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Single Software Licence Shared 774,651 Times
nk497 writes "A single licence for Avast security software has been used by 774,651 people after it went viral on a file-sharing site. Avast noticed that a license for its paid-for security software, sold to a 14-user firm in Arizona, was being distributed online. Rather than shut down the piracy, the company decided to see how far the software would spread — it's since popped up in 200 countries, including the Vatican City. Now, the company is turning it into a marketing opportunity, with a pop-up encouraging users of the pirated copy to download a legal copy of the free or paid-for version. Avast isn't sure how many pirates have gone legal, but said some have made the switch."
Well, that’s a good start, I guess.
Distributed Denial of APK: It takes 15 seconds to reply to him anonymously, but wastes tons of his time if we all do it.
Amazing how that works.
Cue 4,000,000 slashdot posts how this proves, objectively, with 100% accuracy, that software piracy does zero economic harm and is actually beneficial to everyone involved.
People like free stuff.
And also, people cheat when they think they can get away with it.
FCKGW-RHQQ2...
I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
“We found our licence code at a number of warez sites around the globe,” said Vince Steckler, chief executive of Avast Software. “There is a paradox in computer users looking for ‘free’ antivirus programs at locations with a known reputation for spreading malware.”
The pirating of legally-free software never ceases to amuse me...I know the licence is for a "paid" version of the program, but still, for personal users, the "free" version is more than sufficient. That being said, Avast's response to this has been PERFECT.
Living With a Nerd
AVAST, ye mateys!
Am I right or am I right?
As it turns out, when asked, all 774,651 people were "just trying out to see how it was before they bought it."
I am somewhat interested in how many people will actually pay for a license; this might be a good way to estimate how many people who download unauthorized software would have paid for the software in the first place.
Palm trees and 8
But the controversy was that he downloaded it from demonoid. And that he has a pretty leechy ratio.
At least 774,641 searched for the file (wanting to pirate it) and found this copy first. If this copy was not there, 774,641 would have searched for the file and found what was otherwise the second result for said software. What we can say is that 774,641 pirated the software, not that the uploaded caused it to be pirated 774,641 times.
I'm trying not to condonng the pirates or sympathizing with the software company. This is just (hopefully) an objective observation.
The RIAA would extrapolate 774,651 equivalent illegal downloads as $11,619,765 in lost revenue - and then go to the courts.
you know, like the old days, when code was in magazines, and you could use it free. you could patch it or turn it around yourself, and learn something useful reading the stuff you didn't want to type in.
and the Avast folks have a list of the files in Windows handy, so they don't have rogue updates that brick your system by quarantining core files.
try it, you just might buy it. I did for my last surviving XP machine.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
The Vatican is a soverign state that does not have a software treaty with the US, so no infringement there ...
This will still be used by the RIAA/MPAA/etc. Because look at it. It's proof that piracy cost Avast 774,651 sales. I like the non-litigious response by Avast, and their remedy is offered in such a way that a lot of people will probably take it, so they don't harm their user base by driving people off. But props to Avast. You handled it right.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
Not that everyone pirating Avast and Photoshop could get by with linux. But I bet a huge majority of college kids that are pirating the latest Office, Photoshop, etc could get along perfectly fine with an apt repository.
Maybe that should be Ubuntu's next marketing campaign. Tell college geek-wannabees that there is a super secret way to pirate free software called "apt-get". It's not for everyone since it has a steep learning curve. But if they master it, they can get some sweet software for free. Maybe a wrapper that puts "market" prices on the software.
Office Suite - $400!. But not if you use apt-get. Sssh, don't tell ANYONE.
Before you know it every 'hacker' on campus will be l33t with apt-get. Once you convert the guys that think they know a lot about computers will come the girls as the guys will try and use their skills to impress the girls.
Last I checked, nobody was crying over how many "lost sales" resulted from the invention of personal computers -- think of all the typewriter manufacturers that went out of business! So what exactly makes software companies so special? The Internet is here to stay, and it has completely destroyed whatever scarcity software companies were capitalizing on in the past. The companies need to find a new business model or die, just like every other company whose business model was rendered obsolete by new technology.
Palm trees and 8
where lots of software doesn't get ported because software companies can't make a profit due to the high piracy.
