Can Microsoft track down Illegal copy of XP ?

[n0cmonkey]

<<

<< God, the inability to read has reached a critical level I'll restate this again. There ARE versions of XP floating around the net that have had extra's (trojans) thrown into the mix. There are ALSO versions of XP that do not. These are not 'flames', but rather facts. I suggest you try posting facts also.
It has been seen a number of times. That was my point. My point is not that EVERY version floating around is infected. Just buyer beware, there are some out there. >>

Point made. There are bad groups and good groups out there. When you pick up some pirated piece of software, be aware of whom you are getting it from. Whether is a friend, or directly from the source, groups that release these pieces of software either have a long history of releasing stuff on the net, or are no namers. Are either of these types of groups trustable? Yes and no.

Groups like Razor and Fairlight are trustable, because of their history. Other groups are not quite as old and definitely not as well established. Trusting pirates is still not a 100% thing, but if I were to bet on a group having a "true" release or not, I would go with the big names.

vash >>



Just a counterpoint, the only time I got a virus in my Winders days was from a friend I trusted.

Talking about trusting someone that openly steals/copyright infringes/whatever the hell you want to call it software is kind of silly in my opinion.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< > Point made. There are bad groups and good groups out there. When you pick up some pirated piece of software, be aware of whom you are getting it from. Whether is a Groups like Razor and Fairlight are trustable, because of their history. Other groups are not quite as old and definitely not as well established. Trusting pirates is still not a 100% thing, but if I were to bet on a group having a "true" release or not, I would go with the big names.

Your point made also. I'm not aware of any of the releases I'm refering to being tied to any particular group. These are more likely the work of people who are making releases available in an attempt to pick up additional zombie/remoteable machines. There would be nothing to game from someone group like Razor releasing such a version.

Bill >>



I know people thought of that idea because I was half tempted to do it myself. My lack of programming skills and my distrust of crackers (so I would not blindly use their software) kept me from doing this. Also, more cracked boxes would be a bad thing, even if the pirates deserve it

 

[DSTA]

The reverse would happen with the EULA. If it weren't valid, then users would be able to do anything they wanted with the software as long as they didn't profit or hurt MS's profits by making it so people don't need to buy it.

Just as an example for a EULA problem: a few years back nothing on the box of a retail windows copy mentioned the LA inside the box. Under German law such a hidden addition to a contract (in this case, purchase of a windows retail copy) is simply invalid.

Similar story for bundled OEM copies: MS lost in German court because the "not for resale without a computer..." limitation clashes with some trade law here. I can buy an OEM windows 2000 license (just need the piece of paper with hologram and the key) off of ebay and be perfectly safe and legal.

I know things will be different in the US, but if you look at the Windows XP EULA for example, I think a lot of the DRM stuff (which basically says "no guarantuee that the media you license with us will always be available to you, if we change our mind about our DRM system") would hold in court.

Just for the record: I'm not advocating piracy, just thinking aloud that "EULA" does not equal "The Law". And to put this in context again: before MS mess with any warezed XP copy over the net, their legal team will have to put on the thinking cap.

 

[Burtomat]

Piracy funding terrorism? Isn't the point of pirating software to save money and not give it to anybody else? The only way for this to be valid if is all software pirates are terrorists themselves and saving money for themselves. I'm not condoning piracy, but use a little common sense, would ya?

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< Piracy funding terrorism? Isn't the point of pirating software to save money and not give it to anybody else? The only way for this to be valid if is all software pirates are terrorists themselves and saving money for themselves. I'm not condoning piracy, but use a little common sense, would ya? >>



Microsoft and common sense do not go hand in hand

 

[Lord Evermore]

The piracy/terrorism link is based on large software piracy groups that are selling copies for profit (and then use that profit to fund terrorism supposedly; big surprise, not like it wasn't being used to fund organized crime). Obviously MS isn't going to say "copying your friend's XP CD isn't as bad as if you went and bought it from a militant Islamic guy on the street". To them, it's all the same, you got something, they didn't get paid for it. They can use the terrorism angle to scare people into turning in others because they don't know the difference.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< The piracy/terrorism link is based on large software piracy groups that are selling copies for profit (and then use that profit to fund terrorism supposedly; big surprise, not like it wasn't being used to fund organized crime). Obviously MS isn't going to say "copying your friend's XP CD isn't as bad as if you went and bought it from a militant Islamic guy on the street". To them, it's all the same, you got something, they didn't get paid for it. They can use the terrorism angle to scare people into turning in others because they don't know the difference. >>



I know what they meant (I read the whole article), I just find it funny. Thats why I brought it up

 

[blacktalon]

I run "Tauscan 1.6" as my Trojan scanner. I'm using 2 different versions of XP (Devilsown corp ed., MSDN from the "6-in-1" release). I've scanned these OS'es repeatedly and found no trojans. I also use ZA as my firewall and have had no unusual activity. Does this indicate that these versions are "trojan-free"?

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< I run "Tauscan 1.6" as my Trojan scanner. I'm using 2 different versions of XP (Devilsown corp ed., MSDN from the "6-in-1" release). I've scanned these OS'es repeatedly and found no trojans. I also use ZA as my firewall and have had no unusual activity. Does this indicate that these versions are "trojan-free"? >>



No, but its a good sign.

 

[BlitzRommel]

Wow, we got kinda off-topic.

Anyway, people pirate software not only to save and make money, but to try to hurt companies. Almost everyone hates Microsoft.

 

[n0cmonkey]

<< Wow, we got kinda off-topic.

Anyway, people pirate software not only to save and make money, but to try to hurt companies. Almost everyone hates Microsoft. >>



But the people that think they are doing it for that reason are wrong. They help the company by pirating the software.