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Microsoft Sues and Gets Sued
wubo writes, "Microsoft is apparently stepping up its anti-piracy measures by publishing the locations and specifics of their pending lawsuits. Check out the snazzy map — warms me heart and soul." And to even the scales of justice, one of the last remaining class-action antitrust lawsuits filed against Microsoft in a state court is set to go to trial in Iowa later this year. An anonymous reader writes, "Iowa consumers who purchased Microsoft products in the last 12 years are being represented in a class action anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft. The jury trial begins on November 13 and is expected to last 6 months." Bill Gates is on the witness list.
Aw. I live in Iowa; now I wish I had actually bought my MS stuff.
I am sure it will really have an effect on the many people selling pirated software around the world, especially since it is just a map of the US. The US already has the lowest software piracy rate in the world, but at what point is it impossible to reduce the numbers anymore? People will always pirate software, deal drugs, and commit other illegal activities as long as there is profit, and with the distributer being targetted rather than the purchaser, there will always be demand creating a vacuum of supply. Perhaps it would be more profitable to go to wealthy medium-piracy level countries and crack down there instead.
Warhammer forums
The actual list of people getting sued.
Suing... Microsoft? Isn't it the epitome of a law-abiding corporation? It is supposed to sue people, not the other way around.
This makes me sick. For example, we have strict privacy laws in Poland -- in theory. Every single database that includes any personal data needs to be reported to GIODO -- and you need every person on your list to agree to that use. You also need to provide a way for every person to review whatever data you have on file about them, and/or request their removal.
And if you anger the powers that be, you will be controlled and face stiff penalties. Unless you have enough political clout, that is.
Now, take a wild guess who is playing a major role in building the henhouse...
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
This is a good thing. A lot of people have no problems with downloading software or other copyrighted materials illegaly, as long as it is for free. But a lot of people are against selling such items, or making a profit off of it. Unfortunately, the copyright lobby views both groups as filthy stinking pirates, but the public don't really care about the first group, and only view the second group as the real pirates that actually ought to be punished for it.
What Microsoft is doing here, is targeting the second group only. And that is a good thing.
This being Slashdot, I know nobody bothered to read the article before bashing Microsoft, but if you'll look at the list of defendants, they're almost all small time computer sales or software sales companies. Microsoft isn't the RIAA; they don't waste lawsuits suing Grandma or Little Susie because they're running a copy of Windows without a valid product key. What they do care about is companies who sell pirated copies of Windows to consumers for a profit. Some of these consumers even PAY for a pirated copy of Windows and are told they're getting a licensed copy. I know some people will argue with me that this is a good thing, but if you are a consumer who's been sold a pirated copy of Windows without your knowledge, Microsoft will even help you get a free or discounted copy if you just let them know who sold it to you. A lot of people instantly think it's Microsoft's way of getting you to rat on your family friend who's loaned you his install CD and key, but again, that's not who MS is looking for. So before you start crying foul, this sort of site isn't meant to scare you, it's meant to scare the guy selling 1000's of copies of Windows to unsuspecting consumers for a profit.
They're not suing 73 kids with 73 copies of stollen Windows. They're taking down mass-scale producers. They claim to have seized over 32,000 fake CDs, and stopped over 70,000 "auctions". I have no idea what they mean by auctions.
/. article said, Microsoft can actually make MORE money by allowing some piracy. It keeps kids with no cash from switching to Linux, for example. I've always felt MS has somewhat lax copying security on purpose.
If you've just got a copy of Windows on your machine you lifted from work or the net, I wouldn't worry too much. As that recent
I've also felt they deliver a buggy system that degrades over time all by itself on purpose. If forces you to upgrade. I've gone through several Windows machines this decade, but the Mac I bought my wife in 2000 is still kicking, and still quite useful. The difference is in the software.
Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy.
But if you'll notice, they aren't suing end users (ala RIAA), they are suing businesses or people that have made a business out of selling the pirated copies. I wouldn't be surprised if, in many of these cases, it was the end users that turned to Microsoft to report a bogus copy after having issues with their illegitimate and possibly cracked version that they purchased with good faith that it was a legitimate, albeit possibly discounted, copy.
