Along with Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 2004, other vendors recently rolling out DRM include Adobe in Photoshop CS for Windows -- but not, interestingly enough, in PhotoShop CS for the Mac -- and Macromedia in its MX 2004 products. With Intuit's campaign serving as such a clear object lesson, readers had to wonder why these publishers were so willing to risk alienating their customers.

"Publishers, are you listening?" asked one ex-Symantec and ex-Macromedia customer. "When hacked versions of your software are available five minutes after release -- if not sooner -- product activation be damned, do you really think it will put a dent in piracy? Is it worth turning people like me away in the hopes of recouping a few dollars?"

"Software activation schemes are driving me insane," wrote an ex-Adobe and ex-Macromedia customer. "Like others before them, Adobe and Macromedia claim the scheme is beneficial to its customers and will present only a minor hassle. (But) I have been burned by activation several times in the past. The issues run the gamut: affecting system performance, not working properly with other applications, and having a properly authorized and paid for piece of software fail. This last one seems to usually occur when I'm in the remaining hours before I have to meet a deadline, thus giving evidence that Murphy's Law was somehow coded into the activation system."

If you read the vendors' own descriptions of their product activation plans and policies, it's clear they are quite conscious of Intuit's experience. Symantec even nervously brags about licensing "different technology than has been employed by some other companies" for its product activation. Adobe says it will permit re-activation on a second computer, and Macromedia goes so far as to offer a "License Transfer" feature to move from one computer to another.

But, in some ways, all the semi-apologetic reassurances by the vendors that their DRM is not going to be as bad as Intuit's just raises the question of why they feel compelled to do it at all. One way or another, they all acknowledge that product activation won't for a minute stop serious software pirates. Of course, if for whatever reason you have to re-activate one too many times, it's your tough luck if they decide you're a thief.

We should also remember that a year ago Intuit was saying many of these same things - pilot programs show users will love it, our support staff will generously and competently deal with all problems, our DRM is not spyware, etc. But by its very nature, DRM is a form of spyware. It puts customers in a position where they can only hope the software publisher will adhere to its promises as to how they will be treated, both now and in the future. That's the real rub of product activation. What Adobe, Macromedia and Symantec are saying - just as Intuit and Microsoft have said before -- is "Trust us, but don't expect us to trust you."

If the software industry didn't learn from TurboTax, I know I did. The only reason Intuit is having to make apologies today is because enough TurboTax customers complained about the problems they were having with product activation. With DRM coming so thick and fast, will we be able to track the problems customers have with it all? Let's talk about that next week.

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