photoshop
Explanation
The Joke
The comic depicts what appears to be a scene from ancient Babylon or Mesopotamia. A large, intimidating figure (resembling a king or enforcer) demands "Put out your hand!" while a nervous-looking person clutches something behind their back. The enforcer shouts "Nobody buys a legal copy of Photoshop! Nobody!" The frightened person is told "Put out your hand or you will lose both!" The caption reads: "The Code of Hammurabi really cut down on IP theft."
The joke anachronistically places modern software piracy into the ancient world, suggesting that the famously harsh Code of Hammurabi -- known for its "eye for an eye" style punishments including cutting off hands -- was applied to people who pirated Adobe Photoshop.
The Humor
The humor works through absurd anachronism. The Code of Hammurabi (circa 1754 BC) is one of the oldest known written legal codes and is famous for its brutal, literal punishments. Adobe Photoshop is one of the most notoriously pirated pieces of software in history, and the joke that "nobody buys a legal copy" is a widely shared sentiment. By combining these two things, the comic implies that the only legal system harsh enough to actually stop Photoshop piracy would be one that literally cuts off your hands. It's also a sly commentary on modern intellectual property enforcement -- suggesting that companies like Adobe might secretly wish they could enforce their copyrights with Babylonian brutality.
References
The Code of Hammurabi was a Babylonian legal code from approximately 1754 BC, famous for its principle of proportional retribution ("an eye for an eye"). Adobe Photoshop has been one of the most widely pirated software applications since its release in 1990, a situation Adobe has attempted to address through various means including the shift to subscription-based pricing with Creative Cloud.