[dperfect]

FWIW, I purchased the same CS5 Master Suite with a student/teacher license and opted originally not to receive a copy on optical media (IIRC, it was a bit cheaper that way). At the time, there was no indication that in 4 years, obtaining the software online from Adobe would be an issue.

Obtaining the software from other sources is obviously an option, but not one that should be required, especially for someone trying to "play by the rules."

EDIT: While I agree that digital-only distribution carries inherent risks to the buyer (and the buyer should normally maintain thier own backup of installation files), I think most people consider that risk to be associated with things like the publisher going out of business or some other major calamity. In this case, it sounds like Adobe is willfully removing these download options (I'm sure the file didn't disappear from Adobe's servers without someone in management deliberately making a decision to remove it) with the intent to encourage people to upgrade.