But yes piracy isn't a problem because of this one case. Nevermind how this would benefit software that only needs to be updated once per year like a utility or software that is only used for a month like a game. We just need to find 2 or 3 more cases like this one to show that copyright laws aren't needed.
Last I checked the US State Department recognized something like 194 countries. So they appear to have coverage of 103% of the countries in the world!
but didn't have enough money after giving so much to charity. Since you can't prove me wrong that most pirates give generously to charity we should assume that they do.
The paradox might be that pirate sites are trusted more by users than antivirus creators.
It's clear that they can see where the license is used on warez sites without spying. But how do they know what countries the *users* are in, and how do they push the advertising to them? Inquiring minds want to know!
--
Given enough personal experience, all stereotypes are shallow.
Even mom and pop stores can get a commission from anti-virus subscriptions. There is a free version of avast, why would they not install it instead?
As Microsoft Security Essentials is offered for free for personal and small business (up to 10-PCs) use, the only reason I can think of to pirate AV software is because you're also pirating Windows and can't pass the WGA validation test. Even then why bother...just use the free version of Avast that doesn't care about WGA validation.
I'm going to go back in my box and will think within the limits of my box: MS Sucks Linux Good I read too much Slashdot.
They are likely grateful that people are using their software rather than the superior (and free) Microsoft Security Essentials. (Yes, MS makes a piece of software that is superior in virtually every way to its competition. Hard to believe, but it's true.)
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
Ian Ameline
OMG - "they" are hiding entire countries from us now!
Technically, you are correct - there are 194 or 195 countries, but there are dozens of territories and dependencies that might be counted separately. E.g. many would count China, Hong Kong, Tibet, and Taiwan as 4, but China would say 1...
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
Last I checked the US State Department recognized something like 194 countries. So they appear to have coverage of 103% of the countries in the world!
Rounding error. This is what happens when you let arts majors use computers.
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
So...what's the code they were using anyway? Just curious....
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
has been used by 774,651 people
I wonder how they figured that out... Installs or IP addresses or People or reported back to Big Brother NIC MAC addresses or ?
I installed AVG-Free four times on two machines this weekend.
I'm the only person using both.
One install on a traditional machine.
The other machine has removable drive bay hard disks. One disk for real work that being Linux. Four with different installs of Winders. (Why? the ultimate compatibility test is to boot into W2K on a W2K only hard drive and see if it works, also I have a "real" windows XP partition that I use exclusively for games and the two apps that I haven't set up on Linux, one being a radio-scanner programmer and the other being a Garmin GPS map uploader/controller thingy)
So was that one person or two machines or four installs?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Thieves are everywhere!!! Whatever happened to Ethics?
Am I the only one that finds it slightly humorous that people were pirating a product called Avast! ... ? :)
How many people here could name more then 5 anti-virus programs? How many normal people? Not many. On the otherhand if I'm looking for antivirus where do I go? Certainly not store.. tom's software guide doesnt really exist. I might have heard about some names from friends. I dont really know what's good. Instead I goto piratebay or whatever. Top 100 - apps -windows and sort by seeds. Find #1 antivirus and now I have the best one really. Crowdsourced goodness.
How fitting it be that a bunch of landlubbers calling themselves "Avast" be victims of piracy.
More grog me boys!
You never expect irony, do you?
Want to be a professional wrestler? Visit www.iyfwrestling.com
@iyfwrestling
What difference does it make for the software companies if a user that wouldn't buy their software in the first place installs Linux or installs pirated software? There is no lost sale there, and I think it's better for a company like Microsoft that the majority of the people pirates Windows instead of using Linux, I'm sure.
Scholars who can convince the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana to let them use the library are issued a username-pass combo for an open/redirect (Cisco) wifi network. I'd say about a hundred or so such people pass through the library each day. So, it very well could be some nerd using it.
Now, of course, that network access will be logged, as are the seats where users have their computers, and both are logged to the same system. And parts of that library have very impressive looking multi-spectral cameras (stereoscopic? do they do that for security these days?), which I'm sure are also logged. So I say they should ask the Vatican -- they probably could even get imagery of the pirate in action.
It doesn't matter to the software companies.
It matters to me, who has to deal with botnets, spam, etc all from Windows Machines, some of it coming from pirated software with malware attached.
Good to see a business actually using some common sense on piracy. And now look. They get even free ad on /.
They are turning pirates into subscribers. Taking people from stealing and turning them to giving
The Internet has given stupid people the resources of intelligent people.
