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Windows 7 Leaked To Pirates By Microsoft?
nandemoari writes "The beta version of Windows 7 has been widely distributed through torrents and other file sharing systems. But now some commentators claim Microsoft deliberately allowed the package to get into the hands of pirates. 'I'm not being critical here, as some Microsoft Watch commenters will surely claim. It's rather smart marketing. Microsoft fills a big news void with something bloggers and journalists will write about. The suspense of stealth downloads from torrents and races to post the best screenshots first make the Windows 7 leak buzz all the more exciting. For other people, there is delight in seeing Microsoft squirm because Seven leaked early. Not that I see much squirming going on.'"
Hmm... let's see ... pirated software, where even having it is proof that it's pirated, as it's not released yet. And yesterday's news on WGA convictions.
That's not hypocrisy -- that's a trojan horse.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
The copy which is available has a built-in 30 day time limit and, unlike previous editions of Windows 7, 'enthusiasts' don't seem to have found a way around this yet. While this is pretty normal practice for test editions, it would make it possible for Microsoft to leak the software without it affecting the final product.
Anyone tried to reset the clock yet?
On another note, since virtually all of the market for MS Vista is folks who buy a new computer (that isn't a Mac), what good is it to MS to offer something like this up? Is it in the hope that developers will bite? Is this some attrition for Vista?
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
These pirate trackers also have working versions of both XP and Vista that have working Microsoft validation. Supposedly this isn't possible, Microsoft is tracking re-used keys, etc etc - except that the pirates have found a way around it, and all those pirate distributions of XP that come bundled with tools like Adobe and Nero all can be patched using Microsoft Windows Update.
I wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole, even if they were reviewed file for file for viruses and you ran a firewall that blocked outbound connections like Comodo or Zonealarm, because if they want to create a zombie machine, they'll do it using SSL for the control channel.
Windows 7 can't be patched online yet, but after release if these sites have copies that can be, then I doubt Microsoft would be so happy.
As to whether or not this is some MS developers idea of a viral marketing campaign: we give those guys in redmond too much credit. I don't think they like seeing it in the wild, esp. with the comments flowing in about how it's no better than Vista.
Delighted to see MS squirmin'
But they ain't wrigglin'
Cause they leaked 7 on the Bay
Seen sunshine and made hay
Now bloggers are talkin 'bout
That the new OS is out
But I see a frown
Cause their computer is down!
Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in trouble again.
It has happened in the past that Microsoft has blamed their tech beta testers for leaks... at least we can't get blamed for this one.
I don't doubt they did leak it on purpose...but TFA gives no evidence...save some personal projecting.
THL phish sticks
Did they leak the beta intentionally? Of course they did. It's a great way to generate buzz about the new OS for virtually no cost.
Buzzz?!?!? You get excited about Windows?!? ... Pervert!
Though for different reasons, this was tried before.
would microsoft send me a take down notice to remove windows 7 files uploaded onto our hosting servers by one of our customers last week?
And there is about zero substantiation. No unnamed sources. No evidence.
Slashdot -- speculation for nerds and rumors that matter.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
if you s/Darwin/Microsoft/, (or stop reading after the first half) this comment would be +5 insightful.
Summary: Theory: Microsoft intentionally leaked windows 7. Since it's not verifiable, it's garbage and should be ignored.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Am preemptively putting on my tin-foil hat
More like they've gone for the alleged tactic of the early Windows releases and just turned a blind eye to it, knowing that the end user base only benefit them in the long term...
THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
Actually, the interior of a watermelon is very nearly black until it's cut open. Light has that strange effect, you know.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
Guess we're again seeing that any PR is good PR. W7 is getting 'geek' exposure while it's still sounding squirreled up in development. Cruise various forums and blogs, early feedback from the tech-savvy. Makes enough sense to some of us. Whether or not this was planned very far up the line is a good question, but it's not too bad. If the source, rather than a distro was released, OTOH...
VFX? Is that you?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Here is a link to leaked videos of the KDE 4.2 beta!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg0ma-qKHrM
There are numerous of those on that site, Youtube.
Wait.. I thought windows 7 WAS window vista; It was a trick to get some dumb model/actors to actually try it and say nice things on "hidden" camera.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
> It's rather smart marketing.
