Intuit drops Invasive DRM from Turbotax

[dmcowen674]

I was one of most people that had already bought the program when found out about the invasive Copy Protection software they added to the program. We were going to try Taxcut if Intuit did not recind their Policy of treating all customers like thieves. We may still try Taxcut so that Intuit "really" feels the backlash.

 

[Dari]

I guess this is what happens when people protest with their wallets.

 

[BDawg]

Originally posted by: Dari
I guess this is what happens when people protest with their wallets.

I heard today on CNNFN that sales of Turbotax were still in line with expectations. I suppose they didn't want to chance the bad press by doing it again next year.

 

[glenn1]

I heard today on CNNFN that sales of Turbotax were still in line with expectations.

That's the spin they'll put on it. Truth is, the company already slashed guidance revenue in a huge way earlier this year when the DRM fiasco came to light, so meeting the lowered numbers is no virtue.

Best known for its tax and accounting products, including TurboTax, QuickBooks and Quicken, Intuit warned investors several times that the quarter would not be as good as originally expected. Although revenue was in line with guidance given in late April, it was still well below the initial target range of $685 million to $725 million set by the company.

(actual revenues: $634.7 million)

 

[Bowfinger]

We went through this back in the 80's too. Software makers kept adding more and more obnoxious copy protection to their programs, generally making them more and more unstable. It finally got to the point where buyers revolted and started avoiding copy-protected products. Some people claimed this was a major contributor to the fall of Lotus 1-2-3 -- it was protected and Microsoft's upstart Excel wasn't.

IMHO, good riddance to every company that treats its customers as the enemy.

 

[dmcowen674]

Congrats everyone. There was considerable "Backlash" and talk right here on AT in Off Topic before the Politics and News Forum area was set up and it is very clear that the people at Intuit saw the light.

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Intuit's Lesson for Microsoft and Hollywood
When customer backlash over its antipiracy technology hit the company's bottom line, Intuit did the right thing: It dropped the feature.
By Eric Hellweg, May 19, 2003

Last week investors sent Intuit (INTU) stock up about $2.70 (roughly 8 percent) after the company reported solid third-quarter results. But tucked inside the earnings announcement was a policy change that may generate bigger revenues for the company in the future.

All told, the company had a strong quarter. Revenue increased 29 percent, year over year, to $634.7 million. Net income rose to $294 million. All good -- except the company had told analysts to expect revenues between $685 million and $725 million.


To address the difference betwe...

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