About a month or two ago some kind member posted a link to a website with ridiculously cheap software prices, apparently kosher.
Someone has just asked me if I knew of such a website but I can't remember what the web address is, can anyone help me or remember the topic.
Thanks
I believe it was Michael Goodling who posted that topic- don't quote me though. I'd be interested to know as well, as I was meaning to write down that website and by the time I remembered to do so it was no longer on the thread. Hope you find what you are looking for.
Have found another one that looks 'real' http://storedigitalsoftware.com/
If they were selling pirate copies of software from Microsoft and Adobe, surely they would only be online for a couple of hours before the big companies demanded they be pulled
I originally posted that website for the cheap software. I withdrew the discussion thread after some very negative remarks were made and accused me of encouraging pirating illegal software which I must say, I highly resented. I would never do that nor would I ever mislead any of my 365 friends down a wrong path.
It was me that made the comments that caused Michael to delete his post.
@Michael - I am not accusing you of encouraging pirating software. I know were not intensionally sending people to a fraudulent site. I know your intensions are good. They're good at making their sites look legitimate. I have an MSIS in security so I'm good at spotting fraudulent websites.
The fact remains that online-discounter.net is a fraudulent site. You are buying pirated software when you buy from there. users-service.net is also a fraudulent site. It's actually just a clone of online-discounter hosted on the same IP address, 178.17.163.98.
No, Josh. I did read your comments, but the thread got pretty harsh after your post. I was not upset with you at all. I understood what you were saying and still do. Folks, you have been presented with both sets of info. Now you can make an educated purchase. I think both Josh and I were just trying to help our friends. I was trying to help you save money and he's trying to keep us all safe and we sure need that! Thanks Josh. No hard feelings here. :)
You might as well download them illegally using a Torrent downloader instead of paying money via those websites. I'm not condoning illegal downloading - each to their own and all that - but don't pay for the download if you don't want to use pirated software. Everything Josh has said looks to be correct.
Adobe do cheaper sales to students as do Microsoft - might be acceptable to ask a student you know to order for you, but that depends on your personal ideals. I'd personally use my student ID to buy for a family member, but that's about it.
@ Rachael; Yes I'm friends with a teacher and they get the same deals usually as students. So ask teacher friends too!
@ Michael: My comments weren't a personal attack! I have some experience with what Josh does and I'm pretty certain he's correct. Just be careful about using those sites. I would not be surprised if out of the blue one day Adobe inform you that the registration code you have is fake and the software you are using is pirated. I had it done to me with MS Office 2007 after using it for about a year!
Precisely Vikdaddy! There are no personal attacks being taken here at all. You guys know software. I know photos. You help us with those issues, I'll post photos. That's all I was saying.
That's good, I just don't want to offend anybody here. But I do think it's really commendable that you tried to help us get great deals, and you shouldn't be criticised for that. All the best Michael! keep up the photos because you're good!
I did some research with an industry contact that I have that does licensing and compliance for one of the major software companies. I was told most of these sites are highly illegal and as Josh mentioned above, the one in question definitely was dirty. They go after these fraudulent companies all the time. I for one really appreciated the possibility of getting some great prices on software so I commend Michael and others who posted their experiences. That being said, be wary of companies that sell software at highly discounted prices w/o serial keys. If in doubt, contact the company and ask if they are legitimate suppliers.
Student/teacher discounts are great. Even better - knowing someone at a company that gets employee discounts :). Good luck and thanks again Michael.
The free beta of Lightroom I've been using expires today. I guess I'll be looking for a low price elsewhere. Oh well...if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
This thread is very timely for me. I was also looking for the older post with the discounted prices. (I never returned to the thread to read all the comments and did not know there was any negative discussion about the site.)
Michael, thanks anyway for offering your help. I admit I am disappointed...I wanted cheap software! Some of you know software, some of you know photos, as for me...I know shopping ;-) lol
Another thing to mention is that there are free pieces of software around on the net. I can't afford Photoshop (even with student discount) so I use GIMP, which is basically the same, but because it's open source, it's free, although there is an option to make a donation. I don't know about other programmes, but there might be similar ones.
I was looking over the Adobe student & teacher edition eligibility requirement on amazon's website, and I didn't see anything about a minimum age. Is there anything that would prevent you from purchasing a copy for your child in 1st grade? I think 1st grade would be considered 'an accredited public primary school providing full-time instruction'. Ethically it might be a little shady, but legally, I think you'd be safe.
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
http://users-service.net/shop/bycategory/3/
i think this is what ur after.
http://storedigitalsoftware.com/
If they were selling pirate copies of software from Microsoft and Adobe, surely they would only be online for a couple of hours before the big companies demanded they be pulled
http://www.online-discounter.net/
@Natalie - Off on holiday in a couple of weeks, if the store is still online when I come back, think I might take a chance
@Michael - I am not accusing you of encouraging pirating software. I know were not intensionally sending people to a fraudulent site. I know your intensions are good. They're good at making their sites look legitimate. I have an MSIS in security so I'm good at spotting fraudulent websites.
The fact remains that online-discounter.net is a fraudulent site. You are buying pirated software when you buy from there. users-service.net is also a fraudulent site. It's actually just a clone of online-discounter hosted on the same IP address, 178.17.163.98.
A search of that IP find that it is hosting 115 different sites marked as fraud/scam.
http://www.malwareurl.com/listing.php?domain=178.17.163.98
I also searched for storedigitalsoftware.com and that also looks fraudulent. The URL was registered 19 days ago, but the site says "© Euro Software LCC`2005-2010" at the bottom,
Another huge red flag is their BBB link doesn't actually link to the BBB. It links to a page on it's own site.
I'm sorry if my comments seem negative, but I would really avoid doing business with these sites.
@ Michael: My comments weren't a personal attack! I have some experience with what Josh does and I'm pretty certain he's correct. Just be careful about using those sites. I would not be surprised if out of the blue one day Adobe inform you that the registration code you have is fake and the software you are using is pirated. I had it done to me with MS Office 2007 after using it for about a year!
Student/teacher discounts are great. Even better - knowing someone at a company that gets employee discounts :). Good luck and thanks again Michael.
Michael, thanks anyway for offering your help. I admit I am disappointed...I wanted cheap software! Some of you know software, some of you know photos, as for me...I know shopping ;-) lol