On June 25, Adobe announced they are acquiring Topaz Labs.
If that happens, I’m ditching Topaz products entirely. I refuse to be enslaved by Adobe’s ecosystem, SaaS model, and impossible-to-cancel billing practices.
Topaz’s value to many of us is precisely that it is NOT Adobe. Inevitably, Adobe ownership eventually will mean Creative Cloud dependency, cloud-credit behavior, Premiere-first priorities (check the Tech preview, it’s already happening), forced integration, and eventual loss of independent local processing. This means the acquisition destroys the reason many of us use Topaz products in the first place.
Adobe’s reputation is not imaginary. The U.S. government recently brought action against Adobe over its subscription and cancellation practices, and Adobe agreed to a $150 million settlement package over allegations involving hidden termination fees and difficult cancellation processes. Adobe denied wrongdoing, as companies always do, but the enforcement record exists.
This is what Topaz is becoming part of now?!
Topaz users are being asked to believe that Adobe ownership will not eventually mean the ecosystem and billing lock-in I mentioned. A press-release promise that Topaz will “remain standalone” is not enough. That is not a contract. That is not a regulatory condition. That is posturing.
If this deal proceeds, Topaz cannot guarantee the above promise by contract with each and every one of us in a way that has any teeth. Once Adobe owns it, they can do whatever they want with no legal consequences. How is the above assurance supposed to actually mean anything?
The obvious outcome: Adobe will eventually Adobe-ify it.
And I am not paying for that. Once this happens, I’m gone.
