Gold'en Rant : Adobe pushing customers into Pirates' arms

Had a call from an industry pal a few weeks ago, asking where could he get a copy of Adobe Creative Suite 2 at a good price.

Sadly for him, Adobe CS2 has now been superseded by CS3 but the even worse news is that the UK pricing levels on CS3 are little short of excruciatingly high.

In the US, Adobe CS3 Production Premium sells for USD 1,199, whilst in the UK it sells for around GBP 995. Web Premium, meanwhile, sells for USD 1,599 in the US and around GBP 1,299 in the UK.

With the dollar/pound exchange rate currently around 2:1, it doesn't take a maths genius to realise that UK users are being hideously over-charged.

The nett result of this is that some UK resellers are sourcing software from the US and selling it at discount prices in the UK.

Which is fine until you ask for support, and are told you must register your software by paying an extra fee.

Does this mean your copy of CS3 is illegal? Not really - it's just that Adobe charges between 50 and 70 per cent more for CS3, as well as several other applications, on this side of the Atlantic.