CHASE BURDICK
Science & Business Editor
cxb1345@psu.edu

Much to the dismay of many students, Penn State announced that the previously unlimited access to the Adobe Cloud products, offered to just about anybody who is a part of the university, will be getting much more restricted after this semester. If you did not already know, we have access to the Adobe Cloud for free as Penn State students I’m afraid you are learning at an unfortunate time. On December 17, everybody currently holding an Adobe Cloud license that they obtained through Penn State will lose it. 

The reason for the change was that Penn State needed to ensure that they were in compliance with their agreement with Adobe. While many people will be negatively affected by this, Penn State upholding their agreement allows us to have the option at all, even if it is now going to be only for a select group of Penn Staters. Speaking of that select group, it will consist of approval for people “…based on academic or workplace needs.” The email that mentioned this went on to state, “Penn State-issued Adobe Creative Cloud licenses will not be granted for personal use. If you do not create content for print, video, or digital assignments and distribution, you may not need the full suite of Adobe Creative Cloud applications.” 

Based on some feedback I got from students, this shouldn’t affect all that many of them who are currently in use of the software. These students stated that a lot of their classes actually had them using Adobe Cloud, so they obviously get to keep using it. The people that this is mainly targeted against are those who use it for personal use. While arguments can be made about what personal use is and whether or not we should be able to use it for such, the business perspective of things simplifies this decision pretty quickly. Adobe doesn’t want people who get the product for “free” to use them to make money. In their eyes, that would be essentially pirating the software since you do not abide by agreements that users with the same access to the cloud would normally have to. Plus, you would be making money without giving Adobe any, and businesses do not let that sort of thing slide.

Since everybody will be losing access, it is useful to note that all you have to do is reorder the software the same way you ordered it the first time to get it again. It’s uncertain how the criteria for eligibility will be checked at this time, but if you normally need and use Adobe Cloud, you should be approved for a new license. If you don’t get approved again, the FAQ, frequently asked questions, a page that Penn State made for this specific topic provides free alternatives you can use instead.