This isn't legal, is it? (Software "back-up" sites.)

Factual Questions
1

I see these now and then, and some of them look legitimate. I have found them by clicking through ads from Amazon.com or Google’s Adsense.

The site will claim that it is selling “back ups” to popular software packages (Photoshop, Acrobat, etc.). It says that since it is legal to own back up copies of the software (if you are already a registered owner) then they are just offering a “service” to help you have a backup copy of your own software.

But this doesn’t add up. If I am a registered owner of, say, Photoshop, but I lost my CD, all I have to do is call Adobe and they’ll send me out a replacement disk for a fee. (Or at least that’s what they did a few years ago when I didn’t have my Photoshop 5.5 disk—$25 for a new disk.) These software “backup” companies are “selling” these “backups” for $140 or something. Something smells. (Plus, the ads for these “backup” sites don’t talk about “backing up” your existing software, they talk about buying the software for that certain amount. It’s only in the fine print on their site that they talk about how it’s supposed to be for “back up” purposes only.)

Besides, if I am a registered owner of (once again, let’s say Photoshop) and I have my serial number but have lost the CD, why can’t I just download copy from some nefarious source (I am already a registered owner, it isn’t like I’m actually ripping Adobe off—except on the $25 replacement disk) or just get a friend to burn a copy of their CD? (I asked Adobe if I could do this with my missing Photoshop 5.5 disk, and they said, sure, go ahead. I didn’t know anyone with the 5.5 disk, though.)

So, it seems to me that it’s not the actual software that is the issue, it’s the serial number. If you’ve got that, (and you at one time had the CD), then what does it matter where you get the CD now? You’ve got the number. So why “sell” a backup copy of Photoshop for $140 when Adobe will sell it to you for $25?

So, am I missing something here? It is illegal, isn’t it? And if it is, how come places like Google Adsense (which manually approves every advertiser they feature) and Amazon.com (which I assume does the same) are allowing such ads? I don’t get it. If it smells to me (and I’m not the most computer-savvy person) then I’d think it would be sending up red flags for them.

2

It doesn’t sound legal to me, and it doesn’t make any sense anyway. I always make a backup of all my program CDs and keep the originals in a safe place. It’s even easier to do now than it was a decade ago, what with CD burners and programs that can do bit-for-bit copying.

3

No, it’s not legal.

You’re allowed to make your own backup copies from your media, or pay someone else to make a backup copy from your media, but you can’t pay for a backup copy of someone else’s media.

It’s just pirated software.

4

Thanks everyone. Yeah. That’s what I thought.

The thing I can’t figure is, do they give the serial number of the coughcough “backup” software to the customer, or do they actually pretend to assume that the customer has a serial number already? I would guess that they somehow provide the customer with a serial, but if they did that, how could they possiby stay in business that long, without being caught?

And why are places like Amazon.com and Google’s Adsense allowing them to advertise? I cannot believe that such companies would knowingly align themselves with bootleggers.

5

As well as these sites, there are many sites offering to sell “legitimate” software (MS Office, Adobe Photoshop) at vastly discounted rates. The pictures on sites show nicely boxed software. However it is a total scam and you need to be very careful.

The jpegs of properly boxed software are ripped from other, legtimate retail sites - it’s easy to do. What you end up getting - if anything at all - would be a pirated, unboxed CD with the software on, which may or may not work.

But the purpose of these sites is not primarily to sell pirated software. It is to harvest credit card numbers. Software just happens to be an easy method: because they don’t have to deliver something tangible, like an actual product: they need spend no more per scam than a few cents on the blank CD. That’s of course if they even bother to fulfil the payment at all.

Adobe and other software developers are trying to raise awareness of this scam.