From: Rich Gauszka 

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."
>      >

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