Hey Vatican, what part of Thou Shalt Not Steal did you misunderstand?!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The real paradox is that it used to be that Avast used a custom downloader to install itself. In other words, you couldn't install Avast without connecting to the internet, which everyone knows you shouldn't do until you have antivirus software installed!
I wonder how true it is that the company also
Which is the kind of marketing I expect from the crappy companies that market anti-virus software.
--
make install -not war
As another poster confessed, I would be hesitant to download any pirated software less out of moral qualms than out of fear of malware. Add to this, the fact that much software does use an Internet connection, even if the software's functionality does not require it. Being always connected has changed things. Software can phone home and does so often. Be it for "update checking" or "license verification", vendors have a better notion of where their software is installed than ever before.
Sure there is firewall software to stop unauthorized Internet access, but now so many applications use the network that there is a lot of noise to signal or vice-versa. These days, when I have a software need, I try to find a (legitimately) free alternative whenever possible.
One example of this that might hit closer to home for many English speakers:
As an American, I think a statement like "England and Scotland are two countries in the UK" would confuse a lot of people here.
“We found our licence code at a number of warez sites around the globe,” said Vince Steckler, chief executive of Avast Software. “There is a paradox in computer users looking for ‘free’ antivirus programs at locations with a known reputation for spreading malware.”
What's the paradox? Avast (and other anti-malware companies) have an interest in maintaining a malware-infested internet.
I think they're a bit behind the curve; even FIFA recognises 208 national associations.
Well, I see your point, but that doesn't have to do with pirated software per se, but it's (usually dubious) distribution methods. OTOH, the subject of your post was about getting free software, so I replied to that.
This proves, objectively, with 110% accuracy, that software piracy does negative economic harm and is actually beneficial to everyone involved.
Does having a witty signature really indicate normality?
I'd like to see the usage stats for that one.
It was possibly the most widely used VLK for pirated Windows XP copies. I reported seeing it used on a community college network at one point. Im sure i got that admin into some hot water
My hats off to avast for doing the right thing. The problem with RIAA/MPAA and other copyright mongering companies is that they only see pirates as thief scum when in reality they are just normal people like you and me. Not that I personally use avast's software but this would have convinced me to pay up for a copy, they definitely deserve it for making that extra step. Maybe this will convince other software companies to reach out to pirates more, doubt it but you never know.
1. Publish your software on a P2P server.
2. Wait for people to download it.
3. Sue
4. PROFIT!
I'm actually surprised by this number.
When one of my favorite software companies started including copy protection, I was angry because I felt they were treating me, a loyal customer, as a criminal. This statistic actually makes me feel that their actions are at least somewhat justified. Almost three quarters of one million licenses... I would have never dreamed of so many cases of infringement for one program!
I'm one of those good honest people who is happy (and happily able!) to afford the applications I use and enjoy. Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements go a long way towards making my life legal and affordable. :-)
Spoon not. Fork, or fork not. There is no spoon.
Just for the record, I've been using Avast free at least a couple of years; I don't really remember when I started.
Avast free edition doesn't try to sell you anything once it's installed. it is by far the lowest profile, least intrusive av there is. By default it updates on startup, with a popup and voiceover: "Avast antivirus database has been updated." The first checkbox you see in prefs is "Silent/Gaming Mode". Flip that on and you'll never see or hear from it again, until you try to download a virus/trojan; or one year passes.
You have to register it, which is only good for one year. They want your name (I only gave my first), your state, email, phone (I know...), your tech level, age. They also make you click to say you're not using the comp for business, so you're aware that you're lying if you install it on your work computer.
As a tech of 15 years, people do ask me what AV should they install. What do you think my answer is? More than that, they have bought my loyalty forever. Bought and paid for with kick-ass AV software. I think I'm getting the good end of the deal here, and now I owe them something, which I won't forget. Wish more companies did business that way.
If they are making the claim of "200 countries" based on where the users say they are, there is a significant problem in that they are trusting that response to be legit. There was a time when I used to register most of my software to Uzbekistan, even though I have never been there. And of course, if you are registering software with a code that doesn't belong to you, why would you give your real location?
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Avast, ye harties! Thar be pirate booty in them Internetz!
The folks at Avast are great. Thank you for turning what someone did wrong as a marketing & business opportunity. At home we use free Avast on the computers. Based on my recommendations two small businesses (15 to 20 seats each) use the paid version.
