Cancel Adobe if you are a creative under NDA with your clients (twitter.com)

Article summary

A tweet by Wetterschneider advises professionals, especially those under NDA with clients, to cancel Adobe and delete its apps due to concerns over the company's new terms of service. The new terms allegedly grant Adobe royalty-free rights to use and sublicense customers' assets. This has sparked concern among creatives, lawyers, and others who work with proprietary files. The issue has led to a discussion about the trustworthiness of Adobe and the potential need for alternative software solutions.

Main themes

• Adobe terms of service
• Data ownership and rights
• Professional trust and security
• Software alternatives
• Contract law and enforcement
• Enshittification and customer lock-in

What commenters say

• The new Adobe terms of service are unacceptable and may be unenforceable due to their broad claims on customer assets.
• Customers may be able to cancel their subscriptions without penalty if they can argue that the changed terms affect the usability of the product.
• Some argue that enshittification, or the practice of taking advantage of customer lock-in, is a major problem in the software industry and will only end when companies go bankrupt or are acquired.
• Alternative software solutions, such as Affinity Designer and Photo, may be viable options for those looking to leave Adobe, but their quality and compatibility vary.
• The concept of enshittification is closely tied to the existence of lock-in, and companies often rely on this to maintain their customer base despite deteriorating services.
• Some believe that the only way to stop enshittification is for enough customers to leave, but others argue that this is unlikely to happen due to the costs and inconvenience of switching to alternative services.
• The use of binding arbitration agreements and class action waivers in contracts can prevent customers from seeking legal recourse and may be used to silence dissent.
• The quality and usability of alternative software solutions, such as Blender and DaVinci Resolve, are improving and may eventually become viable competitors to Adobe's products.