:)
And we've grown so accustomed to that phrase being associated with MS up to now...versus vast parts of the online world having shown contempt at MS for decades. Got it, thanks
I'm admin for one of the P2P bittorent sharing web-site. I often get money to upload music or so called DVD screener from their respective copyright owners or agents. If it get 5k or more leechers they get free publicity and tons of people go and buy genuine work.
They do this for precedent. What MSFT didn't tell the pirates is that they used the Windows 7 files to trace their network as they were all trojan horses with call-home scripts built in. Although the pirates rewrote the scripts and now they act as a nice lava-lamp plugin, mostly for decoration (and Slashdot karma/irony).
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Windows 7 has been widely distributed through torrents
Does that qualify as a distributed virus attack?
End anonymous moderation and posting on
no...I think it's more plausible that they were some how involved.
it's actually quite brilliant.
It is a change in tactics for sure but judging from the crap they got from Vista, it makes sense to try a new method to beat their competitors.
It also allows people to believe the good "reviews" more especially those based on the leaked version since to the public, there isn't a "Microsoft bias" attached to it. It's not like Microsoft winked and blinked at the journalists to get them to say things.
And if the journalists reviewed it poorly, then Microsoft can chuck it up to being a unstable pirated copy.
But there is one concern, if it does turn out to be true, how will this affect the "fight" against piracy? Can some savvy lawyer use it to say that it's not "copyright infringement" but a sneaky/viral marketing technique?
FTA:
In theory this is bad news for Microsoft: it would represent mass piracy and lost revenue.
Huh? A beta copy of Windows 7 represents mass piracy and lost revenue? The beta expires in July anyway, even if it's production quality. I guess any tripe will get posted on Slashdot if it's anti-Microsoft.
This space for rent.
I wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole, even if they were reviewed file for file for viruses and you ran a firewall that blocked outbound connections like Comodo or Zonealarm, because if they want to create a zombie machine, they'll do it using SSL for the control channel.
This is why (if you have any sense) you either:
A - Run Windows in a VM and only turn on networking when you need it (VMs also have the added advantage of being able to revert to snapshots, in case anything untoward happens).
or B - Only plug in the network cable when you need to.
I seriously cant imagine anyone stupid enough to run a pirated OS on a box with 24/7 Internet connection (the risks are just too high).
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
Windows 7 = Vista? haha now that piece of crap makes a little more sense! I always thought it seemed a little... unfinished.
That aside, people always bust window's for issues and I can't imagine that a pre-pre-release of their operating system can be in too good of shape. Really a good idea to put it out there?
Waiting for Windows 7 is like waiting for the new Ford Taurus to come out!
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
If they leaked the software to pirates, then where's the fun in downloading it? I thought that the whole point of illegally downloading software was the thrill of doing something you shouldn't be. :D
I speak and work with one of the main PR reps who works on the Windows 7 account. Without going into any details, the leaked build was officially sent to a group of testers about a month ago, to ensure that it'd work for the media release/update of the latest build Windows 7 at CES.
I know he's a little upset with the group since it was supposed to be confidential, but with all the positive reviews he's not too peeved.
crowds will beta test it for microsoft. much better than actually rolling out, and then patching the thing.
Read radical news here
Yeah, they do this. They don't really mind the rampant piracy in developing countries because people couldn't afford the genuine article anyway, and they're playing the long game, hoping to get you hooked on their stuff, so they can make money out of you later. Even if you didn't pay for their stuff, if you're using it you're not using the other guy's.
So in this case, people downloading 7 is fine by them because hell, at least it's not Linux, and they've probably already bought a copy of Vista or XP anyway.
See also Adobe not really minding broke students pirating their Creative Suite software because they know that when they graduate they'll expect their workplace to cough up a pretty penny for it.
Well, leaks sound a lot more exciting than previews. Previews are held back by NDAs, pre-configured pre-tweaked setups, and perhaps time limits as well. There's less criticism, less peeking under the hood, and "preview" just has a connotation of being biased or at least very reserved, and perhaps the usual OS previews are not as technical and investigative as we would like.
Twinstiq, game news
You know that WGA is part of the system. No one deceived you to download it.
You could have downloaded an Ubuntu install.
So, whose fault and problem is this?
