Microsoft Marketing to OS Pirates, Just Agree to Audits!

Stony Stevenson writes "In the latest sign that Microsoft expects to support its Windows XP operating system for the foreseeable future, the company has introduced a new licensing program designed to let users of fake or pirated copies of the business version of the OS upgrade to fully licensed copies. To qualify, users of illegitimate versions of Windows XP Pro must pledge to use only genuine Microsoft software going forward and agree to have their software infrastructure audited. Resellers who push the Get Genuine Windows Agreement to customers will get a cut of any new license fees they generate, Microsoft said."

Comments

Yeah, right

[sprag]

If someone is pirating windows, why would they self identify and then agree to an eternal audit of their infrastructure?

Re:Yeah, right

[deniable]

It's called getting caught.

You get a choice of pay up or go to court, unless their looking to make an example of someone. They've been doing it for a fairly long time here.

Re:Yeah, right

[Iphtashu Fitz]

Well, a significant portion of these "pirates" are supposedly people/groups that have no idea that they are breaking any rules.

If they have no idea that they're running a pirated copy of Windows then how would they know they should consider this offer by MS?

Re:Yeah, right

[bogaboga]

To qualify, users of illegitimate versions of Windows XP Pro must pledge to use only genuine Microsoft software going forward and agree to have their software infrastructure audited.

Suppose I were a pirate; what would I get in this? After all, I can still get my copy of Windows software "free".

Microsoft should know better: There is no difference between a pirated copy of its software and a genuine one. They work the same, have the same bugs, crash the same way etc etc. I do not see any incentive to agreeing to these audits at all.

By the way, I do not see any indemnification from a law suite by Microsoft. Or did I miss something?

Re:Yeah, right

[cp.tar]

I guess this is only moderately useful to businesses, as they may get hurt if they're caught.

I, however, don't see a single reason to "upgrade" to a legal copy: I, unlike own^H^H^Hlicencees of legal copies, am not annoyed by WGA, I will never have to deal with their tech support, my Windows installation will never enter Reduced Functionality Mode (RFM? Isn't that kind of like RTFM?)... I only use Windows to play games only available on Windows.

And I see no reason to ever allow Microsoft to audit anything on my computer. Because it's still my computer.

Re:Yeah, right

[Bert64]

Actually there are differences, very important ones.

The pirated copy is *BETTER*.

You don't have to deal with WGA
You don't have the hassle of re-activating it if you upgrade/change your hardware
You often don't have the hassle of entering and storing (without losing) the license key when you reinstall
And the obvious - that it's cheaper

Re:Yeah, right

[fwarren]

Microsoft isn't losing any money because he's using some pirated copy of Windows. He would have never bought their software at the price they wanted/with restrictions on his liberties in place/other reason to not use it. So they're not really losing a sale, since he was never going to buy it anyway.

But Microsoft still obtains benefit.....

Microsoft will GLADLY claim him as a Windows User when it tells developers not to develope games for Linux or Mac. Micosoft most certainly does not want people running other OS's. No matter how much they complain. They would prefer you to run a pirate copy of Windows to you running a Mac or Linux.

Re:Yeah, right

[Anonymous Coward]

a tip, such as from a current or ex disgruntled employee (as I did to a former employer. :) Maybe this is a statement that you should have made as ac

Actually

[El Lobo]

Actually many here will, of course, disagree with me, but this is a very smart and good move, not only for Microsoft, but for the users. There are a lot of users thta have their Windows locked from further updates, because they installed the GA software and they WERE actually running a pirated Windows. Some of them have, after that , adquired a legal license, but others, just sit there with their pirated copy.

This is actually a good solution for those people and a civilizated solution for the whole problem.

Sure, bring on now the "oh, MS wants just to mantain the monopoly", "oh, they will kill people privacities", etc... No matter waht you say, this IS a good move.

Re:Actually

[ConceptJunkie]

Given that copies of Windows that are locked out of updates are very likely to be parts of botnets, it is a good thing. Microsoft has a responsibility to mitigate some of the mess they've made over the years.

Re:Yes, I "promise" never to do it again

[Aladrin]

No, that's why they force the company to sign a contract to submit to audits... Probably plural. Microsoft clearly expects to use this as an 'in' to monitor criminals... Dream on.

