Adobe Restores Services For Venezuela

Adobe has been granted a licence by the US government, that will allow it to continue providing its online software to users in Venezuela.

Earlier this month Adobe had published a support document that said the company would be deactivating all accounts in Venezuela starting 28 October, due to US Government’s Executive Order 13884 issued on 5 August 2019.

That executive order by US President Donald Trump effectively halted all US trade with the country, in a measure to increase pressure of President Nicolás Maduro and convince him to step down.

Services restored

But now Adobe has revealed in a blog post an “exciting update”, in that it can now continue to provide services to users in that country.

“After discussions with the US government, we’ve been granted a license to provide all of our Digital Media products and services in Venezuela,” blogged Adobe’s Chris Hall. “With this update, we’re sharing that users can continue to access the Creative Cloud and Document Cloud portfolio, and all of their content, as they did before. If you lost access to premium services, they will be restored within a week.”

And in a separate FAQ, Adobe announced that those paid subscribers in Venezuela who had their accounts cancelled, will receive 90 days of free access to all the products and services after their subscriptions are “reactivated”.

It also promised that any subscribers in Venezuela who had lost access to paid services should have their access restored within one week.

“If you lost access to your services, they will be restored within a week,” said Adobe. “We apologize for any inconvenience and are adding 90 days of free service to your subscription. If you need to take any action regarding your account, we will follow up with you directly.”

Subscription only

Adobe of course killed off its Creative Suite and its traditional licensing model in 2013, when it revealed that its Creative Cloud would be delivered on a monthly subscription basis instead.

This means that users were no longer able to purchase standalone versions of the software, and instead have to rely on a subscription-only model, which makes it easier for Adobe to flip the kill switch.

It remains to be seen whether other tech firms will also have to apply for a US licence, in order to carry on doing business in that South American country.

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