Adobe's 9% Flash tax
blog.alexmaccaw.com
Adobe's 9% Flash tax
1–10 of 74 posts
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#2Perfect, another nail in flash's coffin.
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#3> In this case, even if you created the SWF yourself (using tools like haxe), you'd still have to pay the tax.
Can that actually be legally enforced? I assume this tax would be part of the TOS for using an authoring tool. A consumer has to agree to the TOS for using/downloading the Flash client. But if I want to put up an SWF file I built without Adobe tools... who can legally stop me?
Unless there's some kind of encryption key for generating signed Flash files necessary for the functionality, and circumventing them would run afoul of the DMCA...
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#4> Are Flash game companies going to have to reveal all their internal revenue details, and is Adobe going to regulate this somehow?
This. Seems near impossible to keep track of all those different devs, monetizing in so many different ways.
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#5I'm trying to imagine the discussion that happened at Adobe that resolved this decision, and it's got to have been either:
a) We are self-aware enough to acknowledge that the end of flash being relevant is nigh, so let's monetize this thing while we can
b) We think flash is a growing platform, and we're in a position of strength (like Apple's App Store), so the percent of revenue is something people will hate but tolerate
(Due to MBAs' infrequent use of the word 'nigh', b) is more likely)
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#6Adobe is killing Flash even quicker than I had hoped.
Please, Adobe, keep this shit up.
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#7Still, the $50K limit and 3D/memory-specific technology seems like there is only a handful of companies that will ever fulfill these conditions... and Adobe surely has a list of exactly who they are. So this is a very targeted policy that will never apply to 99.99% of us.
Is this an accurate assessment?
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#8The business model of monetizing a product that is on the way out is well established. At least that was my reaction to the announcement.
CA (Computer Associates) made this their primary product revenue stream by buying up old software (eg. Clipper, Ingres, etc.) that still had an installed base. They invested minimal amounts into product maintenance (make sure it works on the newest version of Windows) and rake in the licensing revenue from the remaining user base.
The only thing different is that Adobe is essentially doing it to themselves--monetizing their own long tail instead of selling to a long-tail specialist and moving on.
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#9Adobe is killing Flash even quicker than I had hoped. Please, Adobe, keep this shit up.
Re: Adobe's 9% Flash tax
#10I gave Adobe a significant chunk of my money, a while back, to be "legitimate" and to keep up with "the industry" at that time.
I'm seriously regretting that decision. Legally, it was "the right" thing to do.
But personally, I feel I paid the people that are screwing me -- as one person recently commented about the content industry, he was ceasing to pay those people so that they could use the money to force their evermore draconian policies (of self-interest) on him and society.
Furthermore, due to Adobe's clear mistakes, I needed support from Adobe Support. And despite all the money they had received from me, the experience was absolutely horrible. Eventually, I was the one explaining (repeatedly) to their support technicians what they needed to do. It finally came down to luck of the draw and reaching an associate who was actually willing to demonstrate a little initiative.
All this boils down to personal anecdote, but for me that is: Adobe goes to extremes to seem/be undeserving of the license fees they demand.