Because pirating Microsoft products is actually easier than using them legitimately (to an extent)!
To clarify this, I don't condone pirating software that you don't already own. While this statement sounds odd, anyone who has had to deal with Windows Product Activation or Office Product Activation should know just how painful Microsoft makes it to activate your software after you've passed some arbitrary threshold. I spent a half hour on the phone with one of their activation people a few days ago attempting to get the copy of Office I paid for activated on a computer that had a hdd failure and had to be reinstalled from scratch. After being told that it was my fault (yeah, I shoulda known better than to buy a WD hard drive) and told that I needed to call tech support I finally gave up and cracked it, which took a grand total of two minutes.
The same holds true for Windows. I own legitimate copies of XP (paid out of the nose for them), and it's worth noting that some of these copies have been around since XP was released (how many years ago was that?). During this time I have upgraded, had hardware failures, and then there are the infamous Windows failures that render the computer useless until you reformat and reinstall. Now every time I touch one of those licenses, I have to call Microsoft and report. This entails entering (or speaking) a lengthy activation number into the phone, then going through the same boring script with a person who doesn't speak English very well. Why bother when I can run two executables and be done with the entire affair?
Microsoft needs to stop treating every customer like criminals and then maybe more of them will feel inclined to start paying for the software.:)
For the MPAA and that lot to release their 'wares' onto the internets, they sure as hell are going to want to protect their interests as they are passing through the untold numbers of 'tubes' to reach the end user. God forbid they allow the user to actually use the entertainment they purchase without having an MPAA approved agent watching their every step.
Give me the same service without DRM and without violating my privacy and then I'll bite.
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Tortuga here I come! Wait... Dammit that's now part of France, they bowed to Apple's DRM demands earlier this year. Is there nowhere safe?
Because pirating Microsoft products is actually easier than using them legitimately (to an extent)!
:)
To clarify this, I don't condone pirating software that you don't already own. While this statement sounds odd, anyone who has had to deal with Windows Product Activation or Office Product Activation should know just how painful Microsoft makes it to activate your software after you've passed some arbitrary threshold. I spent a half hour on the phone with one of their activation people a few days ago attempting to get the copy of Office I paid for activated on a computer that had a hdd failure and had to be reinstalled from scratch. After being told that it was my fault (yeah, I shoulda known better than to buy a WD hard drive) and told that I needed to call tech support I finally gave up and cracked it, which took a grand total of two minutes.
The same holds true for Windows. I own legitimate copies of XP (paid out of the nose for them), and it's worth noting that some of these copies have been around since XP was released (how many years ago was that?). During this time I have upgraded, had hardware failures, and then there are the infamous Windows failures that render the computer useless until you reformat and reinstall. Now every time I touch one of those licenses, I have to call Microsoft and report. This entails entering (or speaking) a lengthy activation number into the phone, then going through the same boring script with a person who doesn't speak English very well. Why bother when I can run two executables and be done with the entire affair?
Microsoft needs to stop treating every customer like criminals and then maybe more of them will feel inclined to start paying for the software.
For the MPAA and that lot to release their 'wares' onto the internets, they sure as hell are going to want to protect their interests as they are passing through the untold numbers of 'tubes' to reach the end user. God forbid they allow the user to actually use the entertainment they purchase without having an MPAA approved agent watching their every step.
Give me the same service without DRM and without violating my privacy and then I'll bite.
"Crikey, it's got me! The sting-ray's poison is often lethal within the first few minutes, I'll be lucky to live long enough to finish my..."