Product Activation and the World of Tomorrow

Now that us lowly users have been unwillingly pushed down the slippery slope that is product activation, this particular article is equivalent to the proverbial closing of the barn doors after the horse has escaped. Actually, it's more like picking up the door and leaning it on the charred ruins of the barn after it burned down years ago, what with the horse having run out to flee the fire, but I digress. Since activation refuses to just go away entirely, I still (naively) think that there's a balance that can be struck between legitimate users and software publishers.

Back in the days before the Web, and even before the widespread adoption of CD ROM drives, software piracy (for lack of a better term) wasn't too much of an issue. Sure, programs could be passed around and installed on multiple machines, but there was a degree of physicality involved that made widespread casual copying of software impractical. I also remember (and rather fondly, as pathetic a sentiment as that is in this particular context) rudimentary measures such as when Photoshop would check for other instances of the same serial number running across AppleTalk networks (and it always seemed to find one on my college Mac lab back in the day). But the Internet, as it did with so many other aspects of modern life, changed the game.

Fast forward to today, where just about all creative professionals have at least one program installed that requires activation in order to operate past an arbitrary trial period. Just off the top of my head, I could probably list a dozen or so programs with at least some form of activation, and that's just the small number I can even think of. Some Mac users may be among the last to fall in line (so to speak), but with the advent of Adobe's CS2 suite the halcyon days of an activation-free system are all but over.

Now, it's no secret that I strongly dislike the very concept of activation. And when I say activation, I mean it as a subset of the the larger scourge that is DRM, or Digital Rights Management. I realize that some may not count activation as actual DRM, but to me, DRM is a handy umbrella term to describe this new era of both software- and hardware-based anti-piracy efforts (beyond simple serial numbers, in the case of software) that seem to be getting more and more restrictive all the time. But while I hate it, at the same time I think I get it. I get the need for publishers to try to protect their various properties and franchises. I get that many of these companies are also publicly traded, and as such have shareholders who expect them to do nothing less (the fact that "professional" pirates are still managing to come up with kracks and l33t w@r3z and whatever else they do with their time notwithstanding). But while I may not like what's going on, it gives me hope that many of these emerging schemes, at least in the software space, are actually pretty fair, at least in theory. And when they haven't been, customers have thus far been able to vote with their wallets (*cough* Quark *cough*), but the fact that programs like Photoshop and Flash have no real competition is a disturbing trend, at least with regards to being able to pick up stakes and head for greener pastures. All things considered, though, and ignoring principle for a moment (which is a recurring theme of this piece), activation isn't off to as bad a start as it could have been, which is good, I guess. But it's not exactly a revelation when I declare that legitimate users tend to be the ones that bear the brunt when activation doesn't work as smoothly as the marketing droids say the various systems should (which probably happens more often than is admitted to, I might add).

Nightmare scenarios, and some suggestions

I'm going to pick on Macromedia a bit here, since their activation process is the one I have the most experience with. Put another way, of all the piracy protection I "use," Macromedia's has gone haywire on me more than any other. And in the interest of full disclosure, I currently deal with piracy prevention, in various forms, from Apple (iTunes Music Store purchases), Macromedia (Flash and Director), Microsoft (Windows XP), and Newtek (LightWave). Since I'm primarily a Mac user and am still using Photoshop and Illustrator CS1, Adobe is out of the mix for now (but with their impending absorption of Macromedia, which may have already happened depending on when you read this, it's only a matter of time).

So yeah, I'm going to pick on Macromedia, because as part of doing business I have no alternative but to use some of their offerings. Don't get me wrong—I love Flash (seeing as I recently gave Flash 8 Professional a glowing "Must Buy" review and all). It's gotten more and more powerful (and more importantly, accepted) with each release, and I love that Macromedia hasn't fallen victim to complacency, even as Flash has ruled the roost (which is good, considering Microsoft is potentially mounting a challenge with Sparkle). Flash is the most important tool in my arsenal, at least with regards to me making a living. That stated, though, the bottom line is that it irks me that I have to consider, of all things, the activation ramifications of even the most minute system change. While the first activation tends to be as seamless as it's billed, it's once the inevitable entropy takes over on a system that the activation scheme tends to get cranky. Granted, the first activation is probably all many users ever see of the process, but once any sort of chaos sets in, activation can (and, in my case, usually does) break.

