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shannon_aBecause of our DSL being down, I hadn't yet downloaded Intuit's TurboTax program for 2002.
And, I'm very happy that I haven't, because Intuit, the producer of TurboTax, has decided to take an entirely reprehensible view on copyright protection that leaves me with absolutely zero desire to support them.
Read the Scathing Comments on TurboTax
The skinny? Intuit has decided to take a hard line against software pirates, and in doing so has decided to inconvenience every single one of their paying customers. This takes two forms with their latest release of TurboTax:
1.) You now must "activate" your software, which permanently ties it to a specific machine. Want to look back at your old tax returns after upgrading your machine? No dice. Want to prepare your return at home then print it at work? No dice. In fact, even if your hard drive crashes and you replace it, your software activation is no longer good.
At first Intuit took a really hard line and told people they had to buy a new license in every one of the above cases. They've apparently softened their viewpoint somewhat, but the activation requirement is still there. And, I refuse to support in anyway a world where I'm going to have to call up every single software vendor that I buy product from every time I upgrade my machine to ask permission to use the software that I've already bought. (Or at least will hold out as long as there are publishers that trust their customers or understand the economic balance of lost customers v. lost sales when figuring out copyright issues like this.)
2.) Intuit installs spyware put out by Macrovision onto your computer when you install their TurboTax software--spyware that's supposed to control your use of the product. And, they don't delete it when you remove TurboTax. This spyware does nice little things like disable your CD burner if you have copyprotected software on your computer.
(Parenthetically, Macrovision is apparently being even scummier than Intuit with the distribution of their C_dilla license-manager system. They're packaging it with game demos in order to secretly get it onto people's machines.)
So, in summary: screw Intuit. The version of TurboTax that I'd buy for the Mac doesn't have these issues, but there's no way I'm going to support a company who wants to penalize and spy up their paying users. Every indiciation I've seen says that Taxcut is a reasonable and cheaper alternative that Turbotax. And I'll just have to figure out what to replace Quicken with in a year or two when it gets too old.
Bleh.
I'm impressed: two news bits in a day about companies dramatically overstepping what I consider the ethical bounds of copyright protection.
And, I'm very happy that I haven't, because Intuit, the producer of TurboTax, has decided to take an entirely reprehensible view on copyright protection that leaves me with absolutely zero desire to support them.
Read the Scathing Comments on TurboTax
The skinny? Intuit has decided to take a hard line against software pirates, and in doing so has decided to inconvenience every single one of their paying customers. This takes two forms with their latest release of TurboTax:
1.) You now must "activate" your software, which permanently ties it to a specific machine. Want to look back at your old tax returns after upgrading your machine? No dice. Want to prepare your return at home then print it at work? No dice. In fact, even if your hard drive crashes and you replace it, your software activation is no longer good.
At first Intuit took a really hard line and told people they had to buy a new license in every one of the above cases. They've apparently softened their viewpoint somewhat, but the activation requirement is still there. And, I refuse to support in anyway a world where I'm going to have to call up every single software vendor that I buy product from every time I upgrade my machine to ask permission to use the software that I've already bought. (Or at least will hold out as long as there are publishers that trust their customers or understand the economic balance of lost customers v. lost sales when figuring out copyright issues like this.)
2.) Intuit installs spyware put out by Macrovision onto your computer when you install their TurboTax software--spyware that's supposed to control your use of the product. And, they don't delete it when you remove TurboTax. This spyware does nice little things like disable your CD burner if you have copyprotected software on your computer.
(Parenthetically, Macrovision is apparently being even scummier than Intuit with the distribution of their C_dilla license-manager system. They're packaging it with game demos in order to secretly get it onto people's machines.)
So, in summary: screw Intuit. The version of TurboTax that I'd buy for the Mac doesn't have these issues, but there's no way I'm going to support a company who wants to penalize and spy up their paying users. Every indiciation I've seen says that Taxcut is a reasonable and cheaper alternative that Turbotax. And I'll just have to figure out what to replace Quicken with in a year or two when it gets too old.
Bleh.
I'm impressed: two news bits in a day about companies dramatically overstepping what I consider the ethical bounds of copyright protection.