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
It makes perfect sense that MS gave this thing to pirates early. They are trying to get lots of people into the new OS to make up for vista. Since pirates are often times the most critical of software (since we get it for free and toss it if its shit) they want people to know about it. It worked, I have seen news on the "leaked ISO of Windows 7" on just about every tech blog i've read. So I'd say they did a good job.
Eggbrook
I seem to have heard the leaked-to-pirates-intentionally idea more than once..
"esp. with the comments flowing in about how it's no better than Vista."
Could you elaborate? Win 7 is so much better than vista that I'm using beta 1 as my main box. In fact, I'm considering switching my XP box to win 7 as well, as its been running for 4 years and feels kludgy, and no amount of registry cleaning and spyware detecting is making it faster again.
I can't possibly see how anyone who has used vista for more than an hour could say that win 7 isn't any better. It feels like XP without the Fischer Price skin. The only thing XP may be faster in is network transfer speed, synthetic benchmarks that don't mean anything in the real world, and perhaps openGL apps.
"Avast yee pirates yee ole Bios arr about to be wiped"
Blue Screen
Conspiracy theories of mythical "pirate" rootkits aside, the source of these installations that require no activation or cd key is from Microsoft themselves. They released this version to Universities who have licensed with MS to provide copies of Windows to all their students. They couldn't be bothered to make a system to issue/track cd keys so they released it without a need for any.
yes what a beacon of honest reporting this site is. please it drives me nuts when post pull "facts" from websites like these with a clear agenda.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
Burma Shave.
Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
What I would like to know is how many bong hits it takes for that kind of 'insight'...
I'm typing on a computer that's logged into corpnet at Microsoft right now. (I'm TS'd into my home PC - yes I am not an idiot who wants to lose my job by posting on these forums).
It's SO EASY to get a copy of Win7 off the corpnet. Microsoft has no significant leak control on it. This isn't a conspiracy, it's just someone on corpnet - and there are about 50,000 of us - who leaked the binary. Give it a rest with the cloak and dagger bullshit already!!!
Don't write shit about shit that you don't know shit about. Go and get a coloring book to play with or something, stop acting like you are industry experts.
By MS guys at various events. And no, MS knows full well that Vista was a failure, and generating underground hype for their next rev is kinda a big deal for them. It's worked for them in the past, and they figure it'll work for them again.
Anyway, that's what I heard from one of their employees. But it's not a new thing, I've known a lot of folks who would tell me, off the record, that they know they're a little too "carefree" with their software for many years. The general thought there is that they'd rather have their stuff pirated than not used, but the business folks and shareholders wanted the WGA crap inserted to make themselves feel better. While taking a very broad shot at the pirates that were burning, repackaging, and reselling their stuff. Those are the types of pirates that pretty much anyone can agree are assholes.
What is it about Slashdot that attracts racist first-posters and religious zealots?
And thus, you spent a very long time explaining the simple way science works. There's a reason we have Theories, Theorems, Laws, and many other "almost there" types of titles in science: a good scientist understands that s/he doesn't know everything and that new evidences is always just around the corner.
Science understands that it can only prove or disprove things to the best of its ability with the tools and knowledge available at the time, and good science always leaves room for itself to be proven incorrect and corrected.
That, right there, is why the teachings of Intelligent Design cannot be included in Science class and fit only in a Theology course. Several of the tenets of ID have been observed false, such as the age of the earth. In science, if empirical evidence says your hypothesis is incorrect, you have to change your hypothesis to fit the evidence. As we go, we do this with the Theory of Evolution (continue to note, we don't even call it a Theorem, or a Law, or any of the other most binding of scientific titles). Evolution, itself, is evolving. Creation, on the other hand, was written by people thousands of years ago, with far less scientific evidence than we have, and is stalwartly refusing to budge even in the face of new evidence.
Yep, I think so too. MS did this on purpose.
Then how come I hear everyone say things like "they're all pink on the inside"? They're talking about watermelons, right?
http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Internet_Fuckwad_Theory
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
I am seriously amazed this is news. This has been happening almost as long as piracy has been around. I used to release for several groups, and helped run sites. We had several people who were friends with industry people (sometimes software producers (but this was rarer), mostly movies/music/tv). This is how we got PRE's ages before the movie/album/show was released. There were instances of people stealing the property, but this was unsustainable and so those people were only able to provide us with 1 or so releases. The people who continually delivered were often from the marketing/producers/execs from the big parent companies and similar. However, there were some people who worked in development, or at cd presses, however this was a much smaller subset of releasers, as this section always got the most scrutiny on security.
