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Microsoft Uses WGA To Obtain Record Jail Sentences
theodp writes "According to Microsoft, 'No information is collected during the [Genuine Advantage Program] validation process that can be used to identify or contact a user.' That's little comfort to the software counterfeiters who were just handed jail sentences ranging from 1.5-6.5 years by the Futian People's Court in China, especially since Microsoft contends that much of the estimated $2B in bogus software was detected by its Windows Genuine Advantage program. 'Software piracy negatively impacts local economic growth,' explained Microsoft VP Fengming Liu in a celebratory New Year's Eve press release. But then again, so does transferring $16B of assets and $9B in annual profit to an Irish tax haven, doesn't it?"
The moral of the story is: don't trust a commercialistic company not to try to gain advantage - any way it can. Especially Microsoft.
Excuse for why is your room always messy?
I'm betting that a good amount of the information used in this case came from posters on the WGA forum, where people can post if they're having issues with WGA. One of the tools available in that forum is a WGA diagnostic tool which will generate a sanitized text dump of a user's windows validation information. Most cases on that forum are people whose brother, cousin, or sketchy PC shop installed a common warez release of Windows on their systems, but several there are people who bought apparently legitimate software from resellers which failed validation and later turned out to be counterfeit. Microsoft got in touch with these users, identified the resellers, and I'm betting that this news story is the result.
"But then again, so does transferring $16B of assets and $9B in annual profit to an Irish tax haven, doesn't it?"
What's the point of adding that statement? So it's OK to steal from someone who is "rich" or who has a shrewd accountant?
I don't like Microsoft any more than the next guy, but winking at large scale theft of their product because they somehow "deserve it" is just plain wrong.
Cheers,
'Software piracy negatively impacts local economic growth,'
And buying Microsoft software takes money out of local economies and sends it to Redmond. (And buying Apple software does the same thing, but to Cupertino).
I say that using non-free software can also negatively impact local economies, but people do it anyway.
Really, answering my own post here, it's not just as black and white as that. Companies using open source would help energize their local economy by using local companies/consultants, but often they don't. And companies using MS software, while spending for it, may use local companies/consultants as well, keeping some of the money local.
However, in the case of real large scale piracy, it's the worst of both worlds, because money has left the local economy, and not gone to the rightful owners (in this case, Microsoft).
creation science book
The summary appears to suggest that Microsoft was lying about WGA not collecting personal information, otherwise I just can't see why that statement appeared in the summary at all.
Unfortunately, the facts don't support that accusation. All we know is that WGA was used to count how many users had a particular counterfeit copy of Windows; this does not require any identifying information, just a license key. Microsoft then determined through other means that this particular copy originated with a particular pirate group (and yes, piracy is the correct term here).
I also fail to see what Microsoft's accounting practices have to do with this story. Is the submitter trying to suggest that a wrong committed by Microsoft somehow negates its right to seek justice in court? That's not how it works.
Obligatory disclaimer: I'm no more of a Microsoft fan than anyone here, but biased, sensationalist story-telling pisses me off.
It's hard to blame Microsoft for moving money offshore to avoid taxes, we're the idiots that tax the hell out of our populace and our companies and think no bad could ever come from it. Perhaps if we were a bit more supportive of success rather than spending $700B - $1,700B rewarding failure ...
Yes, it does. So, the natural solution to this is to give corporations incentives to keep their money local instead of sending it to tax havens. America used to be a tax haven for foreign investors. If we want to pull out of the recession quickly, we should restructure our taxes and spending accordingly, to encourage people to squirrel their assets away on our soil, rather than Ireland, Switzerland, the Caribbean or Indonesia.
This is just basic, good sense, especially if you are one of those people who believes that the rich can buy influence. If you believe that, then what makes you think that they won't be able to get their assets overseas while the middle class and lower end of the upper class get taxed into oblivion?
Right. If the submitter had actually read the article, this would have jumped out at him:
"The counterfeits were also discovered through customs seizures"
The fact that *after* they had seized the software, WGA was capable of detecting it when installed is just pr for WGA and not an indication that WGA is sending personal information to MS. It may or may not being doing that, but you couldn't prove it by this article.
If you really want to see what WGA is sending to Microsoft, just capture the packets on their way to the internet and see what's being sent. Has anyone done that and found anything of real interest?
Microsoft says pirating software takes money from local economies! (read: pirates are stealin' America's money!!1one)
Microsoft uses an Irish tax haven to keep billions of their dollars out of reach of the American tax man.
If you don't see the hypocrisy in that, please read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocrisy
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Have you realized that GPL enforcement and Windows license enforcement comes from the same thing as Copyright law?
There is one big difference though: Microsoft often comes after end users of its software, while GPL enforcement never concerns use. GPL enforcement is only directed at companies and organizations that distribute the code further without fulfilling the license obligations, specifically the requirement of source code availability.
"According to researchers, 'there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.' That's little comfort to Joe and Mary Blogs whose son has been diagnosed with autism."
Why mention the MMR vaccine at all unless you want to suggest a link? Same with the reference to personally identifiable data in the summary.
