non student using student software

[heathermom]

I recently paid my student friend to get me some adobe cs4 software. She had to show proof of being in school. When i received the cs4 student edition it says that i need to send in more proof to get the serial number. I was going to have my friend send in more proof. Can I get in trouble for this? If she sends the proof of being a student, will the software be licensed in her name? Can they track the ip of my computer and see a different name and address?

 

[skitch]

Well, what you are doing is against the EULA and probably against the student's software licensing program's policies.


Are you breaking the EULA? Definitely.
Is what you are doing illegal? Probably.
Will they track you down? Probably not.

 

[opeter]

It is illegal and if you are trying to do a business job with this, eventually you'll get into trouble.
But as the above poster said: there is almost zero chance, that you'll track you down.

It's more on the moral side.

 

[alphaod]

I recently paid my student friend to get me some adobe cs4 software. She had to show proof of being in school. When i received the cs4 student edition it says that i need to send in more proof to get the serial number. I was going to have my friend send in more proof. Can I get in trouble for this? If she sends the proof of being a student, will the software be licensed in her name? Can they track the ip of my computer and see a different name and address?

If the software was downloaded and it was bought under your friend's account, yes she is the registered owner; and she can't transfer serial keys since it's a student license.

 

[THX1139]

I recently paid my student friend to get me some adobe cs4 software.... Can I get in trouble for this?

Can you get in trouble? I'm not sure why you even have to ask. Duh?

 

[Bluebox22]

Adobe has a FAQ just for their Student Editions that has some direct answers to your questions:
http://studenteditions.adobe.com/#/learnMore/faq

As others mentioned, transferring ownership is against the EULA - but there are other factors that you should consider...

if your friend buys you a copy, that takes away her ability to buy a copy for herself:

"How many versions of a Student Edition can I purchase?"
"Each eligible person may only purchase one copy per Adobe Student Edition...if that student buys an additional copy...no serial number will be issued for it."

 

[anubis]

You might as well have downloaded a pirated copy from bittorrent. Using an academic license for non-academic uses, and downloading a free copy from the Pirate Bay are both equally illegal and will get you into equal trouble if you get caught. Of course, whether you will get caught is another topic (the BSA usually focuses on medium to large sized businesses rather than small operations) but I'm assuming you paid for the academic license because you were trying to be "kind of legal". The problem is that a judge can't find you "kind of guilty" or "kind of innocent"

 

[Vudoo]

Yes you can get in trouble.

Can they track you down? Maybe...

It's your decision on if you want to break the law or not. If you want to use the student edition, just enroll in a continuing education class at the community college.

 

[Cabbit]

You might as well have downloaded a pirated copy from bittorrent. Using an academic license for non-academic uses, and downloading a free copy from the Pirate Bay are both equally illegal and will get you into equal trouble if you get caught. Of course, whether you will get caught is another topic (the BSA usually focuses on medium to large sized businesses rather than small operations) but I'm assuming you paid for the academic license because you were trying to be "kind of legal". The problem is that a judge can't find you "kind of guilty" or "kind of innocent"

The student licence can be used for commercial work even after you have finished studying. Though this depends if you get a student licence or academic licence, since Adobe only sell students the student licence then there is no issue there as the academic licence are sold only to schools and universities.

However what the OP has done is very morally wrong and has broken the terms and conditions, the discounted licence is meant to help full time students(at least 2 years study) and staff whom would find it very difficult to afford the software and is only limited in that you can not buy upgrade editions, so when your going for a upgrade from CS4 to CS5 you would need to buy the full retail version of CS5 unless you are a student where you would need to buy a full retail student edition of CS5.

 

[Bluebox22]

However what the OP has done is very morally wrong and has broken the terms and conditions, the discounted licence is meant to help full time students(at least 2 years study) and staff whom would find it very difficult to afford the software and is only limited in that you can not buy upgrade editions, so when your going for a upgrade from CS4 to CS5 you would need to buy the full retail version of CS5 unless you are a student where you would need to buy a full retail student edition of CS5.

You're right Jennifer--the Student Editions are only for purchase and use by eligible college/university students.

Just to clarify, as long as they were purchased for (and used by) a current college/university student, Student Editions of Creative Suite 4 can be upgraded to future versions.