Got any ‘pirated’ software?
p2pnet.net News:- It looks as if Microsoft is planning to get tough – or tougher – on people who use its software without paying for it.
Despite the fact Bill Gates was once quite happy for people in China to steal MS product – “They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade” – he’s no longer so keen on the idea and has launched a pilot program asking some visitors to the main Windows download page to let him see if their copy is licensed, says a ZDNet report.
Under the guise of “trying to provide a better experience for customers using legitimate copies of Windows,” Microsoft wants to see who’s got what and although the look-see is optional at this stage, “Eventually, Microsoft could make the program mandatory,” says ZDNet.
Microsoft has just announced that, in an “unprecedented collaborative partnership between law enforcement and industry,” it and the FBI recently conducted a “joint operation” called Digital Marauder [see below] in which 11 people were nailed.
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See:
steal MS product - Microsoft Digital Marauder, p2pnet, september 17, 2004
September 18th, 2004 at 4:46 pm
they want to make it manditory to look into our computers to see what we have? isn’t that what the RIAA has wanted to do? No way.
September 18th, 2004 at 5:04 pm
right. and since they’re all cooperating with each other …..
September 18th, 2004 at 7:49 pm
Like that won’t further drive people to Linux and open source where you know what your software is doing….instead of being suspicous of what it’s doing behind your back a la MS styles,
privacy and open source go hand in hand…
TT
September 19th, 2004 at 10:39 am
Funny how times change. At one time microsoft lacked copy protection on it’s software all the while winking at the “pirates” to spread MSDOS. Guess now that they have the “junkies” hooked time to demand payment …
September 20th, 2004 at 9:20 pm
It’ll take what – a week, till this feature is cracked and blocked like the time-crack that was used on betaware and the reg-crack on xp – this will just be a drm-crack…..
This kinda control-garbage is why I have 1 Windows pc and the rest of my systems run linux os’s…… The windows box is for games lol….
_-Jile-_
Note: Since I dont have any warez it really doesn’t matter to me if they look @ my system – it’s the principal though.. its none of their business who runs what on any system….. it delves into our Constitutional rights of privacy….. if we have any rights left (doubtful) – not to mention the laws of other Countries…..