You say that as if they deserve anything other than what they got. They knew the risks, they knew the penalties (or should have), they got caught. Now, it is time for them to pay the price.
Maybe all you poor little whiners who cry every time someone is busted for violating other people's rights should imagine how you would like it if someone violated your rights. Oh, that is right, when someone violates the rights of FSF or the like, you want the book thrown at them.
What a bunch of whiny hypocrites you lot are.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
I'm using an illegitimate copy of XP right now. My genuine copy lies at the bottom of my desk drawer, rendered useless by the asshats that decided to make small hardware changes require reauthorisation, using up my allotted attempts. After getting no help at all from customer service I downloaded and installed a cracked copy in less than the time than it took for customer service to answer my bloody call...
I am now certain to exterminate WGA from any and all computers I come into contact with.
Ezekiel 23:20
Which is a completely bollocks idea, if you ask me. Ultimately, if we can send more people to college, our society as a whole will improve. How many people end up in crime because they either didn't have the resources to, or weren't encouraged by peers, family, and so on? I think if you do the math, the "pockets of others" will be more taxed now than if we were to be able to send a lot more people to college.
Not to mention we're h-u-m-a-n. Most of us have compassion and empathy with others. Live may not be fair and perhaps it never will be, but at the very least we can try to make it /more/ fair.
Being able to make a good career, get rich, and what not, is good.. But ultimately we're all impacted if only a small minority can achieve this goal.
Despite the hatred against Microsoft, commercial or large-scale cloning of MS-products is not ok.
The right thing to do, is to destroy Microsoft completely, burn Bill and his EEE (extend, ...) and marketing team in hell and nuke everything from orbit, just to be sure. ;)
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
What you're basically saying is that just one raid justifies MS annoying all of us legitimate users and treating us like criminals.
Nothing justifies it, but sticking with a company that treats you like a thief is pretty much acceptance of the charge. You are guilty until proven possibly innocent this time... And Microsoft reserves the right to alter how you are allowed to use their product at any time. An extra check here, a stricter enforcement of the reactivation policy there, and you will move to the next version, or buy a new copy for as long as it is available. Don't like it, you are free to go elsewhere. The WGA software was enough to give me the final push to move to Linux, and I had a fully legit copy of XP. For many, this isn't a big enough problem, and for others, it is something they don't even know about. Basically, Microsoft can do what they like, and until it is tested in court, you are stuck with whatever conditions Microsoft choose to apply.
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
Sorry, but the writer of that article lost me in the first section.
Mr Kingsley-Hughes gives five essential points to explain what is so bad about Linux that it can't even succeed for free
What he means is "Five things that Microsoft does to hinder Linux's success, and that I personally dislike because I've got no fuckin' clue."
His main point being in the headline "Windows is free" (eg. via torrent). This is nothing Linux has done wrong, is it? Yet he writes it in that way in the whole large section.
Too many different versions of Linux.
Again one of those retards who still think in terms of "software product versions", despite calling themselves "experts".
There are no "versions". There are packagers. Companies, and other groups. A living, breathing, healthy concurrency. Each group with their own philosophy.
There is not even a "product" "Linux". It's like he would say that there are too many different versions of candy bars, so he rather wants ice cream, despite there only being 3 versions of two products from one single company.
This is a giant major advantage of Linux. Him not being used to it does not make it wrong. It means he's even too lazy to try to understand this, despite calling himself an "expert".
I see GNU/Linux as a kind of meta-OS. You create your very own OS out of it. Some people have done this for you to some extend.
People want certainty that hardware and software will work.
Well. Linux does this better than any new Windows version. Install Linux, and all supported hardware is there. Install Windows, and then go hunt for drivers. Signed drivers.
I bet he drags the drivers of those companies into the spotlight, that refuse to create a Linux driver, partially because MS told them to do so, and partially because they have something shady to hide (like their most expensive product and their cheapest product only differing in the driver code).
As far as most people are concerned, the command line has gone the way of the dinosaur.
This guy really calls himself anything?? How incompetent can you be?
The whole point of having a computer, is to be able to automate things.
This is mostly done trough writing programs. But then you have programs, and the OS, and you want them to work together in a specific way.
A comforting little automation there... an quick rename of just those files, while replacing a word inside them... let two tools work together for more comfort...
All this glue in between is filled with shell scripting, or as he calls it "the command line".
If you can't do that, you're not really using the computer. If there would be a computer license, this would be the major thing you would have to be able to do.
When you're only being able to eat pre-chewed food, you're dead, every time the pre-chewer has a problem.
When I came from Windows, this "glue" scripts, and the little automation of repetitive tasks, including the use of DBUS, and even Greasemonkey, were the first thing that made me say "Wow, I love Linux". All this shit that I had to work countless hours on on Windows... and all this comfort that I previously could not even imagine... dissolved into some small shell scripts. Everything was so easy. And most importantly: Everything suddenly was possible.
The day where shell scripting dies, is the day where the computer dies, is a day where I will long be dead and gone.
Linux is still too geeky.
