TURBOTAX 2002 BOYCOTT ENDED
JANUARY 27, 2003
My first page at this site is now linked as Why I Wanted a TurboTax 2002 Boycott.
You can see Intuit history, with how it values your feedback, and how you can easily contact Intuit executives.
Original TurboTax 2002 C-Dilla copy protection features:
You buy TurboTax again if hard drives crash/change (changed).
Intuit C-Dilla Misinformation:
TurboTax 2002 C-Dilla Spyware - WRONG!
I thought C-Dilla used 1m of memory per Intuit program. ( It is 1m total.)
C-Dilla uses 1% of CPU time when TurboTax is not in use. (A user reports too little to measure.)
Intuit C-Dilla cracks are available. Intuit found none.
This must involve big corresponding Intuit Canada changes.
Intuit bought Macrovision. (NO).
Intuit C-Dilla Facts:
TurboTax 2002 C-Dilla Not Spyware!
Intuit has a 3 year contract for Macrovision C-Dilla.
To put TurboTax 2003 bug problems in perspective:
This analysis very interesting, but not statistically accurate.
I ran Google Group searches for 'bugs + TurboTax'
in the alt.comp.software.financial.quicken newsgroup.
That is where most TurboTax issues appear.
I searched from 1/1/02 - 2/28/02 and 1/1/03 - 2/28/03.
The results were 14 bugs in 2002 and 47 in 2003.
However, you can get a very different picture.
Drop posts with 2003 words C-Dilla, activation and shill.
Then you get 14 bugs in 2002 and 11 bugs in 2003.
This says C-Dilla activation is the only significant change.
C-Dilla increased reported bugs by around 236%.
What Happened and When Did it Happen?
January 13 - You need not buy TurboTax again if hard drives crash/change.
You get free activation after October 15.
At 5:50 PM January 26 I sent a newsgroup post to 7 top Intuit executives. At 8:11 PM President Steve Bennett provided an initial reply. Tom Allanson, Senior VP, Consumer Tax, & Dan Manack (Senior VP, Accountant Business) soon called and emailed. Tom spent 30+ minutes on the phone, followed by many emails until 12:53 AM. Intuit is now working fast, day and night, on these important reasonable changes:
Remove C-Dilla from memory when you close TurboTax.
Involve users in public copy protection conference.
Change or remove C-Dilla next year.
Not use C-Dilla in other Intuit applications.
Add web and program information to resolve concerns.
Add many tech support people.
Have 20 engineers contact users reporting problems in newsgroups, forums, etc.
Resolve problems with CDR, graphics card, system crash, IE 5.5 install with IE 6 present.
Resolve problems with virus programs, tax computation, W98, Drive Image, etc.
(They are so determined they may visit you.)
And later:
Provide a better uninstall utility.
Continue TurboTax reactivation for 10 years,
AND provide a C-Dilla free version of TurboTax after 10/15/03.
Click here for the full emails.
To me, this is Intuit's finest hour:
Yes, they made a mistake,
but it is only their second significant mistake in two years,
and they are taking fast action to do right by their customers.
Would you please email mblock@blocktax.com with your comments?
Most important, would you please help Intuit with your web feedback?
By the way, Intuit sent a user this good summary:
"Thank you for sharing your concerns about TurboTax Product Activation. Feedback from customers like you is the best way for us to know exactly what you're experiencing so we can work together to get you correct information and the best solution. Below is some information concerning TurboTax, Product Activation, and C-Dilla. Note items 10 and 11. If you activate TurboTax on you lap top, you can still print from any other computer. Simply save your data as a pdf file on the computer where TurboTax is activated and then transfer and print the pdf file using Adobe Acrobat.