Sometimes the reason is that I've had the audacity to perform a fresh OS install, and even after using the license transfer function like a good boy, I'm not allowed to reactivate once my system is back up to speed. Sometimes it's a botched software update, as was the case with a Director patch, the Read Me file of which assured me deactivation/reactivation wasn't necessary, and yet was very much necessary when all was said and done. Sometimes it's a disk failure, and there is no opportunity at all to transfer the license properly. Sometimes it's because I've apparently transferred the license (to the same system, I might add) in excess of whatever arbitrary number is acceptable, and am thus prevented from deactivating at all. Each time any of those scenarios happen, I am compelled to call the activation center, explain myself, and hope that my situation will be deemed worthy of another chance. So yeah, while the system is fair in that I'm allowed two installs and have the opportunity to transfer my license, there's something fundamentally wrong here. There's something wrong when my heart is in my throat, feeling as if I've committed some sort of crime, and begging a perfect stranger to continue to let me use software I've spent thousands of dollars over the years to purchase (sorry, license) and upgrade. There's something wrong when I put off needed system maintenance or upgrades because activation might break. There's something wrong, but it can be easily fixed, and done so in a way that's compatible with the current system (rather than replacing it). And in the continued interest of fairness, Macromedia has never failed to make things right in situations when I have had to call. However, the loss of control is what's at issue here. The more a company mistrusts its users, and the less control a user feels he or she has, the more incentive a user has to look elsewhere (again, I cough in Quark's general direction). But in some cases, there's nowhere else to go, leaving customers with residual bitterness and with no choice other than to continue to deal with the company directly responsible for the situation in the first place. See the problem? So what's to be done to find the balance, especially with regards to software that has no real alternative? Here are some ideas:

1) Partner with your users. I've kind of led up to this, so my apologies if this sounds repetitive, but if you're going to implement activation, you have to do several things to reassure customers. Having a fair scheme, as I mentioned, is paramount, and fortunately most companies playing the game already do (again, in theory). Explaining why this step has become necessary is also important, but don't leave it to the folks in marketing to do it. As a customer, I would much rather hear "we're doing it to prevent casual copying, because we want to cut down on any form of piracy when we can" than the type of language that Adobe (to pick on them) uses to define activation as on its Web site:

Activation is an interactive representation of the license agreement between Adobe and its valued customers.

Puh-leeze. I know one typically has to walk to the ends of the earth to get straight talk out of anyone these days, but a little honesty would be so refreshing. In other words, be candid, be fair, and make damn sure whatever you implement is absolutely painless to the "valued customers." Speaking of which:

2) Get rid of transfer limits. I have a test PC with XP installed, which frequently gets "crufty" and requires clean installs on. I don't know how Microsoft does its product activation, but there's no deactivation process, at least on the OS level. Once XP is reinstalled, I click "Activate over the Internet," it says, "fine," and I'm in business. Every time. That's painless activation. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I worked on that machine all the time and had to deal with the Windows Genuine Advantage garbage they're spewing these days (Automatic Updates take care of patches for me without submitting to that so far), but for as much as I don't like to use Windows, I have to give MS props there. Same system, no fuss, no muss.

On the flip side, as I mentioned earlier, there is apparently an arbitrary number of times Macromedia allows users to deactivate software before it throws back a "sorry, Charlie." From a user perspective, that's unacceptable. I've never heard any explanation as to why this limit exists, so I can neither agree with nor refute any rationale Macromedia may have for imposing such a limit. So, speaking as a user, why have it at all? Blow that limit away, and I'm in control. I'll never have to worry about system updates or moving my license to another machine or anything like that, because I know the transfer function will work every time. Even better, I'll probably never have to take valuable time to clear things up over the phone, and therefore will have no grounds to rant like this. It's such a simple solution, which pretty much guarantees that it will never be seriously considered.

3) Give users cross-platform licenses. This idea is most likely a huge stretch, but Newtek does it, and they're managing to stay in business. LightWave is tied to a USB dongle, and the argument may be that in this day and age of increased laptop use and the prevalence of the Web for activation, one shouldn't be subjected to a daisy-chain of dongles hanging off their computer. While I agree, that isn't the point. The point is that both Adobe and Macromedia allow activation on two computers, which is fantastic, but why the need to tie the user to a single platform, especially when the software is identical across platforms? I doubt it's because of any single-platform nature of serial numbers, but I do suspect the reason is likely one pertaining to the bottom line (after all, why sell one license when you can sell two). However, it's not exactly uncommon for a professional have a PowerBook coupled with a Dell Workstation (or some other such combination), so I say let the cross-platform love flow.

4) Offer activation management. On principle, I do like that activation generally isn't tied to product registration. But should the customer choose to register, providing the customer with a benefit in the form of activation management would be ample incentive. The user could then (in theory) log in to their account, see how many times the software has been activated, and then choose to disable activation from there. So, for example, if I ever have a catastrophic system crash and don't get the opportunity to properly deactivate, I can do it myself, online. Again, I'm in control (or at least I have the perception of control), and I'm less likely to think about how much activation sucks.

