Only the shallow know themselves - Oscar Wilde
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Microsoft attacks counterfeiters
MICROSOFT IS ESCALATING its campaign against software counterfeiting by working with government agencies, law enforcement and others on more than 300 civil and criminal actions in 70 countries.
The Vole has dubbed its campaign "Consumer Action Day" probably because "supplier action day" does not get as much sympathy.
Its programme highlights that many illegitimate copies of its software products come bundled with spyware, viruses and other malware that can make PC users vulnerable to privacy leaks and other problems.
Of course legitimate software also has a few bugs, but that is not the point. Microsoft thinks that by creating the idea that illegal copies of operating systems have trojans inside that it will help kill off the black market trade.
The Vole claims that the number of cases it is chasing is so high is because there has been a sharp increase in voluntary reporting of counterfeit software.
It also says that its Windows Genuine Advantage licensing enforcement has helped reveal an awful lot of dodgy software.
Apparently there have been 150,000 voluntary reports over the past two years from people who discovered that they unwittingly bought counterfeit Microsoft software.
David Finn, Microsoft associate general counsel for anti-counterfeiting thinks consumers are the untapped resource in the battle against software piracy. He claims that consumers who have bought dodgy software are often angry and want to tell the world.
Microsoft says its legal actions include civil lawsuits against technology resellers and computer shops, in addition to criminal cases against major syndicates allegedly involved in software counterfeiting.
It is associating piracy with organised crime, although a lot of counterfeiting operations, particularly in less developed countries, is a bloke selling off the back of a market stall.
If Microsoft claims that it is consumer driven, and it wants consumer support to fight software conterfeiting, it would best be looking at what tempts consumers to buy cut-price copies of its products, namely the price of its software.
Software counterfeiting is rampant in countries where people can't afford the high prices that the Vole charges for its products. When software products are affordable then people buy legitimate copies. µ
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Unfortunately, no mention was made in this article of "false positives": legitimate users which are flagged by the ironically-named "Windows Genuine Advantage" malware.
I hope that these users (and any other users bitten by WGA) just shrug their shoulders and either buy Macs or just save their hard-earned dollars by downloading and installing Linux for free. I do not see the "genuine advantage" in running software which exposes you to viruses while slanderously ratting out a certain portion of legitimate users.
(this comment brought to you courtesy of OpenSuse Linux, for free).
I suspect MS would have used something like AES 256 bit encryption on the distribution CD's using a hash of the MS key + random characters as the encryption key a long time ago if MS thought businesses would not freak out on them for ruining mass deployment. The ability to mass deploy an OS really puts a kink in any attemps to prevent illegal use.
Microsoft has designed Vista and Win7 to let you install without activation for a month, so for a lot of folks who want to use windows without paying for it you don't even need to get a counterfeit version or activation hack anymore. Just set up two boot partitions and cycle between them once a month, using the profile transfer software to migrate your settings and a third partition (or better yet a separate drive) for your programs and personal data. This is pretty much just a reversion to the norm back in Win98 days anyway, although then it was because the os would become terribly unstable if you didn't reinstall once or twice a year. Granted you still need an install disc, but you're bound to know at least one person with a genuine disc you can either copy or borrow once a month.
50% of Turn Offs are false, at best(&Felonious, due to amount of money involved). ask for Microsoft Catalog or Bill, None appears. Genuine & activation IS keylogger gone crazy, Not examining Your O/S, Monitoring Your Harddrive for Equipment Change. Nothing to do wwith Microsoft Nor O/S Software.
FELONY THEIFT Is Being Committed Every Day by MICROSOFT . Microsoft Is Accomplish & Ruins Its' Own Corporate Self, Allowing Gangsters to Take Away equipment yOU Own, with nothing more than hairBrained Idea, what if....People Have Died & Hundreds of Billions of $$$ Value Lost by Legal system that flourishes in corruption. Besides simply ruining Families Security. Might As Well sell Matches & gasoline to children, potential for destruction Is being exploited to near Maximum Potential, Result, Fantastic Loss thruout entire system, just by organizing Crime to such high trill.
drashek
Windows XP was a huge success because of it's incredible counterfeit install base. WGA was created to bring many of these companies/people in line to pay for their copy(s) years after it's initial release.
So now we have W7 released with revision after revision of activation hacks and MS isn't doing anything about them. Since Vista was such a failure and people refused to even try it, I would bet they're tolerating this to get people to try it. I suspect they're waiting for the install base to reach a certain level before they start clamping down.
I support the Vole every bit of the way on this issue.
I just hope that these pedlars of infection, get a severe caning on this one...with consumers support,of course.
It's all about protecting leaking revenue - even if it's a losing battle, i.e. RIAA.
The best solution for Microsoft is to turn every computer into an Xbox console - you hack (steal, borrow, whatever), your banned - the end.
With the majority of market share (91%) I don't think the vole has anything to worry about even if a few punters decide to move to open sauce.
With over 5 billion potential clients and John Doe wanting the same experience as his neighbour it will never happen, compatibility and usability are getting better but open sauce had a long way to go, and lets face it it's starting to get bloated just like the rest. If it was capable of playing my Games I would have moved to it a long time ago.
I totally agree with Bill. Windows has had around 90% of market share in the desktop operating system market forever. Whether a small portion of those people are running pirate copies is not as important to M$haft as having such dominance and widespread acceptance of their software. They may push back a little bit but there will always be crack copies out there or they are going to risk losing market share to OSX and Linux open-source alternatives.
http://www.google.com/search?q=market+share+of+windows&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
It's highly arguable justifying counterfeit because people can't afford the software. If you can't buy it, don't use it.
But then, millions (if not billions) would be directed to open source alternatives, even if they are not as user friendly.
M$ dominance is based on the grounds that people just don't know how to use open source. If people get to know it, and even worse, come to like it, M$ marketshare is in danger.
To keep in "top of mind" M$ always let holes that allowed pirated copies to be used. And always will. They might squash a few bugs here and there, but I sincerely doubt this scheme will come to end.