I am perpetually amazed by how little people actually know about the scene. It provides us with so much awesome, yet very few people understand it.
I may be misunderstanding you, but Authenticode is a technology used to verify the publisher of binaries so that there is some assurance "lol32.exe" is worth running.
As such, Authenticode isn't an anti-piracy feature insamuch as its an anti-malware feature. As and end user, you'd not want want this to be busted.
You may be thinking of WGA and WPA, the former being the "Genuine Advantage" stuff that Windows Update and MS Download center look for, and the latter being Product Activation [that cares about keys and key activation, etc].
The latter two are most certainly anti-piracy features and confer no functional/usability advantages to the enduser who isn't concerned with the legality/legitimacy of their installation.
My opinions are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
Granted. However, Slashdot in particular seems to attract these morons in droves. They seem to be suspiciously missing from other websites that are more devoid of intellectual value (digg).
Sorry, I have definitely given up on MS and will only give a crap about them when PAID to.
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
Here:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=M5E5UC51GCZZAQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=212700410&_requestid=77696
You are correct, I conflated the terms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kadin2048/Slashdot_Trolling_Phenomena
Enjoy
no, that is windows sahara
To cover their own ass?
This is nothing new... Microsoft did the exact same thing in '94-'95 with Windows 95, only back then we got our leaked betas by way of pirate BBSs and 28.8 modems. This unofficial beta test put pre-release Win95 in the hands of thousands of computer geeks, who ended up lining up outside CompUSAs, Computer Citys, and Best Buys to get their copies of Win95 at 12:00am on 8/24/95... Win95's positive buzz was a direct result of the leaked betas.
Now, Windows 7 needs to deliver just like Win95 did in terms of app compatibility, drivers, and improvements...
Oh, and for the guy above who said that Vista's driver issue has improved--it really hasn't. People just replaced their older hardware, so the improvement is mostly perception.
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
The only negative thing about win 7 in that entire article was one comment from a random pirate that it "looks the same".
a 10 foot cliché pole?
Ha, those Somali guys are screwed now!
You're a little too paranoid.
I trust the pirates and torrents FAR more than the software companys.
One works to screw me over all the time. The other has never let me down.
Windows 7 has been on Technet for a month.....freely downloadable. I'm using it now...legally.
I know, I know, don't feed the trolls but...
In conclusion, [if X then evolution is wrong and therefore] The Bible is correct...This is the only way to falsify evolution, and it is amazing (and convenient) that Darwin never encouraged people to attempt to falsify his theory in this manner.
[Edited for brevity and clarity]
Firstly, Darwin was very happy for people to try and disprove his theory in any way possible. Unfortunately the genetic theory and chemical know-how necessary to conduct your experiment weren't available in Victorian England. Besides, evolution doesn't propose an increase in traits, but an increase in adaption to a specific environment or ecosystem niche. The virus which gives you the common cold is no 'more' or 'less' evolved than you or me.
Secondly, your argument is built on a flawed premise:
1) Two species don't share a common ancestor
therefore
2) Evolution is false
therefore
3) The Bible is correct
The first step is questionable, but let's fly with it. It's the step from 2->3 that's the problem. Knowledge that the theory of evolution is wrong only tells us that evolution is wrong. Nothing further can be concluded.
To re-phrase your argument into a car analogy
1)I have a photo showing that your car is not red
therefore
2)My theory that your car is red is not true
therefore
3)Your car is green.
As you can see, this final statement is a bit of a logical leap.
All intents and purposes. Not intensive purposes.
The suspense of stealth downloads.
Dear Lord....better jack out of the Matrix before the agents get you.
Beware of those who profit off the docile and persecute the unbelievers.
Close. It was called the 'Mojave Project' or something similar.
1 Leak Windows 7 to pirate torrents sites ...
2 Create a wave of internet excitement(?)amongst people who would never buy it.
3 Sell millions of copies as a result of this er
4 Normally comes pre-installed on new PC'S
5 Very few people ever actually buy a copy (see 4)
6 Not actually available in the shops
7 ???