What's the Point?

[darthflo]

What exactly is the goal of this new program? They offer businesses the chance to license their (currently mislicensed) installed versions of WinXP, don't seem to offer a huge discount on that and want an assurance of no more mislicensing and an audit?
Why would any business do that instead of just buying a normal volume license? What's the advantage in this?

And?

[mpapet]

In my limited experience in the U.S., there are two kinds of shops, ones that are good about not stealing software and the other that steals as they see fit. In the case of the shop that steals, they generally swing into compliance if the business takes off. In my limited dealings with my counterparts in Taiwan and China, they operate similarly.

As much as I really, really don't like Microsoft's business practices, this kind of program is just fine by me. It is the brain child of some manager at Microsoft who figured out a novel way to further monetize their customers. Will this manager get a gold star on her review? Probably. Will it fail? (e.g. cost Microsoft a bunch of money) No. Will there be limited/no market penetration? Probably.

Re:Audit? Idiot.

[Bert64]

Well, if you run modern versions of windows you already give a monopolistic corporation unlimited access to (and control over) your infrastructure... You even explicitly agreed to it in the EULA.

Are they also going to let me continue running XP

[mmell]

under Xen?

Vista (as preinstalled on my Acer) horked within forty-five minutes of initial boot. The "PC Angel" software (which was supposed to do a reinstall from a hidden partition on the HDD) likewise barfed. After three weeks, I got the "Restore DVD's" from Acer, which likewise vomited. Long story short, Vista only stayed up long enough to get me registered, now it won't run at all.

Funny thing . . . I got ahold of a student version of XP Pro - ran it up in a Xen domain to prove that I could, then it failed to install directly onto the hardware. That's right - my dual-core AMD X64 machine with a SATA drive can't seem to handle Windows XP, but Xen (under OpenSuSE 10.2) can. WGA works, the virtual XP system is fully updated and ready to rock, but I still have a three year old copy of Doom III which I've never run because I don't have a platform to run it on! So far, I'm only out thirty bucks for Doom III (plus an OEM Vista license, whatever that's worth), but I find it mildly irritating that I have to run a pirate version of WinXP just to get back some of what Best Buy/Acer/Microsoft owe me. Oh, and don't think about calling any of the above for help - M$ doesn't want to hear about it (after all, they didn't sell me a Windows OS), Acer's tech support people in New Delhi don't speak English well enough to understand what I'm trying to tell them, and Best Buy's response was (quite correctly) to offer to give me my money back on the hardware as a warranty issue.

So . . . if I buy into this, will M$ continue to tell me that I have an OEM license and don't desserve support, or will they help me to actually get their software to install and run correctly (well, as correctly as M$ software runs, anyhow)?

I think I'll keep my eyepatch and cutlass, thank you - at least, I know that they work. Arrgh!

Smells like Microsoft alright

[HangingChad]

Sounds like a way for VAR's to approach small to medium size companies with an offer to "get legal" on their software installs. Which arises from the assumption that all small to medium size companies are running some unlicensed copies of something. The VAR's get a piece of the action and Microsoft has plausible deniability. Oh, those darn VAR's! They're such scamps (wink-wink, nudge-nudge).

Reminds me of some of the things RIAA did. I could see VAR's dressing up like they're some type of investigator and showing up at some company unannounced, claiming the company might be running illegal software and this is their one chance to come clean or face legal action. Or maybe Microsoft tips them off because someone there is using a volume license key that doesn't belong to them. And it won't stop at OS software, I'm sure they'll audit everything. Workstations, servers, the whole enchilada. A VAR might be pimping for a number of different software companies.

To me this is more of a sign of how desperate Microsoft is to keep up their quarterly numbers. When they need numbers they go back to the well of their existing user base and squeeze. After all, that's free money. Collecting on what's already out there.

It seems so strange to me that companies take the most incredible crap from Microsoft. Switch already. If you can't handle the Linux tech stuff get a Mac.

Must use only genuine MS software?

[RealGrouchy]

To qualify, users of illegitimate versions of Windows XP Pro must pledge to use only genuine Microsoft software So... no Firefox or OOo, then?

- RG>