774651 sure is a lot. But I have a (funny) feeling that the license I use has been used before as well. I heard about this license sharing from other people on the internet. I got a copy of the software (along with a good working license) and tried it. It works really well too. I found a pretty good place where you can get the software along with the license. I know people who insist that licenses be paid hate it, but sometimes thats just the way things are. They can suck it up. Anyway, just for you, I'll post a link to where you can get the software and a copy of the license. Its right Here.
That's next.
That’s why I said it’s a good start.
Distributed Denial of APK: It takes 15 seconds to reply to him anonymously, but wastes tons of his time if we all do it.
I understand pirates apps,games and movies.. With a good antivirus, its like going to a cheap prostitute with a reliable condom But pirated antivirus?? Thats comparable to going to a prostitute with an AIDS infected needle in her vagina..:)
First, let me state that I'm a legally licensed owner of Avast Internet Security and a long time user of their free (for personal use) version as well.
Why would someone pirate anti-virus software? Pirated software is one of the most virus-laden stuff out there, do you really want to trust that pirated version to be scanning all of your files?
Second, why would you even really NEED to pirate it when they have a very nice free version available to use?
I ended up purchasing it because they had a rather great sale for multi-machines for a multi-year discount and after having been a free user for so long I thought it might be nice to have the more recent updates and some of the other updates to the software such as sandboxing...
And they are still infected.
Um, actually the AV is for the other software the user installs. Do you go through the source code of (or reverse engineer) every app you install to make sure it does what its supposed to do? You're just trusting a third party otherwise. Whether it be a repository or some other white-list...
"The irony is staggering, sir!"
--- "When you gotta do something wrong. You gotta do it right. (Fighter)"
Top Dirty Dozen*
1. Russia
2. Mexico
3. Brazil
4. Italy
5. Spain
6. USA
7. India
8. Philippines
9. France
10. Ukraine
11. Argentina
12. Thailand
I thought according to the USA were the biggest pirates out there. You know because the 35 mil of us living so close to each other in ingllos makes p2p and person to person sharing so easy,
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
Last I checked the US State Department recognized something like 194 countries. So they appear to have coverage of 103% of the countries in the world!
Rounding error. This is what happens when you let arts majors use computers.
I would believe it would be a by product of how countries are listed. Many Country selection lists separate territories and other such locales from the country that owns them. So, if anything the use of only the word "country" would be wrong, not the number.
Disclaimer: I don't use AVAST, and I do not know how their country registration system works.
So, can this company get any tax credits for single handidly solving global warming? (pastafarians untie)
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
He got information that 'FCKGW' key was used billion times :)
With a name like Avast it is not surprising that they are comfortable with piracy. Perhaps this can become the pirate business model. First, name your company with pirate terminology (Avast, Matey, etc) to signal you are ok with piracy. Second, send a kind message that urges people to pay for your software after it has been pirated.
Avast! They even get their own button on the pirate keyboard!
Program Intellivision!
Stealing sucks BUT making a useful product known is all part of the sales pitch.
I like to try before I buy, but short of stealing, I only try that which allows me to
test drive their product.
I buy it IF it meets my lax criteria. AV products have been my favorite thing since DOS.
ThunderByte rocked, it was good and fast. FPROT, the same thing.
The odd versions of McAfee and Norton et al, were always terrible self promoting
people/companies. Now we have choices and peer reviewed checks and balances.
Sharing is easy and turning off licenses is easy. Please allow the people who write
decent AV products to monitize their warea appropriately. A useful product helps many,
shutting it off may do more harm that retribution.
nah, FCKGW.... holds the honorary title for that one, even if MS killed it with the SP1 update all those years ago.
Is Avast not malware? I once saw how many times Avast would throw up popups on one computer and how difficult it was to remove so I thought Avast was malware.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
All ones save for a 3 at the end is a valid Starcraft key (it won't get you on battle.net, but if you like the campaigns and were still challenged by the AI...
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
I've used Avast (although currently I don't have any antivirus software) and the program behaved very nicely. It needs to be registered once a year or it will pop-up a notice at start up. Also, the program was nicely divided in components so it was easy to select the ones that I needed. In addition to this, the computer I had it on was a bit underpowered, so it was nice that it could be easily disabled temporarily when gaming (and wasn't all that heavy when running either).