8 Result Profit???
With appropriate apologies to the South Park Meme
Posts, MyBio or Sig, may contain satire, sarcasm, bolded nouns be sardonic or even witty & be Church of SD
Trolling Digg is like pissing in an ocean of piss. Slashdot's higher standard for comments and more intelligent readerbase, at least in comparison to sites like Digg, is what makes trolling here worthwhile.
If Windows was in danger of losing market share to other operating systems, then this seems like the perfect way to stay relevant. This way, college kids will use Windows 7, get their certs, and help make buying decisions after getting hired on to their shiny new jobs.
Suppose that unassailable proof was released showing that Microsoft leaked this intentionally. Would there be any legal consequences? Is it their IP so they can do what they want? Or might they be failing to protect their IP and thus effectively be releasing it for free?
sure, this is all fine, if you ignore the huge number of tests evolution has gone since the advent of genetics which could easily have falsified the whole lot.
Evolution has withstood a massive number of tests, has made plenty of predictions, and is one of the more solid scientific theories out there.
being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
MS doesn't want to release their dirty beta code to the world this early.
By the time the OS is formally released, it has accrued a SP1 worth of exploits.
But... they DEPEND on vulnerabilities soon after launch to drive legit sales,
because you MUST authenticate your LEGIT copy to get the patches, right?
And then people wonder why they're paying $300 for a license and go back to pirated copies,
finally realizing that the reason they have no money is because they spend it all on teh crack.
Somewhere, a chair is thrown.
I assume it's the same bunch of people posting the same stuff over and over. What would be funny is if some of them could be located and see the look on their faces when a camera crew (a la Candid Camera) come knocking on their door to ask why they repeatedly post the same crap day in day out.
I mean, why sit waiting for new articles to appear before bombing the top few posts which very few people would see anyway because they don't browse at -1.
Besides, if they're doubling the price again, who can afford $800 for an OS for a $500 laptop in the first place?
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
No, they're talking about the vagina, which is also black on the inside, and pink when it's opened so light can reach it. Not that you'd ever get the chance to try that...
I appreciate your rappin',
Dat win dose's still crapin',
N' all the bloggers yappin',
Then watchin' pr0n n' fappin'.
Looks like Microsoft has grown a pair,
Taken on to torrents outa despair,
Thus the new OS' come to be,
The great Windows 7 conspiracy.
Some say 't looks similar to KDE,
N' other things based on BSD.
But I really dun give a shiz,
'Bout Aero, Aqua OR Compiz.
Just wanna have all my apps,
Run smooth as ass on x86.
peace
I finally told him that the first thing he needed to do before I could help him was to get a laptop that met or exceeded Vista's minimum system requirements.
you could have gone the extra mile and made yourself substantially more helpful to your friend by suggesting a machine with XP. not only would he end up spending less money on hardware, but he would also benefit from a snappier system.
maybe your friend is doing well enough that he can afford an E8550 and 8GB of RAM.... or maybe not -- given that he DID buy a "budget laptop" as you yourself put it. try attacking the root of the problem next time (ie, the OS), instead of inflating people's budget unnecessarily. i'm sure XP would be more than bearable on a "budget laptop".
just my 2 cents.
Win95 was a major step up from 3.1, operating systems are already "good enough". Many businesses find no compelling reason to upgrade from Win2k.
Not to mention that Win95 was complete garbage, not until win98 SE did they have what one might call a shippable consumer OS (albeit one that crashed every few hours). Fool me once...
Dear Microsoft,
Please leak a 64-bit version of build 7000. I have more memory in my system than a 32-bit system is capable of addressing.
Thanks!
P.S.: Arrrrrrrr.
Wanna know what really scares me?
4chan memes showing up on Slashdot.
That's it, ladies and gents, pack your bags, there's the fuckin' seventh sign right there. (To paraphrase Carlin, very badly.)
Assume I was drunk when I posted this.
This appears to be a common tactic for television producers. Around pre-season times there is an inevitable leak of almost all new shows that would appeal to the demographic that would know how to download them. This is in fact quite smart because they probably realize:
1)If these people will download a pre-air, they're probably going to download the regular show too, so downloading now or later has the same effect
2)People are going to talk about the show and give feedback
3)Leak it early enough and you might have a chance to tweak some things
now a TV show and operating system are in different places all together..but the concept is the same..
