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Microsoft Piracy Plan Means Concerns for IT

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the think-this-one-through dept.

coondoggie writes to mention an article on Information Week about possible unintended consequences of the Microsoft Software Protection Plan (SPP) discussed on Slashdot on Wednesday. The new initiative is intended to protect consumers from pirated software, but may cause major headaches for IT shops. From the article: "Microsoft will support SPP in current and future reporting and asset management tools such as System Center Operations Manager. 'On paper it might sound pretty good, but we have to see how it works,' says Jeff Allred, manager of network services for the Duke University Cancer Center. One of his concerns is that a reduced functionality mode kicks in three days after changing out a motherboard in a server if the software is not revalidated. 'That really jumped out at me. We change out motherboards in our servers all the time,' he says. The provision only covers a swap with a non-OEM motherboard, which Allred admits doesn't happen often."

4 of 278 comments (clear)

  1. So... by PFI_Optix · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Activate it.

    Doesn't seem particularly troublesome to me...did I miss something?

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    120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
  2. Jeff Allred has bigger problems than Vista by Chazmyrr · · Score: 0, Redundant

    "We change out motherboards in our servers all the time."

    Who supplies your hardware? I ask so I can make sure to never do business with them. Seriously. Swapping out a server motherboard should be an extremely rare event. If you have to do it "all the time", having to reactivate Windows afterward is the least of your problems.

  3. Moo by Chacham · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Link.

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    Have you read my journal today?
  4. correct link for Microsoft story by coondoggie · · Score: 1, Redundant

    http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/100506-micro soft-antipiracy.html