I had zero problems uninstalling it. If I'd install an antivirus program now, I would install Avast. (AVG isn't that bad either, but I can't say that I never had any problems with it.)
It is what it is.
... bless me for I have sinned. Uh, what's the penance for stealing a software license again?
Wordstar was at one time the most popular word processor in the PC world. It was also the most pirated. In 1985 they offered an amnesty for pirates -- anyone who wanted to go legit could pay an inexpensive upgrade price and get the most current version, legally.
A lot of people took them up on it, including me.
Unfortunately, they made other mistakes, and the company didn't last, but that was a smart move on their part.
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.
I thought they said, "Avast, matey!" and figured I was among fellow pirates.
Have gnu, will travel.
They simply used the list from the countries which entered in the Olympics.
I am somewhat interested in how many people will actually pay for a license; this might be a good way to estimate how many people who download unauthorized software would have paid for the software in the first place.
It's not a good estimate of how many people who download unauthorized software would have paid for the software in the first place. That number is zero, as the people who would have paid for the software in the first place did pay for the software in the first place (removing the need to download unauthorized software).
It's actually a new measurement, one that's long overdue. It's how many people will pay for an authorized copy without resorting to legal threats when caught using an unauthorized copy. Basically they know they've been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, and the options are to stop using the software or pay up. I'll wager a lot of them will pay up the moment they are caught, and only scofflaws and the destitute will continue to use said software without payment.
Last I checked the US State Department recognized something like 194 countries. So they appear to have coverage of 103% of the countries in the world!
Rounding error. This is what happens when you let arts majors use computers.
I would believe it would be a by product of how countries are listed. Many Country selection lists separate territories and other such locales from the country that owns them. So, if anything the use of only the word "country" would be wrong, not the number.
Disclaimer: I don't use AVAST, and I do not know how their country registration system works.
Quite likely true, however you really need to be careful when responding to a joke with a serious comment lest the *WHOOSH* pirates take you hostage and hold you for ransom.
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
Sure, I had $30,000 worth of pirate software when I was in college, and I went legit after my student discount was up
And there you have it boys and girl. The exact reason why the vast majority of commercial software approve of violating the terms and conditions of using their software. You will in all likelihood become their customer.
And what about the other users who don't go legit? Well, you certainly don't want them to use your competitor's software, right?
Now, how does the evil BSA figure into this? Like the RIAA, they make an example out of an individual/organization to instill fear. Again, the idea is to discourage the violations, not actually prevent them from happening.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
It's obvious that what Avast has here is basically a subscription model. What they are selling is continuing protection against new, emerging threats.
The Windows program is just the mode of delivery for this subscription model. The program isn't really what you're paying for when you buy a license.
The license is effectively a user ID representing an account on the Avast site, and so this license sharing amounts to a large number of people trying to share a single data subscription, which could obviously and easily be terminated at any time by Avast.
What are they thinking? Probably not much. Most people who download these kinds of programs are driven by fear and ignorance.
Avast! Antivirus (yes the ! is part of the name) is free for personal use to begin with, and the license key is very easy to get ahold of and only needs renewing once / year... so I don't know WHY anyone would bother to pirate it.
I've been using Avast! for a few years now (ever since AVG turned to annoying bloatware/spamware) and have no complaints, it has caught a few infections and I have never been spammed by them or anything like that. They seem like a decent outfit.
From pirated to free version since they were scared/annoyed by the pop-ups or they found nothing particularly useful in the paid version?
Impressive forward thinking.
i'm not big on software piracy but i think this is one of the best programs to pirate. why? because it prevents inattentive jerks from becoming part of a botnet that is going to be used for sending spam which effects everyone.
in the long run, pirates may become paying customers. people like to "try before [they] buy" because you want to see what you are missing and evaluate if you want to actually buy it or not. if there isnt a demo for software, i pirate it and if i like it, i buy it otherwise i delete it.
i'm a linux user (yay for free software) and console gamer (gamefly rules!), so it's rare for me but i did it for cedega and for starcraft 2 (i dont do online anything, so it's not about that) because it's software i like and support.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
With a name like "Avast!", is it any surprise that people are inclined to pirate it?
There are more than 194 countries in the world, no matter what your government tells you.
you'd think that vatican city would be content with legal pedophilia but no... they also add pirated software to their checklist