Single Verizon IP Address Used For Hundreds of Windows 7 Activations

An anonymous reader writes with this story from TorrentFreak: A presumed pirate with an unusually large appetite for activating Windows 7 has incurred the wrath of Microsoft. In a lawsuit filed [in] a Washington court, Microsoft said that it logged hundreds of suspicious product activations from a single Verizon IP address and is now seeking damages. ... Who he, she or they are behind address 74.111.202.30 is unknown at this point, but according to Microsoft they're responsible for some serious Windows pirating. "As part of its cyberforensic methods, Microsoft analyzes product key activation data voluntarily provided by users when they activate Microsoft software, including the IP address from which a given product key is activated," the lawsuit reads. The company says that its forensic tools allow the company to analyze billions of activations of software and identify patterns "that make it more likely than not" that an IP address associated with activations is one through which pirated software is being activated.

Comments

Confused

[squiggleslash]

I understand "one key, many IP addresses" as being suggestive of licence violations, but why would "many keys, one IP address" be?

Re:Confused

[n3r0.m4dski11z]

"Microsoft says that the defendant(s) have activated hundreds of copies of Windows 7 using product keys that have been âoestolenâ from the companyâ(TM)s supply chain or have never been issued with a valid license"

It means whomever is there has a legit key generator for windows. Or a computer store who buys stolen keys to keep costs down.

Regardless, I am sure google knows exactly who they are. You aren't really anonymous on the internet. All it would take would be a few curious admins at google or facebook to check their logs for the ip.Hell i bet reddit or someone has already figured out who it is.

Re:Single shop most likely

[afidel]

I don't know if the installer somehow determined a preset key based on a unique identifier associated with the computer itself
It did, for large volume OEM's Microsoft has them burn the key into the BIOS which is why most don't come with the hologram sticker anymore, there's no need for it on Vista+ systems. The only problem it can sometimes cause is if you're doing a cross version and cross type install without an existing OS on the box (ie it came with 7 home and you're doing an upgrade install of 8.1 Enterprise)

Re:Single shop most likely

[arth1]

It's likely a dynamic IP

% nslookup -type=PTR 20.202.111.74.in-addr.arpa. ::
Server: ::
Address: ::#53

Non-authoritative answer:
20.202.111.74.in-addr.arpa name = static-74-111-202-20.lsanca.fios.verizon.net.

Re:At the same time

[Anonymous Coward]

If it wasn't for Microsoft, we would still be on mainframes and mini-computers. Paying jacked up prices. For crap, frankly.

The above is revealing of a profound ignorance on your part.

Either that or you are a Microsoft shill.

Here are a few things you should research so you can educate yourself :

* Xerox PARC

* Apple Macintosh

* DR-DOS

* Commodore

* OS/2

Re:Single shop most likely

[richy freeway]

It's very very easy to do. Just use the "evaluation" serial (actually provided by Microsoft), which for Pro is XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB

Then using PKeyui, extract the correct serial from the BIOS/UEFI and activate with that.

Re:At the same time

[TechyImmigrant]

They were paid to by IBM. If MS didn't do it, IBM would have found someone else.

Re:At the same time

[Hognoxious]

I'd look at some other sources if I were you.

Fighters with the guns pointing forward had been the norm since the middle of WW1. One example was the Hawker Hurricane, which was in service before the Spitfire was developed, and which outnumbered the Spitfire by about three to one in 1940. Both were generally considered inferior to the Me 109.

What really made the difference was radar plus Dowding's organisational system. Oh, and home advantage.