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Microsoft to Get Tough on License Dodgers

An anonymous reader writes "PC Advisor reports that Microsoft is going to start getting tough with certain small business customers. They are going to examine their small customer license database — any discrepancies and it will call you for an audit. If you refuse it will send in the BSA and the legal heavies. "

7 of 564 comments (clear)

  1. BSA? by i_am_socket · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know its bad when they send the Boy Scouts of America after you.

  2. One more reason to go Linux by Gentlewhisper · · Score: 4, Funny

    Imagine being able to tell the Microsoft auditor to fuck himself/herself, and when the big heavies show up, all they see are peace lovin' penguins fluttering around the office with no short and curlies to grip on to.

    Oh the horror!

  3. Re:So true by Firehed · · Score: 4, Funny

    Chances are that if you stole the software, you're in violation of the EULA, in which case that right of theirs disappears. How's that for a loophole!?

    --
    How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
  4. Re:Gets Tough? by pnot · · Score: 4, Funny

    If their solution is disagreeable, use other software.

    I still can't see what gives them the right to assume guilt until innocence is proven. They demand an audit based on their perception that you haven't bought enough of their software, and AFAICT they act as if this gives them a right to waste your time proving your innocence. Why on earth is software a special case here? It would be impossible to run a business if every industry sector behaved in the same way.

    *knock knock*
    "Hello?"
    "We're from the Business Furniture Alliance, representing Office World, Staples, and several other major furniture retailers. According to our clients' records, you haven't purchased enough office desks to run a business of this size. We suspect you've been stealing your office furniture from one of our clients."
    "Not that it's any of your business, but we got a local carpenter to run up some desks for us..."
    "A likely tale. We're going to have to audit your furniture. I hope you have a few days free."
    "Kindly bugger off and d-- hang on, who's that?"
    "Good morning sir or madam, I'm from the Business Carpeting Alliance. Our records show that..."

  5. Re:So true by wirelessbuzzers · · Score: 3, Funny

    No, the thing is, you divide the cake into two equal parts. Then you eat both the parts.

    It's not that hard to halve your cake and eat it, too.

    --
    I hereby place the above post in the public domain.
  6. Re:So true by M.+Baranczak · · Score: 3, Funny

    Depending on your digestive system, you can eat your cake and still have it for up to several hours afterwards.

    Actually, some of the atoms from the cake will be absorbed into your bloodstream and wind up distributed in various parts of your body, where they might stay for years (even until the end of your life).

    A cake is more than just a mixture of certain ingredients, it's a structure. The moment you bite into it, the structure starts breaking down. So we can reduce this to a semantic problem: at which point in the breakdown process does the cake stop being a cake? I would argue that this happens when it's chewed up and swallowed, but it's hard to draw a clear line.

    Buy me another cake and I'll tell you more on this subject.

  7. Re:So true by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's a stupid saying. I've had my cake and ate it. Even after I ate it I still had it. Nobody made me cough it up. I still had my cake for a few more hours, then I blew it out my ass.

    Then I didn't want it any more....

    --

    Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification