In 2013, Adobe disabled its activation servers for Creative Suite 2 (CS2) due to a technical glitch. To support legitimate owners who still needed to use the software, Adobe provided a special version of CS2 that did require an activation server, along with a universal serial number.
“They call it ‘freeware,’” Marco said. “But free isn’t the price. Free is the obligation. Adobe abandoned it. But I never did.”