     > wrote in message
>      >     news:45e4b05e$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>      >     It's an inane activation scheme. From Microsoft's own
>     definition one
>      >     could make the case that Adobe's activation is a content
>     owner setting
>      >     the business rules of a file ( a program in this case ). Most
>     would use
>      >     'activation' for clarity in this context - so Subject changed
>      >
>      >     http://www.microsoft.com/security/glossary.mspx#d
>      >
>      >     digital rights management (DRM)
>      >
>      >     Any technology used to protect the interests of owners of
>     content and
>      >     services (such as copyright owners). Typically, authorized
>      >     recipients or
>      >     users must acquire a license in order to consume the protected
>      >     material—files, music, movies—according to the rights or
>     business rules
>      >     set by the content owner.
>      >
>      >
>      >     Rich wrote:
>      >      >    What does this have to do with DRM?  Or do you
use DRM for
>      >     everything
>      >      > from actual DRM to encrypted email to password protected ZIP
>      >     files to
>      >      > SSL/TLS?
>      >      >
>      >      > Rich
>      >      >
>      >      >
>      >      >     "Rich Gauszka"      
>      >     
>      >      >     >
wrote in message
>      >      >     news:45e4792a$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>      >      >     Adobe - If you use a disk defragger the
activation doesn't
>      >     like it?
>      >      >
>      >      >
>      >
>     http://weblog.infoworld.com/gripeline/archives/2007/02/acrobat_activat.ht
ml
>      >      >     when it comes to stupid IT designs as far as the
>     activation
>      >     issues I
>      >      >     encountered with Adobe. I upgraded from Acrobat 7.0 to
>     8.0,
>      >     because the
>      >      >     demos and features looked great. After installing it,
>     I didn't
>      >      >     really use it
>      >      >     for a few months. Then I went to use it and it said it
>     was not
>      >      >     activated."
>      >      >
>      >      >
>      >      >     When the reader went to the menu, he was puzzled to
>     see both the
>      >      >     "Activate'
>      >      >     and "Deactivate' buttons turned off.
"Seems stupid --
>      >     shouldn't one
>      >      >     always
>      >      >     be highlighted?" the reader wondered.
"After calling in,
>      >     Adobe told
>      >      >     me to
>      >      >     run the repair function. I did, and it worked
for one day,
>      >     and then
>      >      >     it was
>      >      >     deactivated again and both buttons were off again. I
>     called again
>      >      >     and waited
>      >      >     on hold forever to be told to uninstall and reinstall.
>     So I
>      >      >     uninstalled and
>      >      >     it deactivated. I went to reinstall and it said I did
>     not have an
>      >      >     original
>      >      >     product to upgrade from. Wow, like I'm supposed to
>     keep all
>      >      >     hundred-plus key
>      >      >     codes I've ever had from Adobe. So after about 3 more
>     people
>      >     and a
>      >      >     lot more
>      >      >     time on the phone I got around the installation and
>     activated
>      >     again
>      >      >     with a
>      >      >     temp key. Then within hours it deactivated again."
>      >      >
>      >      >
>      >      >     The reader then entered a support nightmare from which
>     he is
>      >     yet to
>      >      >     awaken.
>      >      >     For weeks on end, tech after tech would tell him to
>     run the
>      >     repair
>      >      >     function
>      >      >     and reinstall. When that wouldn't work, the techs
>     would begin
>      >      >     speculating as
>      >      >     to what changes he should make to him computer to
>     placate the
>      >      >     activation
>      >      >     gods. "Gee, the guy would say, why do you need to
>     mirror your
>      >     hard
>      >      >     drive?"
>      >      >     the reader wrote. "Then they send me to another and
>     the guy says,
>      >      >     gee, if
>      >      >     you upgrade or restore your drive, or change your
>      >     configuration, or
>      >      >     backup
>      >      >     to Ghost, or use a RAID array, or use a disk
>     defragger, the
>      >     activation
>      >      >     doesn't like it. Then they start asking why I need to
>     do these
>      >      >     things, which
>      >      >     is none of their business."
>      >      >
>      >      >
>      >      >     Some of the Adobe techs mentioned that what the reader
>     really
>      >     needed
>      >      >     to fix
>      >      >     the activation problem was "Patch 2.70."
>     Unfortunately, it seems
>      >      >     Patch 2.70
>      >      >     is not provided to just any old Acrobat
customer, and the
>      >     reader had to
>      >      >     supplicate his way up the support ladder to find
>     someone who
>      >     could
>      >      >     authorize
>      >      >     sending it to him. "I finally get to the
right guy and
>     he asks me
>      >      >     why I need
>      >      >     it and why I can't stop mirroring and defragging and
>     using Ghost.
>      >      >     Finally he
>      >      >     says he'll escalate the issue and I'll have an e-mail
>     in 24
>      >     hours.
>      >      >     Next day
>      >      >     there's no e-mail so I call back. It was never
>     escalated and
>      >     I have
>      >      >     to start
>      >      >     the process of filing to get the patch all
over again."
>      >      >
>      >      >
>      >      >     The reader is a stubborn man, though, and he
>     eventually prevailed
>      >      >     upon Adobe
>      >      >     to send him Patch 2.70. It didn't help. Several more
>     weeks of
>      >      >     escalations to
>      >      >     supervisors and higher levels of Adobe support have
>     followed,
>      >     without
>      >      >     success. Last week Adobe promised to send him a copy
>     of Acrobat -
>      >      >     presumably
>      >      >     the corporate version - that would get around
the problem.
>      >     But at last
>      >      >     report it still hasn't shown, so the reader's copy of
>     Acrobat
>      >     8 remains
>      >      >     deactivated.
>      >      >
>      >      >
>      >      >     "The amount of time, support, and money
that Adobe and
>     I have
>      >     wasted
>      >      >     on this
>      >      >     is crazy," the reader wrote. "I
understand protecting your
>      >     product, but
>      >      >     these people have gone way overboard with this
>     activation that's
>      >      >     tied so
>      >      >     closely to the hardware that you can't do anything
>     that doesn't
>      >      >     upset it.
>      >      >     Many people back up, restore, defrag and
mirror disks and
>      >     many more
>      >      >     will do
>      >      >     so as the prices come down. I think Adobe needs to
>     clean some
>      >      >     management
>      >      >     house, toss out this stupid activation process, and
>     get something
>      >      >     that works
>      >      >     instead of the runaround."
>      >      >

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5