The actions of Microsoft in these cases show that they are trying to improve their image with the end users by persuing the business that deceived them while simultaneously offering said end user a discounted or complimentary legitimate copy to help resolve the situation. Furthermore these actions are also considered to be defence of copyright so that they do not lose that copyright.
My God! It's full of eval()'s.
Ummm, that guy is bitching that an 800MHz Powerbook with 1GB of RAM was slow running 10.2.x, which is a bunch of bullshit since I'm running 10.3.9 on an 800MHz G3 iBook with 640MB of RAM and it runs fine. Hell, we had 333MHz G3 B&W Powermacs with 384MB of RAM that ran OS X 10.1.x just fine when we still had those machines. The guy is a wanker, plain and simple.
Who are they going to push the alternatives to? They just pissed off their existing customer base by selling pirated software while claiming that it was legitimate. They've destroyed their reputation so that their word of mouth refferals are going to plummet. And there is also the distinct possibility that if they were selling pirated copies to inflate their margins then they were probably small enough or dependant enough on that extra margin that they will not survive a serious lawsuit.
Most likely, the customers will be looking for alternatives to that retailer and not for alternatives to Windows.
My God! It's full of eval()'s.
There is a tendancy (of which I have been guilty myself) to assume that WGA is bad just because microsoft are doing it. I'm not a great microsoft fan, but I am a software developer, and I see their point in a way.
If your product is software, how else but via software are you going to enforce legality? Go on, answer that one? Postcards? Hey man, shareware days are long gone, and they failed because of piracy, postal registration doesn't work. Nowadays it's electronic product monitoring or nothing, sorry.
And for that matter, what's wrong with wanting people to pay for it if it's non free software?
These are reasonable points if you remove references to microsoft. It wouldn't be fair to say I was trolling just because I think it's reasonable to expect to be paid.
I don't like a lot of what microsoft are doing, but you must point out when things they are doing are fair or reasonable, or you're just as bad.
There are also no ways to 'phone home' with any peice of software without sending some kind of identifying material, even if its just the originating IP. That's a lose lose situation, they can't do it at all without being accused of invading privacy, and yet if they don't then piracy of windows products will spiral even further out of control.
Everyone I know who's complained about WGA has a dodgy copy of windows, almost everyone with legal copies either hasn't even noticed unless I've pointed it out, or doesn't care.
I've only known one person with a legal windows copy who got screwed by WGA, and that was a corporate install in a university lab, so probably a mistake by the IT dept giving the wrong key.
Basically, they improve the engineering rather than just add more features. Good call, in my book.
Eivind.
Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.
I have some very bad news to tell you. So sit down for a moment and ignore the SWAT-team for a moment that's breaking down your door and open a window to let the tear gas out.
You see, AOL made a little oops. I know, those hand cuffs are a bid uncomfortable. They accidently released a few search logs. Hmm, these police car seats are pretty comfortable. So some people might have gotten some information on what you were looking for on the internet. You're supposed to push you thump in the inkt and then on the paper. But I'm sure this isn't going to affect your life negatively at all. Hmm, that cellmate seems to have a liking for you. So I suppose you don't hold this little slip-up against us and aren't going to give up your subscription, are you?
My favorite part about MacOS has always been the portability... a hard drive with the most recent OS on it will boot any Mac. When my 350MHz G3 finally died, I bought a new G5 tower, popped in the old hard drive, and I was off to the races... I do the same thing with Windows, but it then consumes a half-day of my life cleaning up the afterbirth, and never really seems as nice as a fresh install.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
I am completely in favor of MS chasing all pirate versions and distributors. One of the reasons Windows is so popular here in Brazil is that anyone can have a copy of any version of windows for R$10 (US$3!). If people only had the option to buy the orignial version which begins at R$700 (US$304), people would realize how overpriced Windows really is, and maybe start looking for existing alternatives.