News Redmond instigates mandatory piracy check

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/07/26/MS_Piracy_Check/

 

What about those of us running genuine copies of the site-licensed version (which is free from the stupid online registration rigmarole)? Surely either I will be blocked, in which case I will be losing out on the use of software I have a right to use, or else I won't, in which case all the pirates will just start churning out copies of the no-activation version?

 

I understand where they are coming from and that they are attemping to cull piracy as they need a few more pennies in their pockets however; if they were to not over-charge for their software in the first place people would be more willing to purchase it legally instead of creating copys.
Instead of charging £100 for your operating system how about charging £50?
To me that would be a far more acceptable price to purchase software at, and over-pricing is the exact same reason I use OpenOffice.

In any case, im sure it won't be too long before someone figures a way around this system of authentication and people will once again be using their versions and obtaining updates without trouble.

 

So, technically if i wanted to go buy a copy of XP, but fancied a legit copy for free (or a discount) i go out of my way to download it, tell MS i got it from "kazaa" or something then they send me a nice, new copy for free or for a fraction of the price i would have paid.

Cool.

 

lol this is a joke like always...

anyway companys go on about loosing millions of pounds due to people using pirated software (microsoft mainly), but the bottom line is many consumers more like most wouldn't use that software unless they can get it for free.

and microsoft has been doing this for ages havent they?

and as mentioned before whats the deal with site copys?

and where can i get hold of one of these forms?

i think i will serch for a windows xp torrent file for a free version of xp

edit: lol that was quick, i've already found some corparate ones, some xp pro some xp pro with sp2 intergrated, xp pro corprate, xp 64 bit pro, xp 64 bit corparate and a pre tweeked xp pro with sp2

 

that would be to sweet!!!! I need to do that.

 

Trust me I would be very weary telling M$ that you downloaded your copy. This program is trying to get at counterfeit copies as opposed to pirated. Would be interesting to see what happens to the first person that is so honest...

 

No, it's if you bought a copy believing it was legitimate and it turns out to not be the case. ie; you bought it from a computer fair and it was a hologram disc that looked, like, shiney and and all official and stuff, right. Yeah.

/me goes to local computer fair to get his free legit copy of XP

 

i might go to the next computer fair in my area in search for a too good to be true in cheapness xp eddition

 

I believe that nothing happens to the person who is honest. They're a not giving free copies if you downloaded thats all. In order to apply for a free copy you have to have bought non genuine cd at some store. And you have to have a receit. Only then you can apply. For downloaders and others you have to buy it with discount!! Only $149.00, and you don't get a cd, you just get a serial number and a program that makes your hacked version into genuine by probably messing up windows really badly. In new egg you can buy one for $120 and get a normal version plus a cd....

 

If you want to get a cheap copy, get the OEM version. It's only supposed to be for sale with new computers but order an IDE cable or a cheap network card with it, you effectively get XP home for £60 instead of the preposterous £130 retail price.

 

I agree, its simply too expensive, especially when your 15 and only on £10 a week

 

I'd like to see you ask the computer fair back of a transit van bloke for a receipt

 

I thought they already had One of the first releases was a Corporate Edition after all. Plus it's so easy to use a keygen and produce a valid VLK to use with it (which is illegal my friends, so don't do it).

Corporate Editions will not be blocked from the Download Center, that would just be ridiculous, unless of course you match one of the blacklisted keys (FCKGW anyone?) but you can't install SP1 or SP2 either. As long as your product key and activation status passes their checks you can access WGA protected downloads; which doesn't include security updates/patches so even pirated copies can be protected from malicious hackers/viruses.

They're still allowing you to opt out of the validation stage as I write this, although that may only be on the downloads I've tested.

 

'Activation', that's the word I was looking for. 'Rigmarole' still applies though.

Surely they should be WHITElisting genuine keys, not blacklisting known bad ones. That would kill off the keygens in one fell swoop. I presume MS has a database of every key shipped with a genuine copy of XP.

 

There were rumous that v5 of WindowsUpdate would link into their database, but that didn't happen. Then there were rumours it would come with v6, I don't think that happened either. v6 just brought us quicker sleeker patching and the birth of Microsoft Update (well worth changing from WindowsUpdate for). So I'm not really sure what they're doing with their enormous database of valid product keys. *shrug*

Whitelisting probably would be a more sensible option than blacklisting a few of the well known pirated keys (FCKGW again) as you said. I'm sure Microsoft knows what it's doing. *smirk*

 

Surely coprorate versions run on massive corporate networks, can't they just stop updates for them and require a 2003 server edition that is valid to redistribute the updates internally, sure make sense and also save on bandwidth.


On another note im a bit upset about this, i run a corp version with a gererated key because i own a legit copy i DONT use and swap hardware regularly..and got sick of activation......sure i spoke to microsoft actication specialists >20 times with no questions, quries or hassle, but the automated telephone system NEVER works for me, and i have to go throught the hassle of reading 20 digit codes over to some one and then re-typing what they say.


I always though i had a moral justification for this as i own an XP Pro copy i don't use....but this will surely be anoying!

Kristian

 

Not in all cases. I believe that some universities sometimes give out copies of XP using their key, and you may not be on the university network all the time, so you might not get any updates. Also some corporations install XP using their keys onto laptops and employee home computers, also outside the main network so wouldn't get updates. Using WSUS is a very good idea though if you are running a network. There's so much control over what updates get installed and when... you just can't shut off a huge number of customers because you cannot tell where they actually are.

 

For universities that do that, Quack, they usually use things like VPN so that you can log in and download updates, use your key, etc. So, though you're maybe not at your desk, you can still be authenticated as part of that network. My old university did that...

 

I see, that I didn't know... are all universities like that? This still doesn't help home users on their work's key though!

I see Microsoft have disabled the opt out now. I have to validate or I don't get to download.