Translation: "I don't like you. I've never learned to know you. I've not worked with you. But, hell, I don't like you!"
I bet he has not even tried Ubuntu.
I'm sorry, but with this EPIC FAIL of an article introduction, I will not throw away my time to read this, but use it to save others from going down that dirty pipe with him.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
You contradict your own premise.
There are three tiers to a successful nation:
Extreme right view points ignore the need for a healthy and skilled labor force and its impact on the other two. You protest that no one person has "the right" to be compensated for a disadvantage. However, the entire notion of society is built upon just this right. The right for a collaborative of individuals to work toward a common end despite relatively minor inconveniences to an individual.
So you ask, why should I have to pay out of pocket to send some poor kid to school who could not otherwise afford it? Why should I spend money to improve education and decrease negative social pressures in low income neighborhoods when I live in a nice suburb seemingly unconnected?
The response is simple, it costs more to imprison a man then to educate him. . . and the education also benefits society by producing a skilled member of the worked force. Society receives a net gain when it assists an out of work man in finding employment then if it ignores his plight.
If you don't like the system, then so be it. Walden it up if you wish, but be a man of principle and shirk all the social welfare you enjoy on a daily basis such as socalized military, socialized police, socialized road and transport, subsidized agriculture, subsidized economies. And when you take off to the hills for a life of solitude unburdened by the unfair demands for good health, equal opportunities, and pursuit of a decent life of your fellow man please don't drive on our roads, our airways, or purchase any of our subsidized foods on your way out.
What's the problem?
The problem is that the world is not as black and white as you make it out to be. Because of their job requirements, their lack of technical ability or many other possible reasons, many people cannot leave the Windows world. If I refuse to ever use Windows again I would be out of a job and it would be very difficult to find a new one (unless I was willing to leave the IT field and work construction or as a dishwasher or something).
Windows is the big player in the desktop OS world. Leaving it is simply not a viable option for many of us.
You are not the average user. Get it through your thick skull. Everytime you tell a customer to open a console to type weird shit they are going to give you the middle finger and install windows. This is why Windows has a safe mode GUI which _always_ works on any video card. Think about that for a second. Each and every single video card in the known PC ecosystem can display a windows GUI to fix problems instead of using the console. Without Drivers. Looks like linux has to catch up to the GUI revolution which happened decades ago.
OK, so Linux is a server OS. It is meant to be taken care of by competent sys admins, and the core of linux is awesome and rock solid. Compared to that the GUI-userland is fragile. KDE/Gnome are memory eating monstrosities. Even the darling of F/OSS , Firefox STILL.. STILL has memory leaks and instead of fixing crashes they added the "restore session" bullshit.. I dont remember a single windows update that was released to fix a memory leak in IE.. there could be, but i just dont recall it, not recently anyway. And IE Protected mode beats the crap out of any (none) security in Firefox. Go read up on it...
GNU/Linux on the desktop was and is _always_ lagging behind windows. Lets look at the XP timeframe shall we?
6 years ago Linux couldn't automatically mount removable media!
Windows could for the past 17 years..
6 years ago Linux couldn't use any wi-fi modules!
6 years ago OpenOffice was even crappier than it is now!
6 years you had to manually edit xfree86.cfg in order to make Xfree86 recognize the monitor frequency!
6 years ago, there wasn't ANY IDE for Linux!
6 years ago, Linux boot up time was the longest of any other OS!
6 years ago, launching binaries on Linux took the longest of any other OS!
6 years ago, most video cards under linux didn't have any 3d acceleration!
6 years ago, you couldn't write to ntfs partitions!
6 years ago, GTK and Qt were much slower, less responsive, and consume much more memory than either GDI or Cocoa!
6 years ago, OSS was the only sound server, and it couldn't mix more than one sound source!
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Linux is a collosal failure on the desktop. 15+ years in development and still cant convince people to even touch that crap. Beats vista in cappiness.. 0.91% market share on the desktop. LOL.
And the fun part is theres no direct money in OSS. Only way you can make money is by providing support = FIXING SHIT that shouldnt need fixing. (If the OS was good enough). OK so some of it maybe customizing server installations to different loads , something which is extremely hard to do, but you get the drift..
Or the otherway is to WHORE OUT the search bar to google.. ironically a company whose main focus is advertising and selling people shit they dont need.
Ballmer was right ..GPL truly is a cancer..
enjoy recompiling your kernel while I go play some fallout 3..
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on a more ad-hominem note who the hell cant write scripts in windows? guess you're too stupid to learn any scripting .
p.s.
go ahead and quote grammatical/spelling mistakes in my post and be a karmawhore)
Taxes are robbery, yes it's that simple. When you're taking money from another people under the threat of violence and use it to the end of your choice (however noble this end is in your opinion,) you're committing robbery. And it's precisely what state does with taxes.
No, it isn't. When you are robbed, you have things taken from you under threat of harm. When you pay taxes, you have things taken from you under threat of harm in return for the use the social amenities that we take for granted. Everyone uses these amenities in some form or other, and though they aren't all essential to human survival, they are a staple of life currently.