5) If all else fails, give the customer the benefit of the doubt. This is more of an old-fashioned customer service issue than anything else, but doesn't the very fact that one is forced to call in when things go haywire tend to weed out those who may have a cracked or otherwise illegitimate install? With all the other options outlined above, calling should be the absolute last resort (unless, of course, you're doing an initial activation without an Internet connection), so at the very least the customer shouldn't be made to feel like a criminal. A little politeness and understanding goes a long way. Again, in fairness, I've never had my license revoked or anything catastrophic like that, but I have been treated like I was being done a personal (and quite imposing) favor by allowing me to reactivate.

So, that's my plan. I'm sure there are Mack Truck-sized holes to poke in it, but at least I've gotten it off my chest. Now, in deciding to write this piece, I asked myself why all this was important, seeing as activation isn't exactly a new phenomenon, and I actually think I have an answer.

Stumbling into an uncertain future

You see, we're still in phase one, where software and music are patients zero and one. Video and movies are next, and I feel a little better that Apple is the one to fire the first shot in this space (as they were with music), considering how the world didn't end once consumers got a fair shake with music downloads (the RIAA's recent efforts at "price negotiations" with Apple played out in the press notwithstanding). But like it or loathe it, DRM (of which activation is a part, at least by my definition) is here. It's not going away. And from the looks of things, DRM schemes have the potential to become really Draconian, and some may argue that they already are. Bill Gates, of all people, recently said the following about Blu-Ray, one of the next-generation High Def DVD formats:

"...the key issue here is that the protection scheme under Blu-ray is very anti-consumer and there's not much visibility of that. The inconvenience is that the [movie] studios got too much protection at the expense consumers (sic) and it won't work well on PCs. You won't be able to play movies and do software in a flexible way."

When the founder of Microsoft (a company that is not exactly a renowned consumer advocate) is starting to sound the alarm, it just underscores how bad things are likely to get. Looking ahead, there are other stories floating about regarding software and hardware DRM combinations (such as monitors that will refuse to play "untrusted" movies, the soon-to-be-resurrected broadcast flag for digital television, and "trusted computing") that will most certainly put the consumer on the losing end. The bottom line is that all of this could become a really frustrating situation in the very near future.

So what does all this have to do with software activation? Simple. Activation represents an opportunity for content providers (in this case, software companies) and content consumers (in this case, users) to get it right and strike a balance, albeit perhaps an uneasy one. It also represents a chance for the market to do what it's supposed to and speak to what will and won't be tolerated. In the best of all possible worlds, content providers see reduced piracy, and consumers don't feel like they're really being restricted. Fair schemes that reflect "real world" use and empower consumers to use media they've purchased (again, sorry, "licensed") in flexible ways is the right balance, whether the widget is software or music and movies. Case in point: Apple more or less nailed it out of the gate with FairPlay, their system of protecting music purchased at the iTunes Music Store. You can authorize five computers to play music, burn unprotected CDs of your tracks, and transfer songs to iPods. This model works because while it uses DRM, it does so it in a way average consumers don't really notice. Sure, there can be authorization glitches, but there's also some measure of control that has been implemented with the user in mind. I can log into my account and see how many machines are authorized, and if I've somehow managed to use up all my authorizations, a "De-authorize All" option is provided. Not perfect, but it's at least some control. It will be interesting to see how the same system applies to episodes of Lost or Desperate Housewives and other video content Apple has just begun to offer through the iTunes store.

Back to activation, I know I've singled out Macromedia here, and perhaps unjustly at times. For the purposes of this article, though, their system meshes well with the steps I would like to see taken to make activation less of an imposition and more of a partnership. The good news is that what exists isn't fundamentally terrible (once you get past having it at all, that is). And since Adobe's activation process seems to be similar (from what I know of it), the same suggestions apply to them as well once they swallow Macromedia up. The bottom line is that since there's really no chance of activation going away, making it friendlier over the lifetime of a software release (in other words, past the first activation) is a way to set the tone for the types of DRM the market will accept as viable in the future. And I think I'd prefer to live in a digital future where the spirit of the Betamax ruling lives on than one where I'm told where, when, and how I'm permitted to consume media, especially when I've parted with hard-earned dollars to do so.

Do I expect anything out of this rant? No, not really. These little musings of mine don't really qualify as must-read, "A-list" punditry here, so the sound of one person's raving won't amount to much. Besides, I doubt there's anything that can seriously be done at this point that will affect the way content providers plan to force rigid DRM upon consumers. Realistically, we're in for a bumpy ride as all this gets sorted out. But the "morning in America" side of me still hopes that it's not too late, and if activation processes can be further improved, there may yet be cause for optimism.

Filed under: Opinion on October 31st, 2005

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