Announcer: We have gathered a few volunteers to try the new version of Windows Vista....I mean, Windows Mojave.... I mean Windows 7. Here is what they had to say:
Joe SixPack: Sick!
Soccer Mom: Oh, my God!
Joe Average: Wow! It's like, you know.... Stuff!
Barbie Doll: Totally!
Announcer: The new Windows 7 will revolutionize how people use PCs. The system has been designed from scratch to run smoothly on a mere 4 Gigabyte of RAM!
Joe SixPack: What's that?
Barbie Doll: 4 Gigabyte is like, 2 gallons or something.
Joe Average: Feels faster than my AOL.
Announcer: Dont take our word for it. Visit Win7.MojaveProject.Microsoft.com and test drive the new Windows. Experience what so many other people have already experienced!
MS would never release any build this way. Insinuating such a thing is completely irresponsible for the following reasons.
/. should think harder before they post the next brilliant coup.
MS refuses to enable more than 4GB of address space through PAE on current 32 bit desktop editions
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
...straight from the horse's mouth. They use racism, religious zealotry and other anti-intellectual/anti-scientific garbage because that's what gets the most negative reactions.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
He's too busy giving the Grand Dragon a hummer.
First 'Mojave', now 'Windows 7'.
Same thing - Vista with a new theme.
This whole 'Windows 7' thing has the feel of an MS marketing blitz. Of course they 'leaked' the OS to the public themselves.
Juln
maybe MS isn't squirming because the beta spread so rapidly and people, in general, are liking what they're seeing in Windows 7...
just my crazy idea
My blood hurts...
You're a little too paranoid. I trust the pirates and torrents FAR more than the software companys.
That's just not right. I've been doing similar things in the past when I spent countless hours with new releases for warez groups. The thing is, they have an agenda just like Microsoft, and both organizations consist of more than just one individual. If you believe that piracy stands for justice (unlike Microsoft), then you're just plain wrong.
Having said that, I'm not saying that you can trust Microsoft more in this case, but pirates can be just as dishonest as anyone else (if not more).
Full Tilt
But although I understand that Slashdot posts stories in order to get many comments = many page impression = (hopefully, to them) some ad clicks as well, etc. and not so much due to any actual news value, this particular story - like many before it - suffer from "a bot could have posted this"-syndrome.
The pseudo-code for the bot goes like this:
That's not news of any sort - it's natural paranoid delusional thought - and as far as I'm concerned, it may just as well have been in idle.
Using pirate stuff sometimes is a activity of taking the short cut. This is not the first time that MS uses it, either, will not be the last time.
Wow. Then the shit stolen on the high seas should become rapidly less.
I heard, UAC in "Windows 7 for pirate ships" is especially naggy.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
for MS to release an early beta that phoned home, telling the licensing department where it was being used? Police forces around the country could be alerted, and staged to make arrests of the odd home user who pulled Win7 beta off the torrent site.....
Someone's knocking, BRB...
Good post. Also, I really doubt that Authenticode has truly been broken. There are ways around it, but to actually make it look like it was in place and correct, you'd need to know the private key Microsoft uses for their code signing. Since I very much doubt anybody has managed to acquire that, and since last I checked RSA signatures were still fundamentally sound, I suspect that they have not, in fact, cracked Authenticode.
Cracking the validation used for WGA, on the other hand, is believable.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
One is a public entity that needs consumer trust to stay in business, and can be brought to court if they harm their users.
The other one is under no obligation to you the user, is anonymous and unfindable, has demonstrably shady ethics, and can only make money from their work by doing something like bundling malware with it.
I'm not saying all cracked software you find on torrent trackers includes malware, but about half the malware infections I clean off of friends' computers got there through installation of NoCD cracks or pirated software that included a Trojan.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Windows 7 can't be patched online yet, but after release if these sites have copies that can be, then I doubt Microsoft would be so happy.
Hang on, it can't be updated with Windows Updates released for it?
I think you are wrong.
-- If I were a fish, I'd be wet
Yeah, so there is a crack available but you have to theoretically do this everytime before the 30-day trial ends. It apparently doesn't work on the 64bit version. Incidentally, I was thinking that Microsoft deliberately released it as a torrent from the get-go.
I thought immediately of a Somali pirate on the "I'm a PC" Microsoft advert. Perhaps they are using Windows software for navigation so they can find their prey. Would chart plotting software work on Windows 7?
Seriously. it annoys me that the entertainment and software industry tries to elevate software copying to be on a par with murder and armed theft. Worse still when slashdotters fall for it and parrot their rhetoric by using the same terminology.
I do that. I trust the pirates to not be rootkitting me more than I trust MS, so why not?
As a proportion of software installs, how does that compare to the number of infections from non-pirated software that included a trojan?
I am trolling
Sorry to feed the trolls, but I can't resist pointing out that the conclusion is a classic example of a false dilemma.
"If we didn't evolve... then god created us."
"That which does not kill us makes us stranger." -Trevor Goodchild
I happened across a copy, put it on my netbook, and am in absolute awe! I have never had _fun_ with a windows distribution until now. After the Vista fallout, Microsoft needed to hit one out of the park. They nailed it.
As a proportion of software installs, how does that compare to the number of infections from non-pirated software that included a trojan?
Unless you're someone who counts DRM as a "trojan", I'd imagine the number of legit software purchases filled with trojans is quite, quite low.
(This, obviously, excluding things like Bonzi Buddy. That's hardly "legit" in any sense of the word.)
I write bullshit
If it quacks like a duck.... Depends on what exactly the DRM does. Certainly if it allows them to run arbitrary code on your machine, it's a trojan.
This, obviously, excluding things like Bonzi Buddy. That's hardly "legit" in any sense of the word
I said non-pirated, not "legit".
I am trolling
You have a year after 'disclosure' which happens when you discuss it publicly in any form. Please don't talk about things you don't know about. Thanks!
Actually, the interior of a watermelon is both black AND red until it's cut open, according to my local greengrocer, Mr Schrodinger.
And just how DO you get an 'o' with an umlaut on here? I tried Alt-148 and it reproduces in the editor but not in the preview!
ö = ö
ö = ö
It's called a character entity reference and Slashdot accepts some of them. It'd be better if they'd just adopt Unicode like they should have sometime in the past 10 years. There are so many times on a site like this when ASCII is just not enough.
No existe.
Bah, I got beaten.
No existe.
shut up, nig lover
If someone would be able to prove that microsoft actually uploaded win7 to a torrent tracker, wouldn't that make win7 public domain?
thats because your friends don't run a decent antivir
A fair response. Certainly things like the Sony rootkit should be considered malware, although since music CDs shouldn't really be installing software anyhow I'm not sure I'd call it a Trojan.
Idiotic installation of any damn thing that claims to allow watching some pr0n made up more than half of the remainder. There were a few from scareware (like the Microsoft Antivirus 2008/2009 thing on Slashdot a couple days back) and a good handful of Bonzi Buddy or BearShare-type things as well (same category as "Install Flash ActiveX Helper 10.3 in order to watch this [pr0n] video" but somewhat less common). The rest were legitimate exploits.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
One can be, and is, ostracised from its community when it acts against the community's interests. The other can be brought to court if they harm the end users, but cannot be held to court orders, and has so far demonstrated a willingness and capacity to buy entire governments to swing legal and technical decisions where necessary.
Neither is under an obligation to the user.
One seeks fame, and thus has an online name to protect. The other is named, but faceless and legally exempt from responsibilities.
One is performing a civil infractions that is committed nearly every day by nearly every citizen, ie, a law that should have been struck from the legislation long ago for no longer being in society's interests. The other has a criminal record in several countries, and has a laundry list of shady acts as long as their history.
One has a primary currency of fame, and a motivation of challenge. The other has a history of making money by forcing upgrades containing no useful changes, merely to keep up with others' forced upgrades.
I'm not saying all commercial software you find in shrink wrap includes anti-consumer code, but about half the problems my friends have with their computers can be traced back to StarForce, WGA mistakes, DRM authority server shutdowns, or rootkits designed to prevent you from using your CD burner.
Maybe it's because they know they'll get some sort of response instead of being ignored like you're